Episode 66 | 29.1.2025

Bridging the Gap in Climate Tech Adoption: Unlocking Practical Solutions

Victoria Chen-Englert’s journey from marketing executive to climate tech advocate highlights the pressing need to close the gap between innovation and adoption in sustainable technologies. Speaking on The Responsible Edge podcast, she offered a pragmatic perspective on the challenges facing climate tech startups and how targeted solutions can accelerate progress.

Listen to the full podcast episode on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Breaking the Chicken-and-Egg Cycle in Climate Tech

Victoria underscored a key dilemma for climate tech startups: the high costs of R&D and scaling. “Climate tech is capital-intensive,” she explained.

“You need significant investment upfront for hardware, industrial machinery, and lab development. But without customers, you can’t scale to bring costs down. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation.”

This cycle slows the adoption of critical solutions like advanced batteries, green hydrogen, and other innovations needed to achieve global sustainability goals. While private funding plays a role, Victoria emphasised the importance of public intervention. “Governments must step in to bridge the gap, providing funding and policy incentives to move these technologies from the lab to the market,” she said.

 

Accelerating Connections with Data-Driven Scouting

Victoria’s work at Qurator, a B2B climate tech scouting platform, addresses this gap head-on. Qurator uses machine learning to identify and connect businesses with the most relevant climate tech solutions in just days. “Traditional tech landscape studies are expensive and slow, often taking months,” Victoria noted.

“We deliver actionable insights in 10 days, making it easier for organisations to find and adopt the right technologies.”

By streamlining the matchmaking process, Qurator removes friction, enabling companies to act quickly. “It’s about making sustainability solutions practical and accessible,” Victoria said.

 

Lessons from Climate Tech Startups

Victoria highlighted how many startups face barriers beyond funding. Scaling from lab prototypes to commercial products is fraught with challenges, including the need to demonstrate real-world reliability and integrate into existing systems. “Even when a solution works perfectly in a lab, it can fail in commercial settings,” she explained.

“That’s why building trust and offering clear value propositions are essential.”

She also pointed out the role of storytelling in driving adoption. “You can’t just talk about the technology itself. You need to show how it benefits people and businesses in tangible ways—whether that’s reducing costs, improving resilience, or enhancing reputation.”

 

Shifting Priorities Through Personal Experience

Victoria’s move into climate tech was inspired by personal experiences during the pandemic, including food shortages and extreme weather. “I started gardening out of necessity and quickly realised how interconnected our ecosystems are,” she shared.

“When rivers dried up and flash floods hit places like Germany, it became clear to me that climate change isn’t a future problem—it’s a now problem.”

Her lived experiences reinforced the importance of taking immediate, practical steps toward sustainability. “We don’t need to wait for perfect solutions. Small, meaningful actions can make a big difference,” she said.

 

A Collaborative Path Forward

Victoria envisions a future where collaboration between governments, businesses, and startups drives faster adoption of climate tech. “The public sector must fund early-stage innovation, while the private sector scales it,” she explained.

“It’s a shared responsibility.”

Her work at Qurator reflects this collaborative ethos. By connecting organisations with ready-to-implement solutions, she’s helping to remove the barriers that have long slowed the adoption of climate technologies. “Our mission is to ensure that the tools to combat climate change are not just available but used at scale,” she said.

 

Conclusion: From Ideas to Impact

Victoria Chen-Englert’s insights highlight the importance of focusing on implementation as much as innovation in climate tech. By addressing the barriers to adoption and fostering collaboration, her work bridges the gap between what’s possible in the lab and what’s needed in the real world. As she aptly put it, “The solutions are already here. Now, we just need to use them.”

 

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© 2025. The Responsible Edge Podcast

© 2025. The Responsible Edge Podcast