What’s your background and why did you determine to construct Materials Evolution?
“I’ve a PhD in sustainable concrete from Queen’s College Belfast, expertise on initiatives just like the Apple Campus, and am a Google Fellow. I’m lucky to be recognised on Forbes’ 30 Underneath 30 checklist and have given many speeches on sustainability and being a lady founder.
Since founding Materials Evolution in 2020 in my mum or dad’s storage with a aim to radically and quickly decarbonise the constructed surroundings business, the corporate has grown by means of a profitable Collection A funding spherical and now employs 22 folks throughout the UK.
Our work straight addresses the urgent international problem of local weather change, with a give attention to decarbonising the cement business, one of many largest contributors to greenhouse gasoline emissions. Cement manufacturing accounts for 8% of worldwide emissions, making it the second most consumed materials on the earth after water — a startling statistic that underscores the important want for change. Additional, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of business waste are at present sitting in piles world wide, creating environmental and potential public well being considerations.”
What are you hoping to attain with Materials Evolution?
“Materials Evolution’s MevoCem may each radically decarbonise the development business and make use of waste materials globally. By changing conventional cement with our low-carbon, waste-derived different, we are able to already obtain as much as an 85% discount in carbon emissions for each tonne of cement produced.
We’re already making an affect with our 120,000 tonne per 12 months manufacturing facility. If scaled globally, our present answer may decarbonise the manufacturing of over 4 billion tonnes of cement yearly, eliminating roughly 3 gigatons of CO₂ emissions every year. We now have additionally piloted a carbon-negative product that may go even additional. Moreover, we might repurposes hundreds of thousands of tonnes of business waste, decreasing the burden on landfills and addressing waste administration challenges.”
How did you study Feminine Founder Workplace Hours?
“I first got here throughout posts about FFOH on LinkedIn and reached out to a fellow founder who spoke extremely of the programme. Based mostly on their advice, I signed up for an occasion and took it from there!”
What had been your objectives going into the occasion? What did you hope to attain from the conversations?
“Once I was first launched to FFOH, we weren’t actively elevating cash. My main aim was to raised perceive the investor perspective: what they search for, what fundraising entails, and the way we should always put together if we ever determined to pursue funding. Reasonably than straight asking for funding or introductions, I used to be centered on gathering insights and studying in regards to the course of. It was about constructing relationships and gaining readability on the fundraising journey so we may make knowledgeable choices sooner or later.”
May you share a number of the challenges you’ve encountered fundraising as a lady founder?
“Many occasions, I’ve been one of many solely girls within the room, each amongst founders and inside investor groups. When an funding crew lacks variety, it alerts that variety of thought isn’t a precedence, which may make it more durable for underrepresented founders to get assist. Reasonably than making this about private struggles, I see it as a broader business concern — there merely aren’t sufficient girls in key decision-making roles, which impacts the sorts of companies that obtain funding. Programmes akin to this that assist bridge that hole and supply training and assist are essential to feminine founders at the beginning of their journey.”
