Scaling Climate Tech, Carbon Innovation & Heavy Industry | Madison Savilow

Madison Savilow on scaling climate tech, industrial innovation, Calgary’s ecosystem, and the future of low-carbon materials.

We explore how Carbon Upcycling is helping reduce emissions from one of the world's most carbon-intensive industries, why scaling climate technologies is often harder than developing them, and what it takes to move from grant-funded pilots to commercial deployment. Madison also shares insights on Calgary's growing role in climate innovation, the challenges facing growth-stage startups, and why understanding customer problems matters more than falling in love with technology.

▬ Content ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

00:00 – Intro
01:03 – From sociology and accounting to climate tech
03:11 – What Carbon Upcycling does and why it matters
04:29 – Lessons from the early startup days
06:10 – The challenge of scaling climate-tech companies
08:04 – Finding product-market fit in heavy industry
09:34 – Growing from startup to growth-stage company
10:30 – Calgary's climate-tech ecosystem
12:03 – What Calgary still needs to support innovation
13:41 – The financing gap for growth-stage climate tech
15:11 – What success looks like in five years

▬ Takeaways ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

- Climate tech requires both a strong mission and a strong business case.
- Understanding customer problems is often more important than the technology itself.
- Scaling industrial technologies is significantly harder than building initial prototypes.
- Resourcefulness and adaptability are critical in the early stages of a startup.
- Moving from startup culture to growth-stage operations requires a completely different mindset.
- Calgary offers strong industrial expertise, infrastructure, and support for entrepreneurs.
- Growth-stage companies often face financing challenges that early-stage programs do not address.
- Low-carbon construction materials will play a major role in reducing global emissions.
- Commercial adoption requires alignment across customers, investors, and industry partners.
- Building a climate-tech company is a long-term journey that requires patience and persistence.

▬ About the Guest ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Madison Savilow is part of the leadership team at Carbon Upcycling, a Calgary-based climate-tech company transforming industrial byproducts and captured carbon into low-carbon construction materials. Since joining the company while completing her studies at the University of Calgary, she has helped Carbon Upcycling grow from an early-stage startup into an internationally recognized climate-tech company working with some of the world's largest cement producers.

Madison's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madisonsavilow/

▬ About Between Meetings ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Between Meetings is a video podcast with industry leaders, startup founders, and ecosystem builders. Each episode explores the realities of building, investing, and supporting innovation while catching guests between meetings during a car ride across town. Along the way, they share stories, industry insights, and practical lessons. Since 2023, Between Meetings has been helping tell Calgary’s innovation story one conversation at a time.

▬ Social Media ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Follow the host, Marian Danko on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariandanko

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Website: https://www.betweenmeetings.ca

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