Green Steel at No Premium: $85M for Electra’s Low-Temp Ironmaking — Sandeep Nijhawan, CEO

Discover how Electra is decarbonizing ironmaking with $85M raised, partnerships with Nucor, and a breakthrough process that produces green steel at 60°C instead of 1,600°C — all with zero cost premium.My guest today is Sandeep Nijhawan, the Cofounder and CEO of Electra.Electra is decarbonizing ironmaking for green steel production using intermittent renewable energy and low-grade iron ores, and producing higher-quality steel at the same time. Backed by $85M of VC and corporate VC capital, they will do all this at zero cost premium to existing steel manufacturing.In addition, Sandeep is the former:President of AquaHydrex, which was focused on developing a novel electrolyzer for the hydrogen economyOperating Partner for True North Venture PartnersPresident of Staq Energy, a distributed energy storage solutions developerIn this episode, we talked about:Their new partnership with Nucor, the largest steel manufacturer in the U.S.How he transitioned from a PhD in mechanical engineering to leading energy tech startupsWhy his “midlife crisis” led to the clarity to build novel energy solutions among small teams of bonafide geeksThe importance of producing green steel at 60 degrees Celsius instead of 1,600 degreesHow they balanced strategic and financial investors, ignoring conventional wisdom in the processThe ways in which steel plants can get access to their solution as an OpEx, instead of just as a CapExThe prioritization of self, family, and team – not the reverse order – and this is anti-selfishPerspectives on really knowing the “why” in order to allow the “how” to be easierAnd lots moreHope you enjoy.And give Sandeep and Electra a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Our two offerings include:Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

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