#184 Plastic Replacement, Natural Fibers, Drop-In Materials, Toll Mills & More w/ Jesse Henry (Heartland Industries)

CleanTechies

Jesse Henry is the CEO and Founder of Heartland Industries, a company that produces drop-in pellets made of hemp fiber.
These pellets are used as an additive to plastics. They reduce the weight and cost of the products, improve strength, and lower scope 3 emissions.
It's a quadruple-benefit product.
Today, Jesse tells us his story - how he started Heartland - how he's the 3rd generation to work in the fibers industry - how they landed BASF as a partner and investor - and he gives a lot of other insights. Including our favorite, how they produce huge volumes of pellets without owning a milling facility.
Enjoy today's conversation!
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Topics:
**2:15 Intro
**2:55 Jesse's Background & Heartland's Mission
**10:06 The Challenge of Developing Reliable Supply Chains
**13:33 From Powder to Pellets
**16:47 What it Means to be a ClimateTech Entrepreneur Today
**22:03 Partnering with Wood Pellet Mills for Scale and Cost Reduction
**28:34 Run Jesse's Playbook
**31:16 The Finance of Materials Companies
**34:00 The Power of CVCs
**41:10 Opportunities in B2B Marketplaces
**43:27 How to Pick the Right CVCs
**47:02 Next Steps for Heartland
**54:58 Process Technologies and Software Solutions
**56:11 Focusing Beyond Carbon
**57:46 Takeaway
**54:51 Using Infrastructure to Skip Building
**56:16 Reducing Risk with Each Fundraising Round
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Links:
**Jesse Henry
**Heartland Industries
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**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X

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Chapter

1. #184 Plastic Replacement, Natural Fibers, Drop-In Materials, Toll Mills & More w/ Jesse Henry (Heartland Industries) (00:00:00)

2. Intro (00:02:15)

3. Jesse's Background & Heartland's Mission (00:02:55)

4. The Challenge of Developing Reliable Supply Chains (00:10:06)

5. From Powder to Pellets (00:13:33)

6. What it Means to be a ClimateTech Entrepreneur Today (00:16:47)

7. Partnering with Wood Pellet Mills for Scale and Cost Reduction (00:22:03)

8. Run Jesse's Playbook (00:28:34)

9. The Finance of Materials Companies (00:31:16)

10. The Power of CVCs (00:34:00)

11. Opportunities in B2B Marketplaces (00:41:10)

12. How to Pick the Right CVCs (00:43:27)

13. Next Steps for Heartland (00:47:02)

14. Process Technologies and Software Solutions (00:54:58)

15. Focusing Beyond Carbon (00:56:11)

16. Takeaways Section (00:57:46)