Meet Moji and Tara Karimi, Founders of Cemvita, Inc.

Invest in startups like Cemvita Inc. alongside Climate Capital here.

Founders: Moji and Tara Karimi (siblings)

Motto: Deploying biosolutions to accelerate the energy transition and create a brighter future.

Year Founded: 2017

Stage: Series B

Location: Houston and Denver

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Climate Capital: What made you want to solve this problem?

Moji:  Climate change is about energy transition. I came from an energy background and am passionate about reinventing the industry from within towards a sustainable future.

Climate Capital: What are you building?

Moji: We are finding applications where biotech can be leveraged to provide an economical sustainable solution. To do that we optimize and engineer microbes. Current applications are CO2 conversion, biomining and subsurface hydrogen production. 

Climate Capital: What is next?

Moji:  Past 5 years have been about developing the solutions, de-risking in the lab scale and scaling up. Next is the deployment of the solutions in the field and full commercialization. 

Climate Capital: What are the core elements of the culture you are building at your company?

Moji: Our culture has four elements: 

- Mission-minded

- Pioneering and persistent

- Caring and candid

- Responsible for results

Climate Capital: What are the key challenges as you scale your company?

Moji: We didn't expect a pandemic, a downturn, and collapse of the biggest ClimateTech bank but here we are, still alive and growing.

Climate Capital: What have you learned that you want to share with other founders?

Moji: Wish I had focused more on nurturing our superstars as opposed to responding to the squeaking wheel(s).

Climate Capital: How can the broader climate community help you on your mission?

Moji: Love to share notes on growth, especially from founders who have already been where we are.