Where are the women in cement and concrete?

One of the biggest challenges I faced while fundraising for Material Evolution wasn’t just being a woman—it was also working in an industry that investors often find difficult to grasp: hardware. Our startup's mission is to cut 1 gigatonne of carbon by 2040 by scaling ultra-low carbon cement technology. That’s the equivalent of 100 million African elephants in weight.

To achieve this, we need to change industry thinking and replace ordinary Portland cement, a construction staple for over 100 years. Throughout this journey, I’ve often been the only woman in the room—among industry professionals, founders, and investor teams. When teams lack diversity, it signals that diversity of thought isn’t a priority, making it harder for underrepresented founders to gain support.

But this isn’t just about my experience—it’s a wider industry issue. There are too few women in key decision-making roles, which impacts the businesses that receive funding. We need both a cultural shift and an industry shift: encouraging STEM careers from an early age while also ensuring women in the workforce step into leadership roles now. The cement sector isn’t just vast in scale—it holds huge potential for sustainable impact. The women who can lead this change are already here—we just need to give them the opportunity.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a founder is to take every opportunity to network. This can be the key to unlocking company growth. Initiatives like Female Founder Office Hours by Playfair Capital helped bridge the gap for me by providing introductions and support. Through this, I met some of our earliest investors, who enabled us to take a concept that started in my parents’ garage just five years ago and scale it to a commercial operation producing 120,000 tonnes of ultra-low carbon cement annually.

Building a company relies on having the right team—people who share your vision. At Material Evolution (Mevo), we’ve brought together scientists, engineers, and industry experts who each play a vital role in our mission to remove one gigatonne of CO₂ from the atmosphere by 2040. I’m constantly inspired by their work—not just for their technical expertise but because they are good people who want to change the world.

My approach is always: "How hard can it really be?" I use this mindset to guide my decisions, reminding myself that I won’t know my limits until I try. Instead of assuming something is impossible, I break it down, learn what I need, and tackle it. This perspective has helped me avoid underestimating myself or others, stay curious, and focus on solutions rather than obstacles. Successes and failures have shaped me, but I’ve learned that growth comes from pushing beyond what we think is possible.

The cement and concrete industries have a critical role to play in the sustainable transformation of the built environment. With cement responsible for around 8% of global CO₂ emissions, we must act quickly to drive systemic change. Women are already leading innovation in this sector—we just need to open the doors for them to lead at scale.