New Series B Closing for Clean Energy Risk Management and Analytics — Lee Taylor, CEO of REsurety
Led by Co-Founder and CEO Lee Taylor, REsurety delivers data-driven solutions for the clean energy economy and the tools to identify value and manage risks from clean energy investments.
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What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
Atlantic Sea Farms is a first-mover in the fresh seaweed market. We are completely vertically integrated seaweed aquaculture company focused on a mission to help Maine’s fishermen adapt to a rapidly changing climate while also mitigating some of the effects of ocean acidification. We believe that good food should do good and we create craveable, nutritious kelp-based products that help drive demand for kelp grown by Maine lobstermen. We currently supply more than 85% of the domestically line-grown kelp supply in the U.S. and work with 27 fishermen along the coast of Maine who farm kelp in their lobster off-season. We create all of the kelp seed from scratch, give it to all of our partner farmers for free and provide technical assistance and a buy-back guarantee for every single blade of kelp that they grow.
How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
We have funded our growth by working with investors who are laser-focused on the intersection of impact and profit. Along the way, I’ve learned that one of the most important decisions an entrepreneur can make is bringing on investors – and it's better to not get an idea funded than to bring on an investor that doesn’t share your vision or values. Be choosey with investors – just as they should be with you.
Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
We all know that food production is one of the largest contributors to climate change. By helping to change the way people think about their food – and by investing in a healthier, more climate-friendly food system, the world could change rapidly – and for the better. The food industry can become better quickly. We as consumers need to think about how our food is grown, what it is grown with, where it is grown, how it is transported, and who the people are that are growing it. We need to put money and health in the hands of the everyday people growing our food and ensure that consumers of food are making choices that make their own health – and the planet’s health – better. Food entrepreneurs can change the world and I am putting my sights on big changes in this sector.
If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
Hire help faster. Doing things on a shoestring means things don’t get done as well as they should or as quickly as they should and that you burn out the excellent people that you already work with.
What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
I really focus on being with my family as much as I possibly can. My boys are both under 6yrs old, so it is really important to me that I am home by 5:30. I open my computer after their bedtime, but that time with my kids is fleeting and it grounds me daily.
What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
Honestly, at this point in my life, when I have some downtime, I don’t read books or listen to podcasts. Instead, I listen to, or play, music. Good music can calm me down from a tense day – or ramp me up if that’s the direction I need to go. Music can help us all learn something new every day.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Believe in me. This experiment of building a totally new industry with a completely vertically integrated supply chain is insane – and my staff, our partner farmers, our shareholders, my family…they all believe we can do it even though no one else ever has. That is some powerful stuff right there – and it drives me daily.
Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
Do good – even when cutting corners would be easier. And eat kelp, of course.
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Note:
THE TORCH is an interview series from Entrepreneurs for Impact. We profile CEOs and investors mitigating climate change. Our goal is to highlight their work and inspire others. As we deal with multiple crisis, from Covid and racial injustice to climate change and economic recession, we need some of this positive light in what seem like dark times. Onward and upward.