On a recent episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, our Co-founder and General Partner Johanna Wolfson joins host Dylan Garrett for a deep dive into how traditional venture capital often falls short when it comes to supporting the long timelines and risk profiles required for climate tech hardware.
At Azolla Ventures, the type of capital we’ve aggregated mandates us to focus on impact. Johanna shares how this mission-driven approach enables us to back high-risk, hardware-based innovations, especially the overlooked, gigaton-scale opportunities that have the potential for outsized climate benefit.
She also reflects on her journey from MIT to Azolla, and how a passion for advancing science led her to help bring breakthrough solutions to market and create lasting impact in people’s lives.
What you’ll learn:
- How catalytic capital differs from traditional venture funding
- Why 20-30% of the technologies needed to hit emission targets by 2040 will come from technologies not yet commercially available
- The investment strategy behind supporting “non-obvious” opportunities
- How climate tech companies should adapt to current market and political uncertainties
- Why adaptation and resilience technologies are becoming increasingly important
- How philanthropic capital can be leveraged to support high-risk, high-impact solutions
- Why focusing on super pollutants represents a critical opportunity for near-term impact