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Can Bacteria Solve Fashion's Pollution Problem? · EU-Startups Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You are now listening
• 0:01
  Speaker 0: to the EU startups podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to this episode of The EU Startups Podcast.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: as always I'm your host, David Senangarcia, the editor at EU startups.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Today a child with Karen Fleck she's the CEO and founder of the Vienna Textile Lab.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Now his name implies that startup is out of Austria And they develop color pigments for the textile industry living factories, as they refer to it which are microorganisms that process colors from a development of biotech.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Now we were able to chat over the application of the textile industry within the broader sector of Europe and even nationally in Austria.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: The way that the textile is impacting sustainable initiatives how their measuring up that so much of the greenhouse gas emissions, a large percentage ten percent I believe comes from the textile industry.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: And the way her company is helping address all this including her own background which blends corporate understanding and scientific backgrounds to kind of develop and found his company in twenty-twenty one.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: we also chatted over her involvement EU program, she was one of only a hundred and sixty winners selected from almost four thousand applications over the previous two years.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: This means that she is on top four percent successful applicants.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: women tech you as an EU funded funding scheme which supports women led deep-tech startups across Europe.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: selected applicants receive accommodation.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: seventy five thousand euros in a non dilutive grant any six month tailored business development proposal.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: WomenTechU helps early stage innovators accelerate their growth through services such as one-to-one mentoring, business coaching and investor connections, networking opportunities.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: And support in tapping into further EU funding.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: by opening doors for diversity in deep tech women TechU is one of the most impactful tools helping to shape a more competitive European ecosystem.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Hello Karin!
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Welcome to The USTARBS Podcast.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I hope i pronounced your name correctly
• 2:24
  Speaker 0: Perfectly.
• 2:25
  Speaker 0: thanks for inviting me.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Yes, it's our pleasure as we spoke about before recording this is part of Our relationship with a women techie you to kind of bring founders and entrepreneurs I have benefited from their program out To our own audience And kind of just dig a little bit into who you are on what?
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: You do now.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: I know Who you are in which you do but for the sake of our audience if you Just give us a little summary that would be very appreciated.
• 2:53
  Speaker 0: yes so about myself basically the founder and CEO of The Vienna Textile Lab.
• 3:00
  Speaker 0: We are a biotech fashion tech company that focuses on the production of microbial pigments for the textile industry to sort-of replace synthetic dyes, give an alternative route for new colors in the textile business but also beyond it.
• 3:20
  Speaker 0: And about myself a little bit.
• 3:22
  Speaker 0: I'm actually as much.
• 3:24
  Speaker 0: this is.
• 3:26
  Speaker 0: My original training is I'm a chemist and i used to work in the dark side.
• 3:31
  Speaker 0: So, I worked in oil & energy before And sort of switched then to hopefully bit more sustainable kind of business model.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Okay so you do bring scientific background too this right?
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah
• 3:48
  Speaker 0: also material break ground because was manager for many years And then I started this business and it's just a different way of managing because you're really responsible for everything.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: So, so what kind led you into creating this company?
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Because in my preparation for the episode i see a lot of statistics that have on pollution to textile industry all these very eye-catching figures... You said your work is oil energy.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: understanding came from that led you to create the company?
• 4:24
  Speaker 0: Actually, much earlier.
• 4:26
  Speaker 0: When I was in high school before my final exam... ...I actually graduated in chemistry and my special area was dyes & pigments!
• 4:35
  Speaker 0: And i'm really impressed by these chemical substances because.. You don't need much to color something.
• 4:42
  Speaker 0: That's basically definition of dye or pigment.
• 4:44
  Speaker 0: There are a lot of colored substances And they can be used in many areas, it's not only for textiles but also medicine and defense as well.
• 4:53
  Speaker 0: But also environmental issues.
• 4:57
  Speaker 0: I was really impressed that this is cool!
• 4:59
  Speaker 0: I want to study about this.
• 5:01
  Speaker 0: so i started studying chemistry.
• 5:03
  Speaker 0: then at the end chemistry nowadays doesn't have much colour chemistry in it.
• 5:07
  Speaker 0: So there were a bit of a bummer later than life.
• 5:16
  Speaker 0: Basically, yes oil and energy the business like heavy impacted me.
• 5:21
  Speaker 0: So it was super interesting to work in this business To learn how everything is connected And how much we are depending on fossil fuels.
• 5:30
  Speaker 0: But The other thing was that I Was allowed to participate in a competition called the climate launchpad?
• 5:40
  Speaker 0: they ask for For a business idea.
• 5:45
  Speaker 0: This was sort of then full circle with coming back to my color ideas.
• 5:50
  Speaker 0: It was sort-of revisiting kind of a childhood dream,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: okay?
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Well it talked me little bit more about the fossil fuel angle here because as I said before i looked at statistics and it surprised me actually to hear how impactful the textile industry is.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: one number that came out to be this uh... That the industry accounts for ten percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: That seems like a large number.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: And I think that will surprise a lot of people to hear it, so can you give us more info and background on why this is important?
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: So one thing,
• 6:29
  Speaker 0: these two numbers stems from the materials they use in textile industry.
• 6:34
  Speaker 0: You have on your hand fibers maybe are fossil based like polyester for instance The textile market is basically a polyester, but also from agriculture.
• 6:48
  Speaker 0: So even like growing cotton requires agriculture that has an input and then on the other hand it's more deeper into industry.
• 6:58
  Speaker 0: you have to dyeing process and dying fabrics yarns fibers require normally lot of heat And heat can be put at equal to zero too but also the chemicals that are used in a dyeing process.
• 7:16
  Speaker 0: It's basically not only the dyeing, it is called finishing process.
• 7:21
  Speaker 0: so you have some preparatory kind of treatment and then maybe your dyeing processes and final finishing process like very simply put all these chemical or most of them derived from some sort of crude oil products and you just have to think about this.
• 7:45
  Speaker 0: This is a lot, yeah?
• 7:47
  Speaker 0: And then of course because the textile industry is very globally connected there's a lot of steps to come to final garment.
• 7:57
  Speaker 0: that means also a lot shipping involved.
• 8:01
  Speaker 0: so these are all like I'm not even talking what the pollution was on.
• 8:05
  Speaker 0: it's just to see your story along supply chain off the textile And maybe it doesn't end there, because probably if you are honest and also the usage of the textiles but also the deposit like that way.
• 8:24
  Speaker 0: You discard them?
• 8:26
  Speaker 0: Maybe often also burnt requires heat again.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: so then kind of talk to a center about what Vienna Textile Lab does in terms of all this.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Because I read about living factories and microorganisms, you know?
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: All these things... And i think for somebody outside here it can kinda seem like science fiction.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: how did all the results better condition bear sustainability for the textile industry.
• 8:57
  Speaker 0: A little bit bigger story is There is movement in science and production that moves to other production systems.
• 9:07
  Speaker 0: And one is called grain chemistry, the others are industrial biotech.
• 9:13
  Speaker 0: Why we have industrial biotech?
• 9:15
  Speaker 0: Basically it seeks to manufacture every day for instance chemicals like dyes from natural materials or renewable feedstocks.
• 9:27
  Speaker 0: so you're independent from fossil fuels, for instance.
• 9:32
  Speaker 0: And green chemistry on the other hand is another movement that has gained quite a lot of abstraction to give chemists real clean set rules and tools to improve chemical processes To make them more efficient also develop process less harmful because there's always an impact.
• 9:57
  Speaker 0: industrial biotech, you always have an environmental impact.
• 10:01
  Speaker 0: So these are the two major things that happening and both disciplines in science are reaching some areas already cost parity so they can compete with synthetic chemicals.
• 10:14
  Speaker 0: this is revolution we're looking at.
• 10:17
  Speaker 0: for instance when your hear about bio refineries The alternative to what a crude refinery would be like you will use all parts of the feedstock off some natural resources.
• 10:32
  Speaker 0: To produce some sort of other fine chemicals or even energy and this is sort of the backbone of this, breaking it down more simpler.
• 10:43
  Speaker 0: for instance in our case we used natural feedstocks but also we utilized bacteria to manufacture the pigments for us.
• 10:54
  Speaker 0: In chemistry, what happens normally?
• 10:56
  Speaker 0: have a lot of chemical reactions until you get to final dye or pigment.
• 11:01
  Speaker 0: it's not just like this.
• 11:03
  Speaker 0: yeah and um in biotech has advantage if we use the cell.
• 11:10
  Speaker 0: is that?
• 11:12
  Speaker 0: how did you put one?
• 11:14
  Speaker 0: The cell factory basically used micro organism.
• 11:18
  Speaker 0: do everything so basically don't start Twenty reactions after each other.
• 11:25
  Speaker 0: the micro again isn't?
• 11:26
  Speaker 0: does it for you?
• 11:27
  Speaker 0: and it appears to you that this is one pot.
• 11:30
  Speaker 0: And there's actually pretty convenient To have that.
• 11:34
  Speaker 0: do you have some?
• 11:36
  Speaker 0: Some living organism that does a job for you, okay The way What is what is for sure tricky about these?
• 11:44
  Speaker 0: is that you make the microorganism produce enough and then the other thing too to get it out of this biomass that is produced.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Okay, so from what I'm hearing then there's a huge impact on the carbon emission aspect When I was preparing for this, and you talk all about us on your website that there's so many other elements of the textile industry that are harmful.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: It is not just the emissions or water usage.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: There're even worker safety standards that have been problematic across the world.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: So does Viantextile Lab do feel like what we were working at also impacts these other problematic areas?
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Or it is mainly focused on emissions?
• 12:34
  Speaker 0: No, it is everything.
• 12:36
  Speaker 0: There's a lot of things.
• 12:37
  Speaker 0: I definitely was also naive about the fact that how on social part like for instance women are affected?
• 12:46
  Speaker 0: I wasn't aware.
• 12:47
  Speaker 0: in some countries seventy to eighty percent of their workforce were female and they live around factories so heavily impacted by emissions from factory might be via soil or rivers and also the type of work they're doing.
• 13:06
  Speaker 0: So you must think like these are maybe not highly educated textile workers, it's also like not giving them a chance to have career yeah?
• 13:19
  Speaker 0: Yeah so there is many aspects of that.
• 13:22
  Speaker 0: Of course water pollution as big one The toxicity afforder really an issue.
• 13:31
  Speaker 0: You can see in the Greenpeace report that how the effluence of factories without any filtering went out into the water bodies.
• 13:42
  Speaker 0: That's definitely one, and you should avoid to have a workplace where there are lots of toxic chemicals around you if it is possible with either less or no toxins at all.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Well, this women thing is interesting.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: I hadn't thought about that and read about it And then there's kind of an angle their end.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: i think It naturally bridges us over maybe to the woman tech.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: you topic Of our conversation which i Think uh Is is crucial here?
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: To chat About and it's just ii think its Interesting too because You know vn textile live you were founded in.
• 14:32
  Speaker 0: We started in twenty seventeen and we founded it.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Okay, so how has support like the women tech EU?
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: uh, it kind of grant and helped the anti textile lab grow maybe even just apart from the money-wise of things because you're not The first that we've had on the podcast here.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: And I did catch That there was an element there.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: then Maybe they kinda went beyond the funding.
• 15:00
  Speaker 0: so in general i'm super grateful that this kind Of women initiatives exist and it depends really On each and every country how?
• 15:09
  Speaker 0: Women entrepreneurs are treated how they are seen, etc.
• 15:15
  Speaker 0: So I think the visibility to be part of this program is one major thing.
• 15:19
  Speaker 0: It's really something like a... I don't know, a plug-it?
• 15:23
  Speaker 0: Something that you can show.
• 15:25
  Speaker 0: I think visibility is something very important.
• 15:29
  Speaker 0: The other things specifically for my women techie journey it allowed me regroup refocus and make better strategy in business.
• 15:41
  Speaker 0: It really allowed me also to exchange a lot with peers, but also with the trainers and whole organization.
• 15:49
  Speaker 0: And I value this because it can get sometimes very lonely.
• 15:54
  Speaker 0: as a founder There's not everything you can discuss With your team members Because that highly affects them.
• 16:04
  Speaker 0: of course To have sounding board or Other people that sitting probably in the same boat like you maybe not different business may be in a different sector, but probably come across that it is extremely helpful.
• 16:20
  Speaker 0: So these are I would say.
• 16:23
  Speaker 0: and of course to mentoring.
• 16:24
  Speaker 0: so i cannot emphasize enough how important mentoring this.
• 16:39
  Speaker 0: This makes such a big difference.
• 16:42
  Speaker 0: And also to understand that this is not just training or anything, it's really like professional way of being manager and mentor.
• 16:53
  Speaker 0: maybe as coach have somebody talk about things over again.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: What about industrial adoption?
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Has the program helped introduce you partners, people like that might be interested in technology?
• 17:11
  Speaker 0: In my case maybe not so much because we had already very good connections to the industry.
• 17:17
  Speaker 0: That wasn't... So the challenge with us is more to refocus Because when you enter the industry it's quite easy.
• 17:24
  Speaker 0: It was at a time where there were lots of need for this novel material And now things have really torn down And it means that if you haven't set up your business in a way, maybe for instance with the client defaults or major project something falls out.
• 17:49
  Speaker 0: If we cannot buffer from there then you feel it?
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Right right well and I want to jump back on the women tech youth.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: but this kind of makes me think about another topic here Because whenever I talk to startups or focus on sustainable initiatives, right?
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: The conversation always kind of lands on.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: how is it that you convince industry partners to adopt it?
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: because usually there comes with a higher cost.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: And and yeah You know i'd love to live in a world where that was not the most important thing prioritize specifically sustainment initiatives, but there has to be a cost argument too what you're doing.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: And I imagine and you can correct me if i'm wrong that it does maybe lead to a higher cost of development than just normal pigment development?
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Yes
• 18:44
  Speaker 0: basically...I would say all kind of material startups are in for very long marathon rather then sprint And that is equally to customers and investors, it's the same message.
• 18:58
  Speaker 0: This isn't your software mock-up.
• 19:00
  Speaker 0: you just pull out of a sleeve then you have subscription, subscription!
• 19:05
  Speaker 0: So... That doesn't really work like that.
• 19:09
  Speaker 0: Material startups normally are so much they need to deal with basically Cross different sciences for instance.
• 19:24
  Speaker 0: Yeah, for instance like just to combine Biotech chemistry and textile.
• 19:30
  Speaker 0: this is already sometimes a really big jump.
• 19:34
  Speaker 0: And then on the other hand you have a lot of regulation.
• 19:36
  Speaker 0: Bringing in new material under the European market requires quite a lot regulatory work.
• 19:43
  Speaker 0: There's policies that constantly are changing.
• 19:49
  Speaker 0: It's really a marathon and there is a lot of capital involved in this.
• 19:54
  Speaker 0: So what I would say to clients, maybe yes it was high cost at the beginning but we also see that already industrial biotech used to manufacture substances for everyday use.
• 20:11
  Speaker 0: when they are on market people pay their price.
• 20:17
  Speaker 0: this economy of scale hits.
• 20:20
  Speaker 0: And their contribution is very valuable to us because on one hand, they're helping us in the journey and finance the journey but also help us with input to develop products that we really need.
• 20:33
  Speaker 0: so I think it's a fundamental thing.
• 20:38
  Speaker 0: Yes there are clients just looking for suppliers.
• 20:45
  Speaker 0: There's probably not many companies right now that can supply microbial pigments in the tonnage area.
• 20:54
  Speaker 0: So there is a bit of chicken and egg, yes maybe these clients are not the ones we're seeking out as for sure early adopters have seen it but some companies really excellent strategies towards how to support ecosystem and have a way of partnering, helping these companies to commercialize.
• 21:16
  Speaker 0: I think this is very vital.
• 21:18
  Speaker 0: And i'm very grateful that because I worked in corporate... That's really positive thing!
• 21:28
  Speaker 0: A lot of fashion company has good strategies.
• 21:31
  Speaker 0: They've got great ways for helping them move on.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned here European policy for sustainable businesses like yours and that makes me want to hear a little bit about what You think on how Europe is doing as a whole when it comes these things because even On your own materials.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: We talk about the EU Green Deal.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: we talked about textiles strategy.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: So so you're aware of the thing's they are going on continent-wide?
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: How do you think its developed?
• 22:06
  Speaker 0: I'm torn in two.
• 22:07
  Speaker 0: In one way also i am really happy this happening Because It supports The Movement on a ground level.
• 22:14
  Speaker 0: And I really think that the Green Deal was a very fundamental decision, maybe with some caveats but basically amazing that we've done this and also the world is looking towards how Europe is doing it because there's other regions of the world or states adopting similar standards.
• 22:33
  Speaker 0: so this is good in looking at how climate is changing.
• 22:40
  Speaker 0: We see this is absolutely necessary, there's no doubt about it.
• 22:44
  Speaker 0: The second part is that of course these regulations hit very hard especially now the large companies for instance our clients.
• 22:54
  Speaker 0: they have much more reporting to do and look into supply chains And thats a lot work.
• 23:02
  Speaker 0: or impact assessment.
• 23:08
  Speaker 0: Officially, we are not captured by these regulatory issues because they're normally for larger companies.
• 23:14
  Speaker 0: Indirectly, of course our clients come to us and ask do you have the numbers?
• 23:21
  Speaker 0: But having them means quite a lot sometimes to estimate this or get a certification
• 23:26
  Speaker 0: etc.,
• 23:27
  Speaker 0: so even some of those regulations don't apply as I'm happy that it's happening.
• 23:34
  Speaker 0: but on the other hand they affect us indirectly.
• 23:37
  Speaker 0: Yeah, so that was something like we felt immediately because every client that sat down they wanted for instance an impact assessment or input and life cycle assessment.
• 23:49
  Speaker 0: And yes this is fine it's what you do but... We are not that large of a company where can dedicate full work for us just on life cycles
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: right?
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: And shifting a bit, I guess here into the thesis of the company because i think that's interesting too.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Because as I say in research you actually quote a lot things and your reference to all those things which I didn't know about.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: In particular are these kind environmental social disasters.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: You talk about the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh the Greenpeace publication, Dirty Laundry.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: So how did these kind of influence a way that company developed itself?
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Was it from the very beginning?
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: they pushed you forward or are there things coming along the
• 24:44
  Speaker 0: way?
• 24:44
  Speaker 0: Yeah so I think when your in this topic yeah You have to really dig deep and understand what is there And where there's valuable information.
• 24:56
  Speaker 0: Who has done work for you?
• 24:58
  Speaker 0: And I think fundamentally, Rana Plasser.
• 25:02
  Speaker 0: that was a huge tragedy and had really highlighted the social issues around fashion industry in fast fashion particularly.
• 25:11
  Speaker 0: But also Greenpeace reports like this is first of its kind.
• 25:17
  Speaker 0: many followed afterwards.
• 25:19
  Speaker 0: i really invite everybody to read it because It's so fundamental when people know that textile industry has issues here But it was the first time they really connected to brand with their damage.
• 25:32
  Speaker 0: Like, there wasn't a way out of that.
• 25:34
  Speaker 0: you could not discuss yourself or say oh no we didn't do this!
• 25:37
  Speaker 0: We did know about this.
• 25:38
  Speaker 0: yeah and sort in German would say the cat is out-of-the-sec so... You couldn't put them back together.
• 25:45
  Speaker 0: And I think these two events were quite fundamental.
• 25:49
  Speaker 0: In my opinion were fundamental for industry because The fashion and the textile business had to change their narrative, they could not just brush it over anymore.
• 26:05
  Speaker 0: It also triggered a lot on consumer side because this was news from yesterday but we forgot about that.
• 26:18
  Speaker 0: there is still fashion revolution kind of out of this yeah?
• 26:22
  Speaker 0: A lot of regulation came because of the poisonous influence in China.
• 26:32
  Speaker 0: And China itself has done a lot of regulations... ...in their nation to stop these kind of emissions, so even a country like China is acknowledging that there needs some change because it's not apart from environmental downturn, there is also a economical factor on this.
• 27:02
  Speaker 0: And I think that's where it comes always down to whenever i read when ever see these.
• 27:09
  Speaker 0: they might have others but for me those are the two things really core.
• 27:14
  Speaker 0: when things started to change and industry noticed we had to do something yeah how fast goes another story like up for discussion if good or bad?
• 27:27
  Speaker 0: I think it is now clear that they have to do something and there are on the track record.
• 27:35
  Speaker 0: And as i mentioned before, these strategies of a lot of big fashion conglomerates show that they incorporated in their corporate strategy.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like we're doing enough then?
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: To kind combat all this?
• 27:54
  Speaker 0: Well, the thing is yeah corporate it's a bit of different life cycle I guess.
• 28:01
  Speaker 0: You would think that you know after one thing i realized working with and meeting fast fashion companies Is this they talk faster?
• 28:10
  Speaker 0: And do you think faster?
• 28:11
  Speaker 0: so you might think It should go fast.
• 28:14
  Speaker 0: So I'm a bit challenging this.
• 28:16
  Speaker 0: like if they wouldn't apply The same to what they've done in their collections, it would be good to do that.
• 28:28
  Speaker 0: on the sustainability side.
• 28:30
  Speaker 0: It's a bit of a cheeky comment but I think there is lot happening...I have seen this and am very impressed with a lot of investments.
• 28:40
  Speaker 0: But on the other hand i also noticed geopolitical issues like about from Covid Trump presidency, of course.
• 28:50
  Speaker 0: The goal for this is things that heavily impact the
• 28:54
  Speaker 0: industry.".
• 28:55
  Speaker 0: My feeling was that COVID sort-of was manageable.
• 29:01
  Speaker 0: but at the moment the Ukraine war happened or like there really you could see they were exhausted.
• 29:10
  Speaker 0: and when it comes to the survival some companies then sustainability normally come last.
• 29:24
  Speaker 0: I think what maybe?
• 29:26
  Speaker 0: on the fashion side, you know this is there's a lot of rotation and buying or fashion brands.
• 29:31
  Speaker 0: So it seems to be as also now bit of peaking like not of these designers left the brands no designers came in.
• 29:38
  Speaker 0: This was always assigned.
• 29:40
  Speaker 0: Maybe There Is Some Change but Also Like That some Companies Merged Or Took Over.
• 29:47
  Speaker 0: So, there is also sort of a movement and you can see it in the stock prices.
• 29:53
  Speaker 0: You can see that industry isn't particularly performing well here.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: You mentioned before your seeing positive flow of funding for these kind initiatives or sustainable businesses An angle that I sometimes like to bring up in these conversations, which is our own coverage and In respect through your own sector.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: And just at a quick look...I saw it this year.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: we saw close to around ten million That went into funding this year for businesses like yourselves.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: There's Octorine Bio as big round.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: there's Park Soul of the Big Round.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: So where do you see your sector moving?
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Do feel that its indeed flowing the right way that there's a right amount of money, or are their gaps you're still seeing?
• 30:50
  Speaker 0: I think the clear answer is definitely just not enough money for this.
• 30:56
  Speaker 0: So industrial biotech in general isn't very attractive to many investors because as i said it's more a marathon than sprint.
• 31:08
  Speaker 0: I find it also, there's some really sad stories.
• 31:13
  Speaker 0: Some of our competitors that didn't make it and i found more concerning than...I'm not happy about this because the market is big enough but also shows interest is fading.
• 31:31
  Speaker 0: you see shift towards other areas like AI totally different horse AI than materials.
• 31:40
  Speaker 0: Yeah, I would call.
• 31:41
  Speaker 0: we are all in the material tech industry and that's really an issue.
• 31:49
  Speaker 0: i do believe that even so these numbers look good for this.
• 31:54
  Speaker 0: companies like.
• 31:59
  Speaker 0: The thing is question is how many didn't?
• 32:02
  Speaker 0: And also Is there a financing after the funding runs out And we see a lot of issues there.
• 32:10
  Speaker 0: It's very hard for companies to raise even later rounds and I don't want start about seed financing in this field, yeah?
• 32:30
  Speaker 0: Yeah!
• 32:34
  Speaker 0: probably last quite a few years until this is recovering.
• 32:37
  Speaker 0: Because we came out, so when we started or even maybe in the year of two thousand and seventeen at that time... That was good times!
• 32:49
  Speaker 0: It's been too good for us.
• 32:54
  Speaker 0: The fall was deep in venture capital and business angel investment.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Is it reflected?
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: you feel public interest as well?
• 33:07
  Speaker 0: I think the public interest is always there.
• 33:08
  Speaker 0: The good thing, in our field colors are connected to so many emotions.
• 33:14
  Speaker 0: basically every choice daily that we make it's a color choice.
• 33:18
  Speaker 0: often There has been lot of choices include like what do you wear everyday?
• 33:24
  Speaker 0: So how we organize?
• 33:25
  Speaker 0: or paper work maybe?
• 33:27
  Speaker 0: and yeah even when we eat.
• 33:34
  Speaker 0: The topic is always Actual like people are interested in this But I think when it comes to investment and business.
• 33:45
  Speaker 0: This is not the season for it right now And it's very hard too To prevail.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Well, let's hope that with podcasts like these some chats like these they would get some Some of the word out there and bring back the golden age.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: And I think maybe to wrap it up here and kind of go full circle back To a women tech EU program.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: because i think one question that is essential too not only Women Tech, you as an institution but also two programs encouraging women founders woman entrepreneurs?
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: And just the wider sector working.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: You know It.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: what is there yet that needs to improve when it comes to these.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Do you feel there's a step missing in things I could have helped via textile labs and maybe progressing further?
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: What is there to kind of improve
• 34:40
  Speaker 0: on?".
• 34:41
  Speaker 0: When he comes to female entrepreneurs, yeah okay so... It's the difficult topic!
• 34:52
  Speaker 0: So basically i think discussion in general, I mean.
• 34:59
  Speaker 0: In Austria there's only a handful of fully female startups like probably you can on one or two hands here?
• 35:13
  Speaker 0: The statistic also shows that the investment is lower and not happening at all.
• 35:19
  Speaker 0: so this is just what it.
• 35:25
  Speaker 0: For instance, when I look at Austria they do quite a lot.
• 35:28
  Speaker 0: When it comes to female founders too To promote That you get extra money for funding if there's a female founder involved in the company.
• 35:38
  Speaker 0: So i think this is very early.
• 35:40
  Speaker 0: that Is discussion and he started company?
• 35:42
  Speaker 0: They should be a female Founder.
• 35:45
  Speaker 0: In general, I think This is on an institutional level.
• 35:49
  Speaker 0: It's important.
• 35:53
  Speaker 0: I see also when i was engaging with my peers there is how less...I mean, I came from industry before.
• 36:06
  Speaker 0: I was a manager and went through lots of training support And knew what's out there.
• 36:14
  Speaker 0: A lot of the discussions about women in the program.
• 36:17
  Speaker 0: for instance.
• 36:18
  Speaker 0: maybe it was their first time they had mentoring.
• 36:20
  Speaker 0: Maybe they never had a training, maybe you could just take the coach.
• 36:27
  Speaker 0: And how to use mentoring?
• 36:29
  Speaker 0: I was actually before I started the company running a mentoring program for women in two years and it's like...I knew this is important but running it bringing mentors and mentees together were super exciting!
• 36:47
  Speaker 0: You can see how these women are leaping forward.
• 36:52
  Speaker 0: And I think these programs, like when you're in the startup world there's often not much money for training but you don't send... Like in companies and large corporations probably sent to a lot of conferences here.
• 37:06
  Speaker 0: that money is a bit scarce yeah?
• 37:09
  Speaker 0: There are two things.
• 37:11
  Speaker 0: it's training maybe specifically on topics or sexual topic.
• 37:16
  Speaker 0: also personal development Because to be honest, a lot of the founders are very young.
• 37:22
  Speaker 0: They come straight from university and have never let before And suddenly they have to be these super Wunderwutsis that manage everything and know what to do... ...and then business talk or whatnot.
• 37:37
  Speaker 0: You can get easily under the wheels with it And I think in general, male and female probably would benefit both of it.
• 37:46
  Speaker 0: It's like this personal development also understanding that is a part your professional life not only about seeking help but having somebody to have these conversations or having organizations where you belong too.
• 38:03
  Speaker 0: I think this is the biggest benefit of all we had, for instance trainings in Women Tech EU.
• 38:12
  Speaker 0: Yeah?
• 38:13
  Speaker 0: I don't know...I got a lot of training on intellectual property.
• 38:17
  Speaker 0: The one from women tech who was very nice and it has no aspect to me like.
• 38:22
  Speaker 0: It's not that i needed millions trainings or intellectual property anymore but its just good To reinforce certain things.
• 38:29
  Speaker 0: they have different view on things And be able to engage and maybe not spend thousands of euros to receive this information.
• 38:41
  Speaker 0: I think that is a real value generated by the network, because let's face it... A lot of startups are founded right now so they might not survive but their people survive as well for the next innovator elevate them and to make the better leaders, more professional.
• 39:10
  Speaker 0: This is a quality thing that we should all seek in
• 39:14
  Speaker 0: economy.".
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: That's an interesting thing I guess... We focus so much on the entrepreneur as the founder of this messiah-like figure But there isn't all that much talk about the people within startups and the value of training them as much, as training up to founders.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: It contributes their system just as much.
• 39:40
  Speaker 0: I think so also strategically.
• 39:42
  Speaker 0: like you want to hold people in certain areas Like for instance an industrial biotech You want have a certain amount.
• 39:49
  Speaker 0: Countries who wants to invest Want to focus on this And then yes, maybe the companies themselves do not survive.
• 39:58
  Speaker 0: But did people and the competence level?
• 40:01
  Speaker 0: Hopefully they stay to join something else or they merge... You don't know where that journey leads you!
• 40:09
  Speaker 0: When I meet women in this program for instance This could be my next business partner.
• 40:16
  Speaker 0: It can also be a client but it would have been co-founder My next employer.
• 40:20
  Speaker 0: I see also, okay the level.
• 40:27
  Speaker 0: what European Union wants us to have that's also a quality control.
• 40:33
  Speaker 0: There are many entrepreneurs not only startups who found their company and never had training in management And i think it is important.
• 40:44
  Speaker 0: Not everybody was born to be natural leader yeah?
• 40:48
  Speaker 0: It seems
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: like it's turned out well for you.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: I don't have any doubts that we'll be hearing more from you here to use startups.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: so on That note, i think is a nice place To wrap up our chat?
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: I want thank You very much For coming On.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: as i say i've learned A lot just in the not only In The conversation but in the preparation for the conversation.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: there was a Lot There that i wasn't aware of.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: So uh i want Thank You for them for Coming on.
• 41:17
  Speaker 0: yeah thank you for having me if this Is Was Very exciting and I like to have a bit of... Like, from the bottom of my heart.
• 41:29
  Speaker 0: You know?
• 41:30
  Speaker 0: I really enjoyed The Women Tech U program and also believe that this is very necessary.
• 41:36
  Speaker 0: It's sad it was but on the other hand i'm glad that a program like this exists.
• 41:43
  Speaker 0: Thank you
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Great!
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: No, of course.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Well thank-you so much And hopefully we'll keep in touch.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah Okay Alright, chat soon.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Bye!
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Eligible applicants can then proceed to apply for one of the four full-submission deadlines that will be issued over next year, with the closest being on September the sixteenth.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: If you're a woman founder leading an early stage of deep tech startup in an eligible country.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: visit The Women Techie website To learn more about this program.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: Check your eligibility and apply.