#124: Microsoft-backed Bio-cement and Bio-concrete from Algae — Loren Burnett⁠, CEO of ⁠Prometheus Materials⁠

⭐ My guest today is Loren Burnett, Cofounder and CEO of Prometheus Materials.

Inspired by the composition of coral and seashells, Prometheus Materials combines microalgae with other natural components to form an ultra low-carbon bio-cement and bio-concrete. 

In addition, Loren is a former cofounder, CEO, COO, or CFO for companies that have raised nearly $200M in funding, where he led one IPO and 17 mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and achieved five exits netting shareholders over $375M in gains.

---

🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:

- What he’s learned from building six companies

-How he got the “carbon bug”

-The relationship between his company and biomimicry

-The origin story for the company, including five years of university research with Department of Defense funding

-How they plan to reduce 1 gigaton of GHGs per year at scale

- His unique approach to getting his technology to market

- Their top three customers and investors, including Microsoft

- What it takes to get their new product approved by local building codes

- The importance of knowing thyself so that you can trust your gut instead of listening to your irrational fears

- Why Crossing the Chasm is his favorite startup book

- Their long-term vision that uses biology to manufacture far more than biocement and bioconcrete

- And lots more

---

🙏 Hope you enjoy it!

📣 And give Loren and Prometheus Materials a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.

---

👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.

---

🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.

Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠

Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠

Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.

Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.