A look into how Co-Founder and CEO Lucy Lyons is not just talking about diversity, she’s building a company that proves it’s key to innovation.
“We often have a tendency to be perfectionists, to wait until we feel 100% ready before putting ourselves forward. But the truth is, you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t start.”
Meet Lucy Lyons, the CEO and Co-Founder of Kestrix, a climate tech startup with a mission to help the UK achieve its net-zero transition goals. Kestrix uses innovative aerial thermal imaging to identify heat loss in buildings, earning it the nickname “The Google Maps of Heat Loss.”
With a background in both sustainability and enterprise, Lucy is deeply passionate about scalable, data-driven solutions. In this exclusive interview for Women Rock, Lucy shares her journey as a female founder, discusses the importance of a gender-balanced team, including the impressive fact that three of her five female employees are engineers, and offers powerful advice for women aspiring to build careers in tech.
Hey Lucy, thank you for being part of Women Rock. Could you give us a little introduction about yourself?
Sure! I am Lucy, and for the past 2.5 years, I’ve been the Co-Founder and CEO of Kestrix, often described as the “Google Maps of Heat Loss.” We provide an automated, aerial energy survey that visualises how heat escapes from buildings, helping identify where insulation is needed. With 24 million homes in the UK requiring insulation by 2050, we need a data layer to tell us where to start, what to do, and how much it will cost, and that’s what we would like to be.
Before founding Kestrix, I worked in startups straight out of university. One of my roles was in enterprise SaaS sales, with a focus on sustainability. My passion for the environment led me to complete a Master’s degree in sustainability, enterprise, and the environment, where I learned about the role the private sector can play in driving the net-zero transition. But I realised I missed entrepreneurship.
What aspect of Kestrix’s growth or culture are you most proud of?
Today, Kestrix employs 10 people, and we’ve raised several million in funding. I’m especially proud that we’ve built a gender-balanced team: 50% women, 50% men, and notably, 3 out of the 5 women on our team are engineers. Which is sadly very rare in tech.
What inspired you to co-found Kestrix, and how did your background in sustainability and AI influence that decision?
I’ve worked in climate and sustainability my entire career, helping companies understand how to decarbonise. Early on, I realised that our economy isn’t set up to calculate carbon emissions from a data perspective, and I saw a huge need for scalable, industry-specific solutions to solve primary data problems.
My co-founder is a commercial drone pilot with a background in computer vision, who’s worked in a wide range of companies, including Google and several scaleups. So it feels like our partnership is a natural fit.
Female-founded businesses are still underrepresented when it comes to raising investment. What’s your take on this, and how do you think we can start to rebalance the playing field?
It has to start with getting more women into senior roles in venture capital. Right now, there may be female VCs in the room, but often without real decision-making power. Female partners are still far too rare.
We also need more female founders out there. I grew up with a brother who was encouraged by our parents to be entrepreneurial, while I was pushed more towards creative pursuits. This is not a bad thing, but it shows how we’re conditioned to do certain things that ‘fit’ our gender from a young age, which shapes what we believe we can do. Early education needs to do a better job of taking extra steps to encourage girls into STEM subjects and entrepreneurial pursuits.
I didn’t realise I had entrepreneurial instincts until I was around 22 or 23, mostly because I hadn’t been challenged to explore that before. Now, I see that I bring a unique skill set to the table, especially in storytelling. I never knew that ability would be valuable as a founder until I accidentally discovered this, but they’ve been essential.
Although funding remains a challenge for female founders, non-dilutive support is a great lever; the more of that, the better. At Kestrix, we were part of the Women Tech EU program, which has been a great initiative supporting us with mentorship and non-dilutive capital, which crowds in more private investment.
Which women in the industry do you most admire? Have there been any mentors or role models who have really helped shape your journey?
I was most inspired by my mum, who’s also an entrepreneur. While she’s been involved in less tech-focused businesses, she’s always modelled independence and the courage to speak truth to power.
I’ve not had one specific influential female mentor, but people like Tessa Clarke and the founder of Canva, Melanie Perkins, are role models I look up to.
Can you share any pivotal moments in your career that changed your path or gave you clarity on your mission?
My first job was an internship at what I thought was a startup. On my first day, the person who hired me told me he was moving to Paris and to call him in two weeks to let me know how I had grown the business in his absence. In hindsight, his effective disappearance turned out to be the greatest gift anyone ever gave me; I was thrown into the deep end and had to learn on my feet.
What followed was a long, winding road, about a year and a half of trial and error building that company. But through that experience, I learned something important: you can build businesses that both make money and have a real impact.
That chapter also showed me how much I thrive in early-stage, chaotic environments. I realised that’s where I come alive.
What advice would you give to women looking to break into climate tech or tech for good more broadly?
If you are in a financial position to and believe you’re onto something, just do it. We often tend to be perfectionists, to wait until we feel 100% ready before putting ourselves forward. But the truth is, you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t start.
The key is to dive in; the sooner you start, the faster you’ll fall and the faster you’ll learn from that. It’s not about getting everything right the first time; it’s about learning and adapting quickly.
Lucy’s Quick Takes
- Favourite Quote: “Nothing is above or beneath you.”
- Book Recommendation for the Women Rock Bookshelf? The Mom Test (best startup book)
- Favourite Song: A Day in the Life (The Beatles)
Lucy’s story is a powerful reminder that diversity, courage, and a bias for action are essential for innovation. Her journey from accidental entrepreneur to leading a pioneering climate tech startup with a gender-balanced team is an inspiration.
Want to be featured and share your story, or know someone with a great story? Get in touch at hello@womenrock.tech.
Interviewed by Shani Ford
