Raychel Espiritu

🌞 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗸: 𝗔 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 I’ve just picked up my New Year read—a collection of solarpunk short stories. If you’re wondering, what is solarpunk, and why does it matter? Here’s the heart of it: “Solarpunk is about finding ways to make life more wonderful for us right now, and more importantly for the generations that follow us—extending human life at the species level, rather than individually.” This line, from the article Solarpunk: Notes Toward a Manifesto, hits home for me. Whether you’re in renewables, EVs, batteries, heat pumps, or sustainability, this is what we do. Every day, we’re working to make life better now and for the future. We’re cleaning up transportation, clearing smog from our skies, and creating sustainable ways to live. We believe in a world that doesn’t self-destruct—a world that can and should, be better. But let’s not forget the “punk” in solarpunk. This isn’t just about optimism; it’s about rebellion, about challenging the status quo. Sustainability is still on the fringe or worse, co-opted by bureaucracy and vested interests. Just glance at the latest COP headlines to see how progress can get bogged down. Solarpunk isn’t only about technology—it’s about values. Freedom, ingenuity, mutual respect, independence, community—these are the counterpoints to the individualistic quantification of life on one end and the encroaching digital surveillance state on the other. To all my fellow solarpunks out there: keep going! Keep building, innovating, and dreaming of a better world. Let’s make 2025 a year of progress, creativity, and hope! Happy New Year! #Solarpunk #Sustainability #EnergyTransition #Renewables #EVs #Cleantech #Community 

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Such a great article on Jason Hubbard's climate journey!! Proud to work with him at Zūm I used to work for the U.S. Army, in the 1990s. In 1991, they announced an army-wide recycling program. It was more intensive back then: separating green and brown glass, for instance, not the streamlined process we have today. It included everything—vehicles, furniture, you name it. And I loved it. I’d grown up learning about greenhouse gasses, how we can harm our planet. So it was great to see an organization really putting in the effort. That recycling program still exists today, and it has impacts that are both big and small. For instance, civilians on and near army bases use the same recycling centers as those in the military, and because military personnel move a lot, civilians can go use their moving boxes, upcycling that cardboard and making sure it gets used as much as possible. It’s a tiny thing, but in aggregate that makes a difference. Seeing that recycling program has really affected my view of sustainability. I don’t just recycle plastics. I know where to take things like styrofoam, how to properly upcycle and recycle things as a result. To me, sustainability is about being informed, knowing what the right steps are and doing everything you can to take them. I love working at Zum because it’s a company that takes the right steps. One part of my job overseeing I.T. is helping with the electrification of our bus yards. I’m making sure that we’re running charging conduits the right way, to be as economically and electrically efficient as possible, so we can best serve students, families, and school districts. In this job, I get to be a part of doing the right things. That’s sustainability. #sustainability #zum

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From overcoming imposter syndrome to negotiation advice to solar recycling, there are some great insights & pieces of advice in this Canary Media Inc. article featuring Zoe Berkery, COO at CleanCapital: https://rb.gy/1d4jva. For more insights from Zoe, check out this podcast episode, which is still one of the Green Light’s top 5 most downloaded episodes: • Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/g8-pDSkF • Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gnWY3gtq • YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gqdGee4b If you’re a cleantech employer & need help scaling your workforce efficiently with top tier candidates, send me or Aimee Bigwood a message directly. If you’re looking for your next role in cleantech, take a look at the latest job openings at industry-leading companies: bit.ly/dg_jobs. #cleantech #cleanenergy #renewables #renewableenergy #solarpower #energystorage #jobs #hiring #greentech #greenenergy #sustainability

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Love this article from Monica (White) highlighting the investment we're making in the Carbon Black portfolio and the eco-system of Partners!

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When Nick Josefowitz announced Permit Power last year, I was excited, thinking it would champion technology-agnostic solutions to accelerate clean energy permitting. I even invited him to chat and offer support. Thanks to our policy contacts, I learned that Permit Power has since pushed for laws mandating the adoption of a pretty limited solar permitting platform, SolarAPP+, where their founders also serve as board members. 👎 We're still waiting for Permit Power's attached commitment to: - Advocate for solution-agnostic policies - Amend anti-competitive laws - Collaborate with all stakeholders, including competitors - Prioritize the clean tech industry as a whole Laws should focus on goals like instant permitting and compliance—not dictate specific solutions. Prescriptive policies stifle innovation, violate antitrust principles, and slow progress toward net-zero goals. 💡 🚀 Symbium is proud to partner with organizations that do much better because we understand the imperative to champion competition, innovation, and collaboration to drive the clean energy transition forward. ⚡ #CleanEnergy #Innovation #ClimateAction Abhijeet Mohapatra Tristan Krueger Louis Bui Linda Barrera Grey Wolnick Angela Foss Omari Barron Jennifer Castenson Cheryl Webster Lucas Toffoli Camille Bangug Gabriel Scheer Nick Fong Jordan Moss Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA BBG Ventures Canary Media Inc. Scott Wiener Bernadette Del Chiaro Timothy Fiske, MCP, CASp Aaron Gress Mary Louise Gifford Garrett Reynolds Scott Reynolds Laura Fingal-Surma Atoosa Mahdavian Shima Heidari RMI Maura Mooney Chuck Dickinson Tim McRae Adrian Bray

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Reflections from the trails to create huge returns for your business! I wrote this article a while ago and was inspired to repost it after having fun on the trails today! I originally wrote it with respect to running a bussiness but the approach is super transferable to deploying onsite energy systems - your first to at scale! https://lnkd.in/gEuEfwGr Pre-Ride: This phase is all about learning, exploration and preparation. We learn about the opportunities of generating and storing energy right at our facility vs being solely reliant on our power utility. We equip ourselves with the right tools, customized insights, and create a game plan. At VECKTA our platform is designed to support businesses to do just that: Where - which sites are ideal for onsite energy based on your goals, incentives and site parameters. What - match system benefits with your energy demand and financial limitations to determine which clean energy or hybrid systems are best. Who - competitively access capital, services and equipment to finance and deploy onsite power. We get the best solutions with leading suppliers custom selected for your project from the VECKTA marketplace. Re-Ride: Here, we build confidence through success, repetition and deeper learning, refining our approach and enhancing deployments to maximize returns on investment. We achieve this by having customized data and insights at our fingertips accessible to all key stakeholders, Free-Ride: Finally, we leverage the power of our portfolio approach to adapt dynamically to real time market conditions and busienss changes to execute the game plan at scale. We get into the flow and have fun creating sustainable and profitable energy solutions that drive long-term business value at scale. Success requires continuous learning, adaptation, and purposeful action. Let's embrace the journey and ride the value of onsite energy systems to realize compounding value to save 6 to 9 figure dollar savings and operate reliably and sustainably! #EnergyTransition #Sustainability #RenewableEnergy #BusinessGrowth #Innovation #CleanEnergy #AdaptPurposefully #VECKTA

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⚡ Every week, I turn a whole lot of open tabs into the Climate Draft weekly digest featuring the best things to read, watch and listen to about climate tech. For job seekers, we also highlight open roles, upcoming events, and programs to help people accelerate their efforts and transfer their skills to work on climate solutions. If you haven't subscribed yet, check it out at climatedraft.org. ⚡

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Top 10 pre-seed to Series A funding rounds of the week: ⚫ Environmental services ⚫ 🔶 1. Rainmaker, a one-year-old startup based in El Segundo, CA, that is developing technology to seed clouds, raised a $6.3 million seed round. → Investors: Long Journey Ventures, Day One Ventures, Tamarack Global, 1517 Fund, Starship VC, Champion Hill Ventures, Garry Tan, and Balaji Srinivasan. → Founded by: Augustus Doricko ⚫ Security ⚫ 🔶 2. Niobium Microsystems, a startup that specializes in designing microelectronic components for secure data handling for both commercial and defense clients, raised a $5.5 million seed round. → Investors: Fusion Fund, Morgan Creek Capital, Rev1 Ventures, and others → Founded by: Georgios Dimou ⚫ Robotics ⚫ 🔶 3. Lucid Bots, a startup whose bots want to clean more than your windows, has raised $9.1 million Series A round. → Investors: Cubit Capital, Y Combinator’s Growth Fund and others → Founded by: Andrew Ashur ⚫ TechHealth ⚫ 🔶 4. Humanaut Health, a startup that offers services such as diagnostics, lifestyle modification guidance, hormone therapies, and regenerative cell treatments, raised an $8.7 million seed round. → Investors: The Kabech Fund, Midnight Venture Partners → Founded by: Jim Donnelly, Paul Pagnato, Amy B Killen MD, Harry Adelson ND, Tony Cheng, Elliot Karathanasis, Trey Owen 🔶 5. Ciba Health, a startup that offers a range of programs for health conditions via digital therapeutics or virtual care, raised a $10 million Series A round. → Investors: DigiTx Partners, Plug and Play Ventures, and others → Founded by: Innocent C. 🔶 6. Testmate Health, a startup focused on developing a game-changing at-home rapid STI test, secured $6 million in seed funding. → Investors: H Capital, Amboy Street Ventures, and others → Founded by: Siew-Veena Sahi 🔶 7. Dandi, platform dedicated to improving the fertility care journey, secured $1.3M in funding. → Investors: Tiferes Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, WeWork Alumni Fund and others → Founded by: Jake Kent ⚫ Automation ⚫ 🔶 8. Composabl, provides engineers with tools to build intelligent automation systems, raised a $4.2 million seed round. → Investors: Momenta Ventures, Hannah Grey VC, and others → Founded by: Kence Anderson, 🤖 Xavier Geerinck ⚫ Saas ⚫ 🔶 9. Nudge Security, a startup whose service is designed for companies looking to improve their oversight of SaaS applications, raised a $16.5 million seed round. → Investors: Forgepoint Capital, Ballistic Ventures → Founded by: Russell Spitler ⚫ Crypto ⚫ 🔶 10. Mitosis, a crypto startup whose platform is designed to streamline the process for people investing in digital currencies and assets, raised a $7 million round. → Investors: Amber, Foresight Ventures → Founded by: Jee Yong Kim, Jake Jae Won Kim ⚜⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ Btw, I'm Ivelina, content lead at doola and founder of my new passion project EverythingStartups. Follow me for more of this. ;) #startups #funding #venturecapital #fundraising

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Corporate VC is an incredibly smart option to consider for so many climate companies, but it often seems impossible to navigate. Check out this piece with Enduring Planet and Taylor Chapman to help demystify the process.

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At New York Climate Week this year, Cascale and I pledged to help companies cut through the jungle of global climate initiatives. Now, we're thrilled to share the first version of our curated list of said initiatives, available exclusively to Cascale members on Cascale Connect: https://lnkd.in/eRAyqCpX This is a living document, and I invite all members to contribute to our collective knowledge here: please review the list, and contribute back. Are we missing relevant initiatives? Have you spotted inaccuracies? Better yet: do you have experience with some of these and can you share your feedback with us to enhance our effectiveness as a coalition? This kind of contribution is really where the Cascale coalition becomes more than just the sum of its parts.

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A few months ago, I pitched the idea to the founder team that we should have our own podcast 🎙️ 🎧 Why? Because there was no super-nerdy podcast that was 100% dedicated to EV charging, grid- and & energy-related issues and addressing our target audience's pains & interests (#CPOs) And because I get to talk to a lot of smart people, which is one of my favourite activities! 🤩 And here we are, releasing Episode 06 of "The Charge Point Podcast", with fantastic guests that I met at one of the industry's main conference #ICNC204, in Berlin. With the historical & mythical Tempelhof Airport as backdrop, I spoke with some of the most influential voices in the EV charging industry, to hear their predictions for the industry and their key takeaways from ICNC, always related to how we are, together, helping Charge Point Operators become more successful - so they can roll out their networks faster, smarter, leaner. Because this is the backbone of the Green Transition: consumers and businesses won't invest in electrified transportation if they dont see stations on their way. So here is to the first 6 episodes, and to the many still to come - stay tuned. And if you have some suggestions of guests that I should invite in my "studio", drop me a comment on DM me. Thanks again for your contribution to this episode!🎙️ Featuring insights from: Manuel Fernandes, Jaap Burger, Suthalan Gnanes, Marco Möller, Riccardo Becker, Alexander Miropolski 🙏 🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. More info and links here: https://lnkd.in/gRrapcMq PS: and thanks to Jan Köster, Max Brandt and Robert Brehm for your trust 🙌 #EVCharging #Podcast #GreenTech #SustainableEnergy #FutureOfMobility

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True partnerships are transformative catalysts for change. They transcend mere funding, embracing deep listening, dynamic collaboration, and vibrant community-building. Recent experiences at the MARGULF FOUNDATION Grantee Convening, Culture Shifting Summit, EdLoC, and Google Impact Summit have reignited my passion for reimagining how funders can evolve to genuinely empower social impact leaders. In my latest Camelback Ventures blog, I dive into the heart of this crucial conversation: ➡️ How can we build partnerships that fuel innovation? ➡️ What does holistic support for entrepreneurs of color and women really look like? ➡️ How might we create an ecosystem where visionary ideas thrive? Join me in exploring how we can reshape the landscape of social impact. Together, we can craft a future where diverse voices lead the charge in solving our most pressing challenges. Read the full article and let's continue this vital dialogue. How are you reimagining partnerships in your work? 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eW7UrGXu #SocialImpact #EquitablePartnerships #InnovationInFunding #DiversityInEntrepreneurship #SystemicChange

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tem. is transforming the energy sector by directly connecting businesses to #renewable sources, eliminating middlemen. With £10.5 million from Atomico, this London startup addresses the need for affordable clean energy amid rising fossil fuel costs. #EnergyInnovation #Sustainability #CleanEnergy Terese Hougaard https://lnkd.in/d2FrrwUi

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Whether I’m working with climate tech teams or helping people build their personal brands, I keep coming back to one thing: if you want people to get it, keep it simple. In my experience working in climate tech, concepts are layered with scientific jargon, dense data, and specifics that can make even the most interesting projects sound... dull. It’s easy to lose people in the technical details. So I work with their teams to break it down into messages that feel more human, like something you’d explain to a friend who’s hearing it for the first time. With personal brands, the people I find I relate to most have messaging that makes me feel like we’re having a one-on-one conversation. It’s direct, it’s human, and it makes it easier to connect. Simplifying doesn't mean making it shallow. In the words of Maya Angelou ““People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” That’s what clear, relatable messaging does. It makes you feel something real and that’s what people remember.

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Good advice for those looking for work in climate tech...

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