What’s your story, Travis Theune?
The stories behind climate tech founders
This year, we’re launching a new series of posts profiling founders of Climate Connection’s tech community, asking them to share their journeys, inspirations, and insights into how they got to where they are today.
Today, meet Travis Theune – the co-founder and CEO who shared the story of Thermify at May Climate Tech Time. Thermify solves two challenges at once: helping the UK transition away from fossil fuels and towards a greener, more sustainable way of heating homes, and how to use the energy used in cloud computing effectively twice? It’s a fascinating concept and one that we loved digging deeper into.
Here’s Travis’ story.
How did your career begin?
At 15, I left high school to start college early, and that summer I interned at NASA, porting C code from an old satellite system to a newer one. When I was 17, I left college to start working at DIGEX, building one of the first web-hosting data centres in the mid-90s. Ironically, when containerisation, and specifically “as a service” (i.e., Cloud), first came about, I was not only skeptical but downright dismissive of it!
How did you convince early cloud computing customers to trust their compute jobs to a distributed network of home-based micro data centres rather than a traditional facility?
By being completely transparent about how the HeatHub TM system works. Through our Early Adopter program, we help our customers design their workloads to run securely in our environments. Our team’s background in cybersecurity is one of our biggest strengths.
What have been the toughest challenges along the way?
As I’m sure is the case with every truly innovative product, funding has been our biggest challenge. Thermify’s HeatHub is a ‘disruptive’ technology; we’re suggesting fundamental changes to two essential everyday services (Data Centre/Cloud Compute and Home Heating).
Additionally, we've had some very interesting challenges in optimising for compute density without excessively increasing the size of field-replaceable units. Finding that balance has been an interesting iterative process. Another boring one has been staffing. We have an amazing team now, but finding the right people at the right time has not been easy.
Have you ever felt like giving up?
Yes, often!
What has kept you going?
First and foremost, our team. The dedication the team shows to our core values and goals has been a massive inspiration and constant reminder of how good we have it.
We found a way to solve two big problems by putting them together into a single solution. Using Energy Twice- what an idea!!! Once we are at scale, we can make a difference by reducing the carbon Cloud Computing contributes to global warming and helping to reduce, if not eliminate, fuel poverty in the UK. What a dream!
What advice would you give to anyone else looking to build a climate tech startup today?
Network. Meet people. Talk to people. You aren't alone.
Someone else has gone through what you are going through, and they can relate in a way that really makes a difference, or maybe provide some advice or an insight that you don't expect. You never know, someone else's story may hold the key to unlocking whatever door is currently closed to you. Build your team, both internally and externally.
Can you tell us a story about how this community or an unexpected connection helped propel you to where you are now?
I was introduced to Climate Connection by Paul Taylor. Paul knew my co-founder from a business relationship years and years ago, and did some PR work for us in the early days. As time progressed, we struggled, and I reconnected with Paul when we had made a bit of news, since he had been keeping an eye on us (thank goodness!).
He recommended I do a Climate Tech Talk (CTT), and I've met some wonderful people over the last two months with surprising connections and insights. This includes everything from new ways to raise funds to new ways to monetise some of our products. As I've mentioned, it's all about the team. The more seats you have at the table, the better the feast!
So there’s a glimpse into one of the founders of our Climate Connection community – a community built around the strategic magic of connection and intentional networking.
Interested in seeing yourself or another founder onstage?
We’re always looking for new startups and scale-ups to tell amazing stories. You can fill out our speaker nomination form here.
