How a $10K Prize Grew Apeel Into a $2 Billion Food Waste Unicorn

Protein isn't just a fitness buzzword; it's the foundation of our food future. In this episode, Marco sits down with Thijs Bosch, CEO of The Protein Brewery, to explore how brewing fungal strains could replace factory farms. They unpack the company's recent $30M funding round and how that capital is fueling a new era of sustainable, scalable protein. Together, they unpack what this breakthrough ingredient means for the future of food, sustainability, and profit.

Agriculture isn't broken — it's misunderstood. In this episode of The Capitalist Hippie Podcast, host Marco Pimentel sits down with Ali Cox, Olympian and founder of Noble West, to explore how storytelling is reshaping the future of food. From rice fields to pistachio ads, Ali reveals how farmers are reclaiming their place in the value chain by turning transparency into strategy. They dig into why sustainability messaging often fails, how small farms can still win, and what it really takes to turn a crop into a brand consumers care about.  

The space race was exciting. The climate race is urgent.  In this episode of The Capitalist Hippie Podcast, host Marco Pimentel talks with former NASA engineer, Grant Gunnison, about how he founded Zero Homes to reimagine how Americans power their homes. With 20% of U.S. emissions coming from single-family houses, Zero Homes is using software, data, and design to make retrofits effortless, turning what used to take weeks into a one-hour digital experience. Marco and Grant unpack how better tech and smarter systems can accelerate climate action, lower costs for homeowners, and make sustainable living the new standard.  

Can retired EV batteries help solve our energy crisis? In this episode, Nick Nesbitt, founder of Mapleview Energy reveals how they are transforming used electric vehicle batteries into commercial-scale energy storage solutions. By repurposing batteries with 70-80% remaining capacity, they're tackling critical grid capacity challenges, creating circular economy infrastructure, and turning waste into essential infrastructure.

AI isn't just reshaping our digital world; it's rewriting the energy equation. As data centers surge and demand could reach 11% of global electricity by 2030, climate tech investors and founders face a stark choice: can we power the AI boom while staying on track for decarbonization? In this episode of The Capitalist Hippie Podcast, host Marco Pimentel sits down with Nick van Osdol, who's both investing in and telling the stories of climate tech's next wave as founder of Keep Cool. Join us as we dive into how AI and clean energy are colliding and converging to shape our future.

Wildfires don't sleep, so why should our firefighting technology? In this episode, host Marco Pimentel sits down with aerospace engineer and FireSwarm co-founder Alex Deslauriers, whose personal experience during Canada's worst wildfire season inspired a bold new idea: deploying AI-powered drone swarms to fight fires 24/7. With heavy-lift drones carrying 350kg payloads and flying when helicopters can't, FireSwarm's technology could transform wildfire response and reshape a $200B disaster market.

A third of all food produced never reaches our plates. Apeel set out to change that—with an idea and a $10,000 prize from a university venture competition that turned into a $2B food-tech disruptor. In this episode, Jenny Du reveals how a plant-based "second skin" is reshaping the global supply chain and keeping produce fresh without plastic, chemicals, or cold storage.

What if the key to fixing food security and boosting property value was hiding in plain sight, right above our heads? MicroHabitat co-founder Orlane Panet is turning unused rooftops into thriving urban farms across 14 cities, with over 400 farms and 3x year-over-year growth. In just 250 sq ft, she's proving you can grow more than vegetables; you can grow community, resilience, and profit. From climate adaptation to corporate engagement, this is the blueprint for building a purpose-driven business that scales.        

This isn't just another swimwear startup - it's a $15K, single-SKU experiment that exploded into 300% annual growth. In this episode, we go behind the scenes with Londre Bodywear, a brand redefining fashion by embracing the philosophy of doing less, but doing it better. Here's how Ainsley Rose, co-founder and CEO of Londre Bodywear, turned plastic waste into cult classics and bootstrapped a climate-first brand consumers can't stop talking about.

This isn't planting trees—it's a return to the wisdom we clear-cut away. This episode delves into how Chestnut Carbon has raised $160 million to transform degraded land into climate-positive assets, reimagining carbon credits from the ground up. By buying land outright, restoring native forests, and building trust with enterprise buyers like Microsoft, Chestnut Carbon is proving that nature-based solutions can be credible, scalable, and wildly effective.