Pitching Progress

For years the pattern in consumer electronics has been ‘use, update, discard.’ And ready access to Asian manufacturing meant there was little incentive for companies to even try recovering scrapped components. But now, as governments wake up to the scale of the global e-waste problem, and geopolitical instability threatens vital supply chains, the tech industry is recognizing the need to do things...

India’s thriving quick-commerce industry has led to an explosion of two-wheeled vehicles criss-crossing the streets of large cities, delivering everything from bananas to AC units within minutes. But some local governments are restricting diesel vehicle use to combat pollution, which is just one of the many reasons behind the growing demand for electric vehicles in the market. Kunal Mundra is the...

To limit the release of pollutants onto nearby communities, The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has strict guidelines around ships powering themselves at port. That means large vessels must either connect to shore power, or employ another strategy to capture their emissions. Today’s company is that other strategy. Michael Walker is the CEO of STAX Engineering, a company with a mobile emissio...

Most businesses want their suppliers to operate ethically and sustainably. But even mid-sized companies might be dealing with thousands of vendors spread across the globe, and getting an accurate sense of what’s going on within such a complex supply chain can be a herculean task. Pierre-François Thaler is the visionary Co-founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, one of the world’s biggest and most trusted...

Tom O’Leary is the CEO and Co-founder of JetZero, a company trying to get so-called ‘blended-wing’ aircraft into the fleets of some of the world’s biggest airlines. And with their first test flight scheduled for 2027, JetZero sits on the precipice of aviation history. Tom joins us along with Adam Gordon, the head of BCG’s aviation practice, for an in-depth discussion about the advantages of blende...

Pitching Progress is back with a new slate of visionary entrepreneurs, and a host of solutions to some of the world’s most intractable climate issues. Tune in every other Thursday as Vinay Shandal, the Global Lead of BCG’s Sustainable Investing business, challenges these founders to make the case that their businesses are good for the planet, and good for investors. From more efficient planes, to...

You're used to hearing Vinay ask CEOs the tough questions about paths to scalability and profitability. Today, we're flipping the script, as Vinay joins Lora Jakobsen on her podcast, Navigating Zero, to explore the challenges and opportunities in decarbonizing global trade. Vinay talks about the state of sustainable investment, and emphasizes the need for more capital to accelerate the energy tran...

Underneath the streets of downtown Toronto, there exists a massive system of pipes that use water drawn from the depths of Lake Ontario to help cool the skyscrapers above. This system, the largest of its kind in the world, is just one of a slate of creative solutions employed by Enwave, one of North America’s foremost district energy operators. Carlyle Coutinho is the CEO of Enwave, a company that...

Today’s guest runs the most important piece of infrastructure that Californians have never heard of. Vince Godfrey is the CEO of Olympus Terminals , a company that operates a massive fuel storage facility at the Port of Long Beach. Olympus specializes in the offloading, blending, and storage of fuels shipped from overseas, including renewable diesel and biodiesel. Vince’s facility plays a vital ro...

What started as a group of Spider Man enthusiasts, is now a company capable of producing synthetic silk on a commercial scale. And not only does their silk feel and perform exactly like the natural material, but it can be modified to suit the needs of virtually any industrial application.   Ulrich Scherbel is the CEO of AMSilk, a Germany-based company that specializes in the creation of...

Billions of dollars are being spent on new CapEx to satisfy the growing energy needs of AI data centres. But one firm is convinced that the answer isn’t building new capacity, but being smarter in utilizing the power we already have.  Varun Sivaram is the Founder and CEO of Emerald AI, a company whose software aims to make data centres more ‘flexible’, by intelligently modulating their comput...

After years of skyrocketing investment, the renewables industry seems to have lost some of its lustre. With tax credits that once supercharged new wind and solar development being rolled back, and general enthusiasm waning, are we witnessing the bubble burst on renewable energy?  Mark Noyes definitely doesn't think so. He's the CEO of TerraForm Power, a fully integrated renewables business wi...

To build the low-carbon economy of the future, we’re going to need a lot more steel. But right now, most steel is produced from high-carbon-emitting blast furnaces, and there’s nowhere near enough recyclable steel to meet global demand. So how do we make more steel, without pumping more carbon into the atmosphere?  Parker Meeks is the President and CEO of Utility Global , a company leveraging...

Roughly a third of all food produced in the United States ends up in a landfill. A lot of that comes from dumpsters behind grocery stores, where food that could otherwise be marked down or donated ends up rotting in the trash. Ryan Begin is the CEO of Divert, a company that's using its incredible trove of data to keep food out of landfills. At the core of their pitch is some simple in-store infras...

Commercial aviation has completely altered the nature of life on Earth, and forever changed the way humans think about distance. But in 2023, the industry was responsible for 2.5% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, and given the difficulties of electrifying heavy transport, other solutions are clearly needed. Today's guest is Robert Schuetzle, the CEO of Infinium, a company specializing in th...

From turning food waste into energy, to sustainable steel and low-emission aviation fuel:  Pitching Progress  brings you the stories of leaders working to decarbonize the industries that power our world. On this show from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the founders and CEOs of some of the world’s top green companies take part in an in-depth pitch session that challenges them to demonstra...