Climate Tech Founders | July 2023

Greeting climate tech founders and happy beginning of summer... we hope you have some fabulous holiday plans at some point during these months where you can enjoy time with friends and family.?

This month, here's what we have on the docket to share:

• 5 ways to get leverage from your suppliers, from the founder of Molekule
• Press highlights and stories from across the portfolio?
• Upcoming news and events to consider attending
• Tom Chi's advice to aspiring founders – for you to pass on!

Manufacturing Playbook

How to use the supply chain to supercharge your business

In fall of 2015 I was flying to Taiwan to meet a business unit head of Foxconn.?

Molekule, the company I founded to bring my photo-electrochemical oxidation air purification technology to market, was at the time only 5 people in a sheet metal shop/office. We had raised $3M in capital but the NRE or non-recurring expenses (including things like tooling, manufacturing line setup, early builds, etc.) that Foxconn needed to manufacture for us was almost half that at $1.5M.?We couldn't afford it!

?Knowing that I had to sell Foxconn on terms that might be unreasonable for a startup, I resolved to pitch them the way I pitched investors.?When I landed in Taiwan, I gave my best pitch for the company, and then asked for them to invest the NRE at very favorable terms to the company, along with extending us generous payment terms as we didn’t have enough capital to pre-purchase.?They agreed, and we were able to work with them to launch the product.?

While the investment itself was very helpful at the outset, the payment terms allowed us to grow the business with tens of millions less capital even before we could convince banks to finance our working capital.?

Suppliers are critical to your success, especially a relationship like your key Contract Manufacturer.?Treat the sourcing process like you do the fundraising process.?You must deliver a compelling vision to suppliers because your initial orders may not move the needle on revenue for them.?

As a founder, you can't just outsource this process to your manufacturing or supply chain leader, you need to develop the executive relationships with your key suppliers.

?If you do a good job of pitching and helping the supplier understand the potential for growth with your company, you can reap enormous dividends for your business.

What To Focus On

1. Treat your supply partners like investors in your business.?
2. Build direct relationships with the leaders of your key suppliers
3. Ask for what you need! Be prepared for pushback, but don't treat the negotiation adversarially.?For example extending payment terms helps you grow faster, which means their business is growing faster as well.
4. Push for strong payment terms as this can defray significant working capital need - net30 is good, as you can expand this can become net45 and net60.
5. Be a good partner – focus on the terms and performance most important to you, but be willing to compromise in other places. Identify early on the key factors necessary for your business and be understanding outside of that.

In the News

Avalo feeds 'Threatened Ketchup' story to TIME Magazine ??

We couldn't have asked for a better article on this one. Co-founder and CSO Mariano Alvarez spoke to the senior international climate correspondent for TIME and the result was this piece that made Avalo look, well, like heroes.?Read feature article in TIME

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Chloris Geospatial CEO on carbon stock measurement | CNBC East Africa ??

Being able to monitor the carbon performance of a project over time matters. Founder Marco Albani explains the why and how Africa could be keeping a closer watch on its valuable natural capital on CNBC Power Lunch East Africa.?Watch broadcast news segment

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Ascend Elements' billion-dollar battery materials deal covered by Bloomberg ?? ??

Battery materials company has inked a deal with a major car manufacturer for a minimum of $1 billion of cathode material, with options to expand to $5 billion of cathode under similar terms. The contract covers cathode for at least 40 gigawatt hours of batteries a year, enough for 750,000 electric cars,?writes Bloomberg .?

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Finless Foods' cell-based bluefin tuna exclusive tasting by The Guardian ?? ??

The writer tasted their bluefin tuna product, made from a 51-49% mix of cells grown in its lab and a proprietary blend of plant-based materials. "I was distracted by the excitement of being offered a taste of the future and the hope of one-day enjoying foods without a side of guilt," she said.?See article in The Guardian .

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*NOTE: Finless is now in the final stages before submitting its prototype to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is in position to achieve regulatory approval in 2024.?

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Climax Foods achieving "melt & stretch" in VegNews, food industry trades???

Climax announced its breakthrough casein replacement, which gives consumers all the flavor and melt-and-stretch of cheese, but zero animals involved. Read articles in?VegNews ,?Food Navigator ,?Vegconomist , and?Green Queen .

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Monarch Tractor leader Carlo Mondavi profiled in The New York Times ??

Legendary wine critic Eric Asimov got to know the other side of Carlo Mondavi – the one who is obsessed not just with wine, but with farming itself. And, specifically, organic and sustainable methods, made possibly with equipment like Monarch's EV tractors.?Read piece .

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New funding for Dalan's honeybee vaccine noted by Forbes ??

The honeybee vaccine we backed early on is now available for apiaries and queen producers including Tauzer Apiaries in California. The company has just received more capital from Prime Movers Lab and will use that to continue its commercial momentum.?See article .?

Other Featured News

Colossal Biosciences named a TIME 100 Most Influential Company

One of our earliest investments in biodiversity, the de-extinction company bringing back the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger (among many others!) has made the list.

Chloris Geospatial can now track >two decades of carbon stock

Imagine it's the year 2000. What did the foliage in your neighborhood look like?

The Chloris platform can now look back 23 years into the past and measure carbon storage, with spatially explicit above-ground biomass stock and change data.

Cruz Foam now in LVMH accelerator

Luxury brands set the tone for fashion, but consumers are leading in sustainability, demanding earth-friendly packaging from Tiffany, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. This fall, to create those options,?the LVMH accelerator will welcome Cruz Foam.

Profile Opportunity: UK Only

Are you based in the UK, or know a founder who is?

Bloomberg is?actively seeking climate tech startups ?to profile in its UK Startups to Watch.?

• Seeking "most interesting areas of innovation, the best ideas, the smartest founders"
• Sourcing from all over the country and teams with diverse backgrounds and experiences
• Specifically want you to be:
• Working on something truly innovative and unique
• Have won over investors and customers
• Privately held and are less than 10 years old

?Applications are due August 7th, so get yours in soon!?LINK TO SUBMIT HERE .

Tom Chi's Advice to Aspiring Founders

It's a tough market out there. When defining your business concept and strategy, consider factors that speed up entrepreneurial activity:

1. A customer base that is open to spending in new directions
2. The ability to try and iterate quickly on behalf of solving problems for that customer
3. Access to capital to help bridge the period between starting a new direction and achieving a self-sustaining financial system for the effort

About At One Ventures: What We Look For

We back early-stage (Seed, Series A) companies that are using disruptive deep tech to upend the unit economics of established industries while dramatically reducing their planetary footprint. We also look for companies that are pioneering new industries that are actively regenerative to planetary health. Lastly, we look for companies that have significant potential to be healthy, scalable businesses, because the positive impacts we invest in only last as long as the businesses that carry them.