Co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer Dr Nicky Dee:

Forbes journalist Trevor Clawson and I had a wide ranging chat so I was curious to see his take on our conversation. Great to see the evaluation of genuine impact catching his attention as a critical element in climatetech. Carbon13 requires each of our ventures to build out an investment and a carbon case with support from our experts before getting a chance to pitch. Not just anti-greenwashing but good input for ideation, a commercial edge as well as access to future funding.

It’s easy to be cynical. With the climate crisis apparently unfolding more rapidly than expected, increasing amounts of VC money are being directed towards climatetech and greentech startups. No surprises there. Big problems create opportunities for those with solutions.

So where does cynicism enter the picture? Well, perhaps it would be better described as healthy skepticism. If you spend any time talking to climate entrepreneurs, it’s hard not to get enthused by their commitment to addressing the carbon crisis. But there are always questions. Beyond the elevator pitch, does this venture really have the potential to genuinely address the problem and can it be scaled to the point where a difference can be made? More generally, is it reasonable, fair or realistic to expect entrepreneurs to play a significant role in solving a global problem that has its roots in the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries?

Dr. Nicky Dee believes that entrepreneurs have a crucial role to play in helping to mitigate the climate crisis. At the same time, however, she stresses startup founders must be robust in determining what their real impact is likely to be. That’s not always straightforward.