Consumers are increasingly Sustainable products and services are in demand, and according to McKinsey research, more than 90% of companies plan to partially meet this demand by building new business. One of his new businesses in this area is his C1 (Carbon.one). C1 (Carbon.one) is a climate technology startup that uses a patented catalytic process to produce green methanol as fuel for ships or as a feedstock for the chemical industry.
In a conversation with McKinsey's Markus Berger de Leon and Jerome Königsfeld, C1 co-founder and CEO Christian Folman shared his experience as a serial entrepreneur. He reflects on the discovery that a social cause was necessary to ensure long-term motivation. He also discusses the transition from internet startups to climate technology and the importance of hiring diverse teams with complementary skills, essential to bringing new technologies from research to industrialization. Masu.
Jerome Koenigsfeld: Before launching C1, he founded several successful businesses, including eDarling and nebenan.de. Why did you choose an entrepreneurial career path? What did you learn along the way?
Christian Vollmann: It all started with an internship at Alland in 1999 during the internet bubble. I was fascinated by the spirit of Berlin and the industry as a whole.
When I left university, the economic bubble burst and I couldn't really get started, so I took a detour and joined Jamba, and started the dating portal site iLove from scratch. A few years later, the company was sold at a profit. While founding and growing a company is exciting, I've realized that it's also important to have true equity in the business – to be fully involved in decision-making and the company's success.
He then started his own company called MyVideo, scaled it, and sold it in 2007. I was exhausted from building his MyVideo as the sole founder. From that experience, I realized that I needed a co-founder to go through the intense adventure of building a company. , Therefore, I wanted to start my next business together with the founding team.
I founded eDarling, an online dating platform, with a former classmate from WHU [a German business school]. We expanded our business to 23 countries and entered the NYSE. The fact that the founding team had very similar characteristics helped give us a high level of harmony, but we were not very complementary as a team. For future work, we wanted to build a more diverse team and leverage more skills to make better decisions.
Jerome Koenigsfeld: Once you knew you wanted to join the climate technology field, how did you screen the market to find the right technology?
Christian Vollman: Germany generally has excellent scientists and engineers, but it has been chronically bad at commercializing its technology. Most technologies don't go beyond the third or fourth readiness level. What is really missing is a multidisciplinary team. Experienced entrepreneurs should collaborate with successful scientists and engineers to build something together.
I went looking for innovations and researchers, but realized that with my knowledge it was impossible to screen the market systematically. Eventually, our mutual friend Dirk Radzinski introduced me to Marek Ciechinski, the inventor of today's technology. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of C1. Dirk previously started technology transfer initiatives at Humboldt University in Berlin and is very well connected in the field between research and entrepreneurship.When he saw Marek's patent and realized the potential of this technology to reduce CO22 He introduced us to emissions. At that time, the technology was Level 4. This means it has been commonly validated in a lab environment.
Markus Berger de Leon: How did you validate the technical concept and functionality?
Christian Vollman: From meeting Marek to understanding the technology, finding the right founding team, funding further experimentation, taking the technology to the next level of maturity, and even making sure it works in an industrial environment 9 It took a month.
To reach Level 5, the technology needed to prove it worked outside the lab, and it borrowed a nuclear reactor from a partner company to test it. For me, it was important to make sure the technology worked at Level 5 before starting the company. I also wanted to better understand the technology and see its benefits, limitations, and challenges. So we enlisted external experts such as Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, former CEO of BASF, and prominent professors in the field who are familiar with and understand this technology. After discussing the details, all the experts were convinced, invested, and even became part of the advisory board. These were great proofs for our business.
Jerome Koenigsfeld: What are the common uses of green methanol?
Christian Vollmann: One of them is the shipping industry. Container ships and cruise ships emit hundreds of millions of tons of CO.2 There will be great benefits from using green methanol as fuel. Engine manufacturers are already producing dual-purpose engines capable of handling methanol, the first of which are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of this year.
Of course, the chemical industry is also expected to benefit from methanol as a non-fossil feedstock for carbon-based chemical products such as plastics, adhesives, paints and insulation. Methanol can also be used as a fuel source in the transportation industry. Buses and trucks in China and India already use a mixture of gasoline and methanol.
In the furniture industry, methanol can be used as a source of non-fossil adhesive in the production of carbon dioxide.2-Neutral furniture.
Jerome Koenigsfeld: What kind of business model will it be?
Christian Vollmann: The final business model has not yet been determined. But we will likely become a technology provider, licensing our patented technology and selling the catalysts needed for that technology.
What is clear is that we need to build a highly scalable business model. At the end of the day, we want to achieve as much adoption as possible as quickly as possible to reduce CO.2 emissions. We believe that the greatest effect can be achieved by having multiple companies build facilities to reduce CO2.2 at the same time.
Markus Berger de Leon: A climate change technology business like yours requires a longer time horizon than a traditional internet business.How did you secure venture capitalists? [VC] Would you like to fund your idea?
Christian Vollmann: The VC market has changed over the past five years, and smaller tech VCs are now exploring climate change technology opportunities from seed to Series A tickets. There is now a growing understanding that achieving net-zero emissions is essential for the international community.
Some technologies need to be deployed, while others are still in development. Both cases require further investment. However, technology comes with risks. This involves reaching high levels of technology readiness, but each level is typically more difficult to reach than the previous one.
We use a clearly defined technology roadmap to track and report on our goals. You'll reach level 6 soon. This means that it is fully automated and works completely continuously for at least a week. Level 7 will be supported by public funds and will consist of a pilot project under real conditions in a chemical park next year. Level 8 is commercial demonstration, targeted for 2026. At that point, you will also choose your final business model.
The total VC investment we have received to date is €13 million, led by Planet A, SquareOne and Maersk Growth.
Jerome Koenigsfeld: As a founder with experience in both classic venture capital-funded internet startups and asset-intensive climate change technology companies, what do you wish you had known beforehand? , what was the biggest challenge you faced in C1?
Christian Vollman: Asset-heavy companies take longer to develop and bring technology to market. This means you and your team need to be committed for the long term as well. It will take at least five years to gain commercial traction. Before that, people will tell you that you have great ideas, but you should come back once you've made some progress. Few people are willing to take this risk. We need a partner who understands this and is willing to take on the risks with us. We also need to constantly think about how we can prove that the technology works.
Second, you need a very diverse team, with different skill sets and domain expertise. This diversity can be a strength, but it can also be a challenge when it comes to creating a cohesive team. Interpersonal dynamics can be difficult when people come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. We need to find a way to bring everyone together and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Lastly, I have always been an end user in my business. I was able to see myself using the product or service and understand the user's perspective. Not this time. I personally have no intention of creating this technology, nor will I fully understand it. That's why it's important to fully trust your co-founder. For example, you must fully trust that your co-founders are in control of scientific progress, even though you cannot always judge it. I'm learning as I go, but I don't have a direct connection with the end user. This is new to me and I'm still adjusting.
