Meet Ted McKlveen, David Jaramillo & Bav Roy, Founders of Verne

Invest in startups like Verne alongside Climate Capital here.

Founders: Ted McKlveen, David Jaramillo, & Bav Roy

Motto: Accelerate the transition to zero-emission heavy-duty transportation

Year Founded: 2020

Stage: Seed

Location: San Francisco

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

Ted:  I've been passionate about climate change my whole life: I started writing letters to my local representatives to take climate action when I was 14! After a couple years working on renewable power, I wanted to work on a difficult-to-decarbonize problem. I saw that electricity was ~30% of emissions, but felt that it was receiving ~90% of the attention and talent. I landed on heavy-duty transport as an important sector to address: heavy-duty transport is 10% of GHG emissions and lacks a full technical solution.
Climate Capital: What are you building?

Ted: Verne builds hydrogen storage systems for heavy-duty trucks. Our systems store hydrogen in a ultra-high-density state (2x the density vs. compressed gas), achieving 1,000+ mile (diesel-parity) range. We achieve this high density by storing the hydrogen as a cold and compressed gas. A second benefit of storing hydrogen in this state is that we can refuel the system at stations with any hydrogen supply: unlike liquid hydrogen storage, which must be fueled at stations with liquid hydrogen, we can refuel our systems at stations with liquid hydrogen or at stations with gaseous hydrogen.

Climate Capital: What has it taken to get to where you are today?

Ted:  Verne has made tremendous progress over the last three years. Getting here to where we are has only been possible due to a huge, supportive network. We have relied on the generosity of countless folks, volunteering their advice and support to Verne in a variety of contexts. From engineers that believed in us early on, to informal mentors and advisors, we simply could not do this without the hundreds of people that have helped us along the way. We're solving a complex challenge in a complex market: we have needed to learn about the trucking industry, hydrogen industry, very complex engineering, starting a company, etc. This has only been possible thanks to our amazing support network. Thank you!!  

Climate Capital: How do you foster growth and career development for your employees?

Ted: Our core values help define our culture. In particular: "Support Each Other and Have Fun Along the Way" and "Learn & Innovate to Be the Best." We make sure to have many practices, rituals, and processes in place so that we live these values. Our culture is hard working, intellectually curious, collaborative, and fun.

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

Ted: I didn't expect to spend so much time on recruiting. It has been a major part of my job, but has been more than worth it: I'm incredibly proud of the team we've built. The biggest lesson I've learned is to never "fall behind" on recruiting. Instead, we always need to have a pipeline of potential hires at various stages in the recruiting process. If we wait until we really need a new hire to start recruiting, that is a few months too late.
Climate Capital: What have you learned that you want to share with other founders?

Ted: Make sure to have fun along the way! This is important to make the long journey sustainable and rewarding, but is also contagious and will help motivate the team. If the leadership is exhausted and stressed, the rest of the team will get de-motivated.

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

Ted: We're always looking to hire great new team members! Please send our way anyone that might be interested in a fast-growing company addressing heavy-duty trucking emissions. We're currently focused on mid-career mechanical engineers, business development, operations, and technicians. Thank you!