“There’s a real belief that we can move at a pace more like a software company,” said Brown, who worked at a data startup before starting Alga Biosciences. (Its co-founders are both chemists.) Researchers have only just begun studying the effect of algae in animal feed, but Brown’s startup plans to move much faster by commercially feeding its product to 15,000 cows by this fall.
That pace may appeal to investors, but researchers warn that science moves slowly for good reason. Most animal feed additives containing algae “have not yet proven their claims to reduce emissions throughout the beef production lifecycle and, in the meantime, could lead to boosting further beef production,” said Matthew Hayek, an assistant professor of environmental studies at NYU.
In an op-ed for WIRED, Hayek argued that such “technological quick fixes” blame people for climate debt. Worse, technologists may overestimate their impact, compromising more impactful solutions. At the same time, Hayek says he has no problem with Alga Biosciences. “I’m glad all these companies are looking for private investment and growth,” he says, rather than selling offsets in carbon markets.
Robert Stoner, deputy director for science and technology at the MIT Energy Initiative, agreed that it’s too early to see which of these latest climate technology ideas will have a real impact. “The answer to their viability will come down to the usual stuff in all cases,” he says, including determining demand and how committed the team is. “I’m not very optimistic about these particular ideas based on the limited information I see, but half the fun of startup startups is trying to make something out of them, so I don’t want to say a single discouraging word to or about any of them. them.”
These startups now need to convince the wider investment community that their ideas can be good business. In their demonstrations on the day, the founders highlighted the possibility that their startups can both reduce carbon emissions and make money from them. But the atmosphere in the room is very different from a few years ago, when founders working on climate tech startups were often told that their ideas couldn’t make money, or would be better off as a nonprofit.
“Today’s founders are in a very fortunate position,” said Alain Rodriguez, co-founder of SINAI Technologies, which makes carbon management software. SINAI went through Y Combinator in 2020, when there were only three climate technology companies in the batch, and far fewer investors looking to incorporate climate into their portfolios. “People no longer wonder if there is a market.”
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