Spark the transition

Your feature interview

Your story, in your words.

Behind every climate breakthrough is a human story. We’d love to hear yours. Answer as fully as you like — honest beats polished.

About 25 minutes. Your answers save as you go.
We edit for flow.
We welcome stories from around the world. Submissions are reviewed editorially and publication is not guaranteed.

Feel free to be candid – the more specific your answers (especially with numbers, lessons and mistakes), the stronger the feature.

Start your interview

A quick note about publication: We welcome climate stories from around the world. Every submission is reviewed editorially, but publication isn’t guaranteed. We select stories for their relevance, originality and fit with The Green Techpreneur.

01 · About you

I’m a founder I’m an investor

Full name

Company, fund or firm

Your Climate Marketplace profile link (optional)

02 · Your story

The Vision

1. What does your company do, and what kind of future are you working to create?Tell us about your innovation, the climate challenge you’re tackling, and the positive change you hope to make in the world.

The Beginning

2. Take us back to the moment your startup idea first took hold. What happened, and why did it stay with you?A conversation, a frustration, an unexpected discovery or a moment you couldn’t forget.

The Problem and the Breakthrough

3. What problem are you solving, and whose lives are you trying to change?Help us understand the people affected and why the problem matters.

4. Why does your solution matter for the climate?Explain the environmental impact in plain English. Include real numbers if you have them.

5. How does your innovation work, and what makes it different from what’s already out there?Explain it as you would to a curious friend outside your industry.

The Founder’s Journey

6. Tell us about a time when things went wrong. What happened, how did you overcome it, and what did you learn?Think setbacks, unexpected challenges, mistakes or moments that changed your approach.

7. Was there ever a moment when you felt like giving up? What kept you going? (optional)If this hasn’t happened to you, feel free to skip this question.

8. What’s the boldest, strangest or most unexpected decision you’ve made while building your company?It could be a pivot, a gamble, an unusual idea or something everyone told you wouldn’t work.

9. What’s something about you, your team or your journey that people would never guess from reading your company website? (optional)An unexpected background, funny incident, unusual habit or surprising discovery.

The People Behind the Breakthrough

10. No founder builds something extraordinary alone. Who deserves a shout-out, and what makes the people around you special?Perhaps it’s an unusual mix of talents, a brilliant co-founder, or someone who brings something completely different to the table.

The Proof and Real-World Impact

11. Where is your company today, and what progress are you most proud of?Share meaningful milestones, customers, deployments, revenue or growth figures, and measurable impact.

12. Tell us about one real person, customer or community whose life has changed because of what you’re building. (optional)What was their situation before, what happened, and what’s different now? Perhaps share a specific moment that shows the difference your work has made.

Growth and Ambition

13. Where do you want to take the company next, and what’s your plan to get there?Tell us about your growth ambitions, the milestones you’re working towards, and what needs to happen to make them a reality.

14. Why have you chosen your current market, and where do you see the biggest opportunities to expand?Why is this market important for your solution? Are there other countries, regions or customer groups you hope to reach?

Lessons and Investor Reality

15. What do investors, customers or the wider world most often misunderstand about your business or sector? (optional)Here’s your chance to challenge an assumption.

Founder Wisdom

16. What words of wisdom would you share with other climate founders?What have your experiences taught you that might help someone else navigating the same journey?

Rapid Fire

17. What do you do when it’s time to switch off and unwind?First thoughts welcome. A few words or a little story — whatever comes naturally.

18. Who is your role model?

19. What gives you hope about the climate right now?

20. What book would you recommend to other climate founders, and why? (optional)Optional — we may feature your recommendation in the Founder Book Club.

The Green Techpreneur Signature Question

21. Describe your dream home. Where would it be, what would it look like, and what would make it yours?Go on, dream a little. Somewhere in nature, a beautiful city apartment, a futuristic home or something completely unexpected.

Looking Ahead

22. If you could teleport yourself into the future and be anywhere, doing anything, where would you be and why?

The Ask

23. Are you currently raising investment? If so, how much, and what will it help you achieve? (optional)Include round size, timing and milestones. Leave blank if you’re not raising.

24. How can our readers help you move your mission forward? (optional)Think introductions, partnerships, pilots, talent, customers or investment. Be specific.

Feel free to be candid – the more specific your answers (especially with numbers, lessons, and mistakes), the stronger the feature.

02 · Pitch Me: the investor questionnaire

Thanks for taking part. Answers may be quoted directly, so write the way you’d talk. Aim for 50–200 words each.

The Snapshot

1. In one sentence: what does your firm invest in, and what are you trying to make happen in the world?

The Origin

2. What moment brought you into climate investing?Hint: The career turn, the conversation, the frustration. Whatever made it personal.

3. Tell us about a deal you passed on or got wrong. What did it teach you?Hint: Honest lessons make the strongest stories.

The Thesis

4. What’s your investment thesis, in plain words?Hint: Which problems, which stages, and why now.

5. Which climate sector or trend excites you most right now, and why?

The Proof

6. Which portfolio companies best show your thesis in action? What did you see early that others missed?

Pitch Me

7. If a founder had 60 seconds to pitch you, what should they say?

8. What makes you lean in during a first meeting, and what are your instant red flags?

9. What do founders most often misunderstand about how investors actually make decisions?

Founder Playbook

10. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to climate founders raising right now? Founder WisdomHint: The thing you wish every founder knew before they walked in.

Rapid-Fire

11. In one line each, give us your mantra or a favourite quote, a daily ritual, and what gives you hope about the climate right now.

12. What’s one book you’d recommend to climate founders, and why? Book ClubHint: A line or two on what it taught you. We may quote you on the Founder Book Club shelf.

Future Vision

13. Teleport 10+ years into the future. What does climate investing look like, and what’s the impact you’d be proudest of having made?

The Ask

14. What are you actively looking for right now?Hint: Sectors, stages, geographies, cheque size, and the kind of founder you want to meet.

15. What’s the best way for founders to get on your radar?Hint: Warm intro, application form, LinkedIn, events. Be specific.

Feel free to be candid – the more specific your answers (especially with examples, lessons, and what you look for), the stronger the feature.

03 · Photos

A portrait of youSomething joyful: smiling, at work or out in the field, in natural light, landscape. JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 10 MB.

Your product, site or team (optional)Up to three images. Candid team photos, behind-the-scenes moments and the people at work are very welcome.

I agree that The Green Techpreneur may edit my responses for clarity, length and flow while preserving their meaning, and may use my submitted photographs in connection with a feature.