The Green Premium: Why Climate Tech Has to Wash Its Own Face
David Savage is joined by Matt Bird, CEO and co-founder of Supercritical Solutions, for a candid conversation about what it really takes to build a hardware deep tech business in the UK. Matt explains why he spends 80% of his time fundraising, and why his Series A relationship with Toyota Ventures and Shell Ventures took three years to land. He also explains why the UK is a brilliant place to start a company but a hard place to scale one.
They also tackle the boardroom reality of climate tech. Matt describes a world where "net zero" has become a dirty word, and where the green premium is a non-starter with finance directors. In that world, the only sustainable path is technology that wins on pure economics. Matt also shares how Supercritical hires for fit before technical skill, and why the company invests in interns and school outreach for a generation struggling to get on the ladder. Finally, he explains why tritium, the scarce fuel that powers most fusion reactors, is the fusion story more people should be talking about.
