🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, VC edition.
Today, we are talking to Tobias Egle from M Ventures
Tobias has a science-to-venture background, which made this a slightly different conversation than most of our VC episodes. The major topics we covered were…
His personal experience of going from PhD to venture
Decarbonizing the electronics manufacturing industry. With a specific focus on semi-conductors
Concrete examples of how AI is being used to advance the sustainable materials discovery process
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The Guest: Tobias Egle
Tobias Egle is currently a Venture Investor at M Ventures, the Corporate Venture arm of Merck.
He studied Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard, where he completed his PhD. During that time, he also had attempted, with a peer, to start a company. That time gave him a taste of entrepreneurship.
As he sought to find his path, he ended up sort of by accident, landing in venture.
Today, he’s investing in deep tech investment with M Ventures, where a part of what he invests in is the decarbonization of the semiconductor industry and electronics manufacturing at large.
Having the perspective of someone earlier in their career is quite refreshing.
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The VC: M Ventures
M Ventures is the Corporate Venture arm of German Pharma giant, Merck. The fund has allocated over €600m, was set up in 2009, and now has over 90 investments.
They focus their investments across the sectors that intersect with their work in pharma, but also have a portion they allocate towards sustainability. In the world of semiconductors, there is a huge opportunity for further decarbonization of the manufacturing process.
Another example is technology that can detect, capture, and destroy PFAS. A topic that hit the news heavily in the past few months.
They start investing at early stages unlike many CVCs.
📝 Show Notes:
Topics
01:21 - Introduction and Background
04:32 - Transitioning from Academia to Venture Capital
07:48 - Getting into Venture Capital
10:52 - Focus Areas of M Ventures
17:05 - Decarbonizing Electronics and Life Sciences
23:37 - Challenges of PFAS Removal
31:45 - Gaps in Deep Tech Founders
40:45 - The Impact of AI in Climate Solutions
46:55 - Adaptation and Climate Resilience
48:10 - Grid Resiliency and Renewable Integration
51:40 - Transitioning from R&D to Product and Business Development
53:00 - Designing for Manufacturability in Hard Tech
56:26 - Sustainable Supply Chain in Electronics Manufacturing
57:42 - Team Building and Hiring for Startups
01:01:34 - Getting into VC and Starting a Company
Links
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This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
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🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see you all next episode!
#149 PFAS, Sustainable Semiconductors, Water Consumption, & More w/ Tobias Egle (M Ventures)