Let's build the circular economy together

An open invitation for founders, funders, and policy makers looking to create great jobs supporting domestic manufacturing companies.

Author

Jake Hoffberg
August 18, 2025

Hi, I’m Jake Hoffberg – CEO of Regenerative Industrial. If you’re getting this email, it’s because you signed up for our industry newsletter, The Regenerative Industrialist (or you gave me your business card at some point and I added you to this list so we could stay in touch 😅).

Doing my best “personal trainer” pose outside of our lab in Chehalis, WA

This weekly newsletter is for founders, investors, and policy makers at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the Circular BioEconomy.

The Circular BioEconomy: a sustainable economic model that utilizes renewable biological resources to produce food, energy, materials, and chemicals, while minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency

The goal of this newsletter is to build support for the development of “high tech” manufacturing companies and the circular economy in the Pacific Northwest – Think batteries, semiconductors, satellites, small modular reactors, and high performance buildings.

More specifically, we’re going to talk about the “secret” to accessing early stage capital – build a “coalition” or “consortium” of local market players so we can drive ecosystem growth (not just company growth).

Why? After an action packed July 2025, I walked away with one major takeaway from PNW Climate Week and Seattle Tech Week…

For deep tech founders looking for startup capital, the message from Venture Capital are clear: WE ARE NOT INTERESTED unless you can generate 100x returns in five years – the so-called “triple triple double double” (1 → 3 → 9 → 27 → 52 → 108)

Great news for anyone building a software startup that follows the VC playbook used for the past two decades.

But for all the people like us who are building real companies that manufacture real products solving real problems… The “Valley of Death” only seems to be getting wider as AI HYPE/FOMO sucks much needed early stage capital away from the regions most promising 4IR companies.

There’s money for R&D and money at scale. But the GAP to commercialization has never been wider for early stage manufacturing companies trying to get a pilot-to-demonstration scale facility permitted and operational.

Venture capital and private equity just aren’t good fits for most early stage manufacturing companies… especially not BioIndustrial manufacturing companies like us.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no funding available for early stage companies working at the intersection of CleanTech, Space, and Defense.

You just have to look for it in different places, with different partners, running different playbooks. That’s why we decided to launch this newsletter.

In order for us to achieve our goals, we have to help other people achieve theirs. And one way or another, that means building pathways to money. More specifically it’s building a full capital stack that blends revenue, grants, debt, and equity capital – all while managing the different needs of each source of funds.

  • Are you in? Hit reply and say “I’m In!”

  • Are you really in? Forward this to a friend.

The next industrial revolution will be what we make of it.

Let’s build it together,

– Jake Hoffberg
CEO, Regenerative Industrial

P.S. Just so I can make sure I didn’t hit your spam folder, can you hit reply to this email and let me know you got it? I think you’re going to look forward to seeing me in your inbox each week and I wouldn’t want you to miss a thing.

Upcoming Events

  • Friday, Aug 22nd: Final day to comment on Washington’s Draft Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP): If you’re planning on manufacturing ANYTHING in the State of Washington, the 225 page CCAP is a “must read” and “must comment”. Comments are due this Friday if you want to toss it into your favorite AI tool.

    Want to “piggyback” of some of the language we (and other companies) are planning on submitting? Hit reply to this email and let me know you’re interested.

  • Wednesday, Aug 27th: Turning Biomass into Batteries @ JouleCase HQ: ​Join us for an exciting event highlighting how the Pacific Northwest (PNW) is pioneering a circular economy for energy storage, turning local biomass into high-performance battery technologies. This event will showcase regional leadership, groundbreaking innovation, and investment-ready opportunities in advanced battery materials and sustainable storage solutions.