This episode was previously for members only. In an effort to make content free, this episode is now available for everyone. Today's guest is Katie Rae, CEO & Managing Partner of The Engine. The Engine is a venture capital fund, spun out of MIT, that invests in early-stage companies, solving the world's biggest problems through the convergence of breakthrough science, engineering, and leadership. A for-profit organized as a public benefit corporation, The Engine not only maximizes for investor returns but also for purpose. Its investing focuses on several so-called “tough tech” domains: reversal climate change, biological human health (e.g. agriculture), “compute of tomorrow” and infrastructure (e.g. quantum computing). Primarily, it invests early at the seed stage or small Series A as the lead investor. I was excited for this one, as Katie is an old friend and a longtime fixture in the Boston innovation community. She's advised hundreds of founders and invested in a myriad of companies. Now at The Engine, she serves as a board member at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Form Energy, Via Separations and Lilac Solutions. We have a great discussion in this episode about tough tech, why it matters and what led Katie to switching gears to focus exclusively on what historically has been an underfunded field of innovation. Enjoy the show! You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• The benefits of partnering with MIT in founding The Engine
• The mission and vision of The Engine
• The Engine’s focus on “tough tech” and the role it plays as a backer of it
• How The Engine compares with a typical VC firm and important differences that makes it unique
• How Katie landed at The Engine after a long career in technology and investing
• The role MIT plays at The Engine
• The relationship between The Engine and its portfolio companies
• The cross-functional resources The Engine brings to bear on behalf of its companies
• Katie’s perspective on balancing investor returns and organizational mission
• The criteria The Engine uses in selecting companies in which to invest
• How VC has become more MBA-driven than science-driven and the neglect of “tough tech”
• The biggest gap in the financing landscape for “tough tech”
• The overlap between The Engine’s style of investing and the style popularized on Sand Hill Road
• What The Engine’s LPs think of the incubator’s hybrid impact and returns mission
• What Katie thinks of “impact investing”
• How Katie would allocate a $100B to deliver impact
• The durability of “tough tech”

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• The Engine: https://www.engine.xyz/
• Public Benefit Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-benefit_corporation
• Blended Finance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_finance

Get connected with MCJ: 

• Cody Simms X / LinkedIn
• MCJ Podcast / Collective / YouTube

*If you liked this episode, please consider giving us a review! You can also reach us via email at info@mcj.vc, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.