Kristin Vaughan is the Director of the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, the largest dedicated cleantech investor in Australia, created to invest $200 million in early-stage clean technology companies. Prior to joining CEFC, Kristin spent more than a decade in private equity. Kristin previously worked as a management consultant at AT Kearney and holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney.
In this chat with Ian, Kristin discusses:
Her career journey and how it led to investing in cleantech
Where the opportunities are in renewables in Australia
Australian startups with innovative clean energy tech
The role of carbon pricing
Quickfire Round Recommendations
Book: Into Thin Air, Touching the Void and The Adventurer's Son
Podcast: The Interchange from Greentech Media & How I Built This
News source: The Guardian, ABC, AFR
Favourite tech CEO: Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia)
App: LastPass
Productivity tool: Pen & paper to-do lists
__________________
Innovation Bay is holding AI and health tech-focused pitch events this May for Horizon, our community of experienced angel investors. If you are the founder of an AI or health tech startup looking to network with angels who can offer advice, connections and capital, apply to pitch here: https://bit.ly/PitchHorizonMay
Women-led startups in Victoria, apply to connect with Horizon: https://bit.ly/VictorianFemaleFounders

<div>Kristin Vaughan is the Director of the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, the largest dedicated cleantech investor in Australia, created to invest $200 million in early-stage clean technology companies. Prior to joining CEFC, Kristin spent more than a decade in private equity. Kristin previously worked as a management consultant at AT Kearney and holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney.</div><div> </div><div>In this chat with Ian, Kristin discusses:</div><ul><li>Her career journey and how it led to investing in cleantech</li><li>Where the opportunities are in renewables in Australia</li><li>Australian startups with innovative clean energy tech</li><li>The role of carbon pricing</li></ul><div> </div><div>Quickfire Round Recommendations</div><ul><li>Book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Into-Thin-Air-Jon-Krakauer/dp/0679457526/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=into+thin+air&amp;qid=1614831060&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Into Thin Air</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Touching-the-Void/dp/B08GHHS2Q7/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=touching+the+void&amp;qid=1614831079&amp;sr=8-2" target="_blank">Touching the Void</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Touching-Void-Joe-Simpson/dp/0099511746/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22UOHXW5HFMBD&amp;keywords=touching+the+void&amp;qid=1614831103&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=touching+the+%252Caudible%252C324&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">The Adventurer's Son</a></li><li>Podcast: <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-interchange" target="_blank">The Interchange</a> from Greentech Media &amp; How I Built This</li><li>News source: The Guardian, ABC, AFR</li><li>Favourite tech CEO: Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia)</li><li>App: <a href="https://www.lastpass.com/" target="_blank">LastPass</a></li><li>Productivity tool: Pen &amp; paper to-do lists</li></ul><div> </div><div>__________________</div><div> </div><div>Innovation Bay is holding AI and health tech-focused pitch events this May for Horizon, our community of experienced angel investors. If you are the founder of an AI or health tech startup looking to network with angels who can offer advice, connections and capital, apply to pitch here: <a href="https://bit.ly/PitchHorizonMay" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/PitchHorizonMay</a></div><div> </div><div>Women-led startups in Victoria, apply to connect with Horizon: <a href="https://bit.ly/VictorianFemaleFounders" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/VictorianFemaleFounders</a></div>

There is a lot of activity in the Australian startup ecosystem. Ideas, talent, and money are all flowing into this sector at an unprecedented rate. 

This weekly podcast brings in-depth interviews with the best people making the biggest difference.

It's brought to you by Ian Gardiner and Phaedon Stough, technology entrepreneurs helping to grow the startup sector in Australia and New Zealand. Ian and Phaedon co-founded Innovation Bay with a clear mission to help technology entrepreneurs succeed.

A weekly deep dive into Australia's tech and startup ecosystem. Brought to you by Innovation Bay

Open the Pod Bay Doors

The Australian and New Zealand startup ecosystem is burgeoning, exciting and filled with some of the most fascinating minds on the planet, all driven by a passion to make a positive and lasting impact. Open The Pod Bay Doors invites some of the brightest minds in the industry for deep conversations and awe-inspiring insights from their captivating journeys. Lend us your ears to gain some fresh knowledge and broaden your insights. Brought to you weekly by Innovation Bay. 

The Australian and New Zealand startup ecosystem is burgeoning, exciting and filled with some of the most fascinating minds on the planet, all driven by a passion to make a positive and lasting impact. Open The Pod Bay Doors invites some of the brightest minds in the industry for deep conversations and awe-inspiring insights from their captivating journeys. Lend us your ears to gain some fresh knowledge and broaden your insights. Brought to you weekly by Innovation Bay.

Kristin Vaughan is the Director of the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, the largest dedicated cleantech investor in Australia, created to...

E110 - Kristin Vaughan, Clean Energy Innovation Fund

Our guest this week is Leah Kaplan, APAC Sustainability Business Lead at Google Cloud. Leah’s passion for sustainability stems from her deep love of nature. Leah held a number of consulting technology roles before her dream job came up at Google Cloud - where she now sits at the nexus of technology and sustainability. 



Sustainability has been a core value at Google for 25 years who are looking to minimise their impact on the planet while helping others to do the same. In 2007, Google became the first major company to become carbon neutral. In 2017 Google was the first company to achieve a 100% renewable energy match - this means purchasing renewable energy that covers all energy usage for all of Google which they’ve done every year since. Google has data centres running 24/7 solely on carbon free energy. One of their key goals by 2030 is to have every data centre around the world run on carbon free energy. Google is forecast to spend $10B on renewable energy this year alone! 



As  the whole world struggles with climate change, how do businesses begin to understand the impact climate change is going to have on them in the future? Leah’s role as Sustainability Business Lead for APAC at Google is fascinating and impactful, with an emphasis on encouraging and helping corporate customers to achieve their sustainability goals via the Google Cloud platform. There are myriad sustainability areas to focus on - not just gas emissions. These include water stewardship, waste reduction, circulatory in products, optimisation - all areas that technology can help with - particularly AI. 



One of the pressures Leah observes with the customers she engages with is that many of those in younger generations are willing to pay more for products that are sustainably sourced and will show loyalty to brands that have a sustainability mission. Leah helps companies tackle these challenges by working with them to assess a measurement framework and benchmark, help them to become compliant against regulation, assist companies to make data-driven critical business decisions, guide them in optimising with what they do have, and help to seek out aligned sustainability growth opportunities. She also emphasises that companies with strong sustainability initiatives attract top talent.



This hugely educational and fascinating discussion cover so much more... take a listen.



Interested in learning more about how Google Cloud can assist you to reach sustainability goals? Head to Google Cloud’s website, sign up for free and receive $300 in credit, or reach out to your Google rep or Innovation Bay who will put you in touch.  



Book: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen and Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie

Podcast: The Energy Gang and Stuff You Should Know 

News Source: The Guardian 

Productivity Tool: Calendar and Kanban Board 

CEO: Melanie Perkins, Canva 

App: Signal 

TV Show: The Wire 

TEDTalk Topic: Geospatial analytics and its impact on sustainability

Our guest this week is Leah Kaplan, APAC Sustainability Business Lead at Google Cloud. Leah’s passion for sustainability stems from her deep love of nature. Leah held a number of consulting technology roles before her dream job came up at Google Cloud - where she now sits at the nexus of technology and sustainability. 
 
Sustainability has been a core value at Google for 25 years who are looking to minimise their impact on the planet while helping others to do the same. In 2007, Google became the first major company to become carbon neutral. In 2017 Google was the first company to achieve a 100% renewable energy match - this means purchasing renewable energy that covers all energy usage for all of Google which they’ve done every year since. Google has data centres running 24/7 solely on carbon free energy. One of their key goals by 2030 is to have every data centre around the world run on carbon free energy. Google is forecast to spend $10B on renewable energy this year alone! 
 
As  the whole world struggles with climate change, how do businesses begin to understand the impact climate change is going to have on them in the future? Leah’s role as Sustainability Business Lead for APAC at Google is fascinating and impactful, with an emphasis on encouraging and helping corporate customers to achieve their sustainability goals via the Google Cloud platform. There are myriad sustainability areas to focus on - not just gas emissions. These include water stewardship, waste reduction, circulatory in products, optimisation - all areas that technology can help with - particularly AI. 
 
One of the pressures Leah observes with the customers she engages with is that many of those in younger generations are willing to pay more for products that are sustainably sourced and will show loyalty to brands that have a sustainability mission. Leah helps companies tackle these challenges by working with them to assess a measurement framework and benchmark, help them to become compliant against regulation, assist companies to make data-driven critical business decisions, guide them in optimising with what they do have, and help to seek out aligned sustainability growth opportunities. She also emphasises that companies with strong sustainability initiatives attract top talent.
 
This hugely educational and fascinating discussion cover so much more... take a listen.
 
Interested in learning more about how Google Cloud can assist you to reach sustainability goals? Head to Google Cloud’s<a href="https://d2nt8r04.na1.hs-sales-engage.com/Ctc/5G+23284/d2Nt8R04/JjT59_bhW50kH_H6lZ3lnW1VSvw81J4gmkN71mJTZj6pzRW571yLd9jm3MrW41G9tv1jgcGCW3MrpnS7dwW77W4J0lxw3BVNrPW4cp8f46ZnDkwW2M87nY6LL18-W6FVXZw3K6sVWW4N-MpK59r-JwW8SgKmt7GwkJ7N6b5kjMZsQ5nW5ZhDBW87QdKYW7K-JG53qP5QXW1GrB_03GnVsvW2MZmjH6vnzzqW2NgGzP3Hg6rQVMRV2x5rc4T7W3KCqTh56NPRxW1gDMJT3LbZ5rVt5ZkW69hDKhW2Jg3v06BkWGlW1x6ZZt13fZ-cN2T9V0CFZ9yRW2rD7Sx46nTzQW1lNy701SptMsW8mN4CQ3X8s-QMVtHBQjpbByW36zg9n5l3wlwW9bNccG7pZsF_W8ldXrJ5xyYrxW6gV-BR94nJzjf6s9-xW04"> website</a>, sign up for free and receive $300 in credit, or reach out to your Google rep or Innovation Bay who will put you in touch.  
 
Book: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen and Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
Podcast: The Energy Gang and Stuff You Should Know 
News Source: The Guardian 
Productivity Tool: Calendar and Kanban Board 
CEO: Melanie Perkins, Canva 
App: Signal 
TV Show: The Wire 
TEDTalk Topic: Geospatial analytics and its impact on sustainability

E175 - Leah Kaplan, APAC Sustainability Business Lead at Google Cloud

Our guest this week is Bernadette Olivier, CEO & Co-Founder of The Volte - a groundbreaking peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace that's redefining the way we experience fashion globally. From its humble beginnings to its dazzling rise, The Volte seamlessly connects borrowers and lenders, while promoting a sustainable, circular economy.



Bernadette takes us through the evolution of The Volte, from its early days catering to fashionistas to its transformation into a platform embraced by mainstream consumers. She reflects on the complexities of remote work, the importance and challenges of strategic partnerships, and the challenges faced during the tumultuous times of COVID-19. The Volte not only weathered the COVID storm, but has since experienced remarkable growth in orders and active users. 



She candidly reflects on the importance of trust, dedication, and alignment within a startup team, where she shares co-founder duties with four other women - Genevieve Hohnen, Kym Atkins and Jade Hirniak. From bootstrap beginnings to securing funding from Angels and VCs including eBay Ventures,The Volte defied the odds to become a trailblazer in the fashion rental industry.



Bernadette shares the uniqueness of The Volte's model - which is focused on occasion-based rentals rather than traditional subscriptions - as well as insights into the company's distinctive unit economics. From leveraging strategic investments, harnessing the power of AI for personalised customer experiences, and visions of international expansion into Europe, Bernadette paints a compelling picture for The Volte's future.



Quickfire Round 

Book: 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan, 'Burn Book' by Kara Swisher

Podcast: Hard Fork, The Business of Fashion 

News Source: New York Times 

Productivity App: ClickUp 

CEO: Anthony Eisen (Afterpay) 

Favourite App: Calm 

TV Show:  'Vanderpump Rules' and 'The Morning Show'

Movie: ‘Barbie’, ‘Oppenheimer’ 

TED Talk Topic: Changing consumption habits - moving from disposable, one-off usage to reusing, safekeeping and passing onto the next owner. 

Our guest this week is Bernadette Olivier, CEO &amp; Co-Founder of The Volte - a groundbreaking peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace that's redefining the way we experience fashion globally. From its humble beginnings to its dazzling rise, The Volte seamlessly connects borrowers and lenders, while promoting a sustainable, circular economy.
 
Bernadette takes us through the evolution of The Volte, from its early days catering to fashionistas to its transformation into a platform embraced by mainstream consumers. She reflects on the complexities of remote work, the importance and challenges of strategic partnerships, and the challenges faced during the tumultuous times of COVID-19. The Volte not only weathered the COVID storm, but has since experienced remarkable growth in orders and active users. 
 
She candidly reflects on the importance of trust, dedication, and alignment within a startup team, where she shares co-founder duties with four other women - Genevieve Hohnen, Kym Atkins and Jade Hirniak. From bootstrap beginnings to securing funding from Angels and VCs including eBay Ventures,The Volte defied the odds to become a trailblazer in the fashion rental industry.
 
Bernadette shares the uniqueness of The Volte's model - which is focused on occasion-based rentals rather than traditional subscriptions - as well as insights into the company's distinctive unit economics. From leveraging strategic investments, harnessing the power of AI for personalised customer experiences, and visions of international expansion into Europe, Bernadette paints a compelling picture for The Volte's future.
 
Quickfire Round 
Book: 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan, 'Burn Book' by Kara Swisher
Podcast: Hard Fork, The Business of Fashion 
News Source: New York Times 
Productivity App: ClickUp 
CEO: Anthony Eisen (Afterpay) 
Favourite App: Calm 
TV Show:  'Vanderpump Rules' and 'The Morning Show'
Movie: ‘Barbie’, ‘Oppenheimer’ 
TED Talk Topic: Changing consumption habits - moving from disposable, one-off usage to reusing, safekeeping and passing onto the next owner.

E174 - Bernadette Olivier - CEO & Co-Founder - The Volte

Proud Canberran and past North Carolina coleslaw wrestling competitor, Olympia Yarger is an incredibly resilient, dedicated, inspiring and super hands-on Founder & CEO of Goterra, a waste management technology company that uses autonomous robotic systems to process food waste using insects. The company enables a circular economy by creating agricultural commodities from the waste stream. 



Goterra is paving the way for a circular economy by transforming waste into agricultural commodities, all while significantly reducing truck movement and processing costs. Learn about the remarkable environmental impact of Goterra's technology, which eliminates noxious gasses and slashes emissions by an impressive 97%.



Having spoken to her on the podcast 3 years ago, it was our pleasure to touch base with Olympia again on her fascinating journey from sheep farmer to maggot farmer, the incredible growth Goterra has had over the past 3 years while being incredibly efficient with the capital they have raised (just $20M since 2019) all with a laser focus on Goterra's mission to redefine waste management for a more sustainable future. 



On the topic of mental health, Olympia has been working from home more frequently to limit distractions and, after a tough year personally in 2023, has made a commitment to ride her horse at least 5 times a week. As part of Innovation Bay’s Summit community, Olympia has had some of her most meaningful experiences at Summit events. Though it can be difficult to get to the events amongst the day to day commitments of running the business, each time she’s gone she mentions it refills the bucket and gains perspective from other founders doing the same thing.  



Olympia and Ian also spend some time unravelling the State of Australian Startup Funding report, particularly around the pressing issues of gender inequality and diversity in the ecosystem that the report reveals. Olmypia says, “It’s disgusting and we should be ashamed.” She calls out that as an industry we shouldn’t be using any female founder as an example because the number of female founders receiving funding is still far too low and this needs to change. With deeptech, an even more polarising sector of the industry, Olympia adds: “The sheer limited number of women “making it” are an anomaly, not an attribute and we’ve got to change something.”



Quickfire Round: 

Book: Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Podcast: Agtech So What 

News Source: Al-Jazeera

Productivity Tool: Notion 

CEO: Tom Loeffler or Keaton Okkonen 

App: Instagram 

TV Show: Yellowstone, Vikings 

TEDTalk Topic: What building climate tech means 



Connect with Olympia Yarger and visit https://goterra.au/

Proud Canberran and past North Carolina coleslaw wrestling competitor, Olympia Yarger is an incredibly resilient, dedicated, inspiring and super hands-on Founder &amp; CEO of Goterra, a waste management technology company that uses autonomous robotic systems to process food waste using insects. The company enables a circular economy by creating agricultural commodities from the waste stream. 
 
Goterra is paving the way for a circular economy by transforming waste into agricultural commodities, all while significantly reducing truck movement and processing costs. Learn about the remarkable environmental impact of Goterra's technology, which eliminates noxious gasses and slashes emissions by an impressive 97%.
 
Having spoken to her on the podcast 3 years ago, it was our pleasure to touch base with Olympia again on her fascinating journey from sheep farmer to maggot farmer, the incredible growth Goterra has had over the past 3 years while being incredibly efficient with the capital they have raised (just $20M since 2019) all with a laser focus on Goterra's mission to redefine waste management for a more sustainable future. 
 
On the topic of mental health, Olympia has been working from home more frequently to limit distractions and, after a tough year personally in 2023, has made a commitment to ride her horse at least 5 times a week. As part of Innovation Bay’s Summit community, Olympia has had some of her most meaningful experiences at Summit events. Though it can be difficult to get to the events amongst the day to day commitments of running the business, each time she’s gone she mentions it refills the bucket and gains perspective from other founders doing the same thing.  
 
Olympia and Ian also spend some time unravelling the State of Australian Startup Funding report, particularly around the pressing issues of gender inequality and diversity in the ecosystem that the report reveals. Olmypia says, “It’s disgusting and we should be ashamed.” She calls out that as an industry we shouldn’t be using any female founder as an example because the number of female founders receiving funding is still far too low and this needs to change. With deeptech, an even more polarising sector of the industry, Olympia adds: “The sheer limited number of women “making it” are an anomaly, not an attribute and we’ve got to change something.”
 
Quickfire Round: 
Book: Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Podcast: Agtech So What 
News Source: Al-Jazeera
Productivity Tool: Notion 
CEO: Tom Loeffler or Keaton Okkonen 
App: Instagram 
TV Show: Yellowstone, Vikings 
TEDTalk Topic: What building climate tech means 
 
Connect with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/olympiayarger/">Olympia Yarger</a> and visit <a href="https://goterra.au/">https://goterra.au/</a>

E173 - Olympia Yarger, CEO & Founder, Goterra

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/9c434ae7-dbdc-45ab-9d27-aed80050a466/clips/fb40d38b-463e-44a6-ad4e-b11601847fc7/transcript

E110 - Kristin Vaughan, Clean Energy Innovation Fund

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