A climate-tech startup founder's message to young entrepreneurs. Reading Time: 6 mins read Four different venture capital funds made it to the final stages of considering an investment in Beehive, meeting its partners and looking into its customers, before all four decided not to invest. "And one by one, all four said no. 'Basically, we don't think the market's big enough, we don't think anybody can handle the risk management here,'" said Adriel Lubarsky, the founder of Beehive. Lubarsky is the founder of Beehive, his fourth company, which uses artificial intelligence to help businesses understand their exposure to natural disasters and prepare climate-risk reports. As Beehive has grown, Lubarsky's path has been far from straightforward. He entered a market he thought was still developing, decided to shut down a product even when customers liked it and made three attempts to raise venture capital that ultimately sent him in a different direction. Building for a market that didn't exist yet. Lubarsky previously worked at a company called Greenplaces before leaving to start Beehive. Having started companies before, he understood much of the process, from setting up a business to finding its first customers. With Beehive, the challenge was something entirely different. "One of the challenges specific to Beehive was that the product we were building was for a market that didn't fully exist yet," he said. "We were looking a couple of years ahead to a market we thought was coming, instead of solving for something that existed today." The company was building around the idea that businesses would need to better understand their exposure to natural disasters and report those risks. Beehive uses AI to assess climate risks and help companies prepare reports required by different regulations. The challenge was not developing the software, but figuring out how to build a company around a market that was still taking shape. For Lubarsky, one of the first mistakes came only a few months into the company. He said customers had raised concerns about keeping track of environmental laws around the world, so the team decided to build another product called Policy AI. The software would track environmental laws and tell companies which ones applied to them. The product was performing well, customers liked it and the company was close to receiving payment for it. Still, Lubarsky and his team decided to shut it down because they felt it was distracting them from the company's main goal of helping businesses understand their exposure to natural disasters and comply with climate-risk regulations. "It wasn't a good use of engineering time for probably four or six months," he said. Though the product itself was not a failure, continuing to build it would have taken time away from the company's main focus. Lubarsky said the experiment did help the team build relationships with companies that later became interested in Beehive's core product. One company they had piloted Policy AI with nearly two years earlier was now becoming a customer. "It's a great product and other people have built it since. It's just not the one we were most passionate about," he said. Understanding the problem behind climate risk. As Beehive continued developing its product, a conversation after the Los Angeles fires in January 2025 helped Lubarsky better understand the problem he wanted to solve. He had spoken with a payroll provider that worked with small businesses, including florists. The provider told him that 600 of its customers in the Los Angeles area had turned off payroll because their shops had burned down. The provider was struggling to figure out how to respond. Some customers had lost their businesses, leaving the company to decide what kind of help it could offer. For Lubarsky, the conversation showed how unprepared companies could be when a disaster affected the businesses they worked with. Natural disasters could not be stopped, but businesses could make plans for what to do when one happened. "That really opened my eyes to the fact that you can't stop natural disasters. No company has the power to do that," he said. The problem, he said, was the uncertainty that followed a disaster when a company had no clear process for responding to it. Though the idea behind Beehive was becoming clearer, earning trust in its data remained a challenge. Climate models can help businesses understand how exposed they are to wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters, but no model can guarantee what will happen years into the future. Lubarsky said some companies trust those projections while others question their accuracy. "There's good science and models everyone agrees on for what will happen with hurricanes or wildfires in 30 years, but nobody actually knows what will happen that far out," he said. Lubarsky said Beehive has to be transparent about where its data comes from and what its limitations are. The laws requiring companies to report climate-related risks have also changed over time, making it difficult for businesses to know what they will need to report and when. Three attempts to raise venture capital. The challenge of convincing customers and investors that the market was worth pursuing became especially clear when Beehive tried to raise money. The company made three separate attempts to raise venture capital, but none resulted in an investment. The first attempt came when Beehive had little more than an idea. Lubarsky and his co-founders approached investors believing they had a strong concept and needed funding to build it. By the end of the process, they had received one offer, but the terms did not meet their expectations. The second attempt came after the company had reached $100,000 in revenue and signed some large customers. This time, the timing became a problem. Following Donald Trump's 2024 election victory, Lubarsky said venture capitalists were uncertain about the future of the climate industry. More investment money was moving toward artificial intelligence, where investors saw greater opportunities for returns. The third attempt seemed different because Beehive had gained traction. The company had grown its revenue tenfold over a couple of months, had 50 customers and was making progress with its product. Beehive reached the final stages with four venture capital funds. Lubarsky said the funds met with the company's partners and conducted detailed checks with its customers before each eventually declined to invest. The repeated rejections took up considerable time and made it difficult for the team to decide what direction to take. After the third attempt in January 2026, Lubarsky reconsidered the company's strategy. "Let's stop pretending this is an industry that's going to have a ton of venture capital in it. Let's stop trying to please venture capitalists and build a good, profitable business that customers pay full price for," he said. That decision has meant working with fewer resources. Lubarsky said the company cannot hire as quickly as it wants or build its product as quickly as it could with more funding. Instead, the company is focusing on getting customers to pay for its product and growing from there. Building a company on his own terms. For Lubarsky, building Beehive has also meant deciding what kind of company he wants to run beyond its financial goals. He said having a family has shaped the way he and his partners approach their work. He is married and has two children, and the team generally goes home around 5 p.m. rather than working late into the night or throughout the weekend. Lubarsky said building a company does not have to mean giving up everything else in life. Since Beehive is his fourth company, much of the experience has built on what he already knew, but he has tried to create a business that leaves room for the people running it to have lives outside of work. When asked what advice he would give a high school student who wanted to start a company, Lubarsky said the most important thing was to begin early instead of waiting for the perfect idea or the right time. He started his first business in middle school, followed by another in college and another after that. Each experience gave him a chance to get better at starting and running a company. "Don't overthink it," he said. "You just need to be the sort of person who starts things, and then you'll learn how to start things."

Inc. names greenplaces to its 2026 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the Mid-Atlantic. Companies on the Inc. Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list had a median growth rate of 74 percent. RALEIGH, N.C.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Inc., the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future, today revealed that Greenplaces has been ranked No. 31 on its sixth annual Inc. Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list - the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the Mid-Atlantic. The region includes Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Sustainability reporting has moved from a nice-to-have to a board-level priority, and companies are looking for a partner who can make that transition feel manageable, not overwhelming. Share An extension of the national Inc. 5000 list, the Regionals list offers a data-driven look at the independent small businesses driving growth across the Mid-Atlantic economy. Companies on this year's list demonstrate exceptional revenue expansion, resilience, and job creation during a challenging economic period. "Being recognized among the fastest-growing companies in the Mid-Atlantic is a reflection of what happens when you build something businesses actually need. Sustainability reporting has moved from a nice-to-have to a board-level priority, and companies are looking for a partner who can make that transition feel manageable, not overwhelming. Our growth tells us we're getting that right. But what drives us isn't the ranking; it's the compounding impact of hundreds of businesses now operating with cleaner data, stronger disclosures, and a clearer path forward. We're just getting started." Between 2022 and 2024, these 137 private companies had a median growth rate of 74 percent; by 2024, they'd also added 8,399 jobs and $10.6 billion to the region's economy. Complete results of the Inc. Regionals: Mid-Atlantic, including company profiles and an interactive database sortable by industry and metro area, will be available beginning March 31 at: https://www.inc.com/regionals/mid-atlantic. "The honorees on this year's Inc. Regionals list achieved exceptional growth at a time when the odds were against them. Amid inflation, supply chain disruptions, and ongoing economic uncertainty, they didn't just persevere - they innovated, adapted, and thrived. Their resilience made them standouts in their industries and true growth engines in their regions," said Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. More about Inc. and the Inc. Regionals Methodology The Inc. Regionals lists are ranked according to percentage revenue growth over two years. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2022. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent - not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies - as of December 31, 2024. (Since then, a number of companies on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2022 is $100,000; the minimum for 2024 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. About Inc. Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com. About Greenplaces Greenplaces streamlines carbon accounting, automates climate compliance, and delivers actionable insights for reducing emissions. Backed by human expertise, we make ESG reporting simple, accurate, and audit-ready - empowering organizations to meet customer expectations, strengthen supplier relationships, and accelerate their climate goals. Contacts. Media Contact: Name: Joyce Fang Title: Head of Marketing Email: [email protected] Phone: (910) 242-4128 Website: greenplaces.com More News From Greenplaces RALEIGH, N.C.-( BUSINESS WIRE )-Greenplaces, a leading sustainability platform helping companies measure, manage, and improve their environmental impact, today announced an expanded commitment following its Certified B Corporation(TM) designation: helping organizations prepare for certification and recertification under B Lab's updated B Corp 2.1 standards. Greenplaces first earned its B Corp certification in November 2025, meeting verified standards of social and environmental performance, transp... RALEIGH, N.C.-( BUSINESS WIRE )-Greenplaces, a leading sustainability platform helping companies measure, manage, and improve their environmental impact, is proud to announce it has officially become a Certified B Corporation(TM). This milestone recognizes Greenplaces' commitment to meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Certified B Corporations, known as B Corps, are part of a global movement of businesses using their infl... RALEIGH, N.C.-( BUSINESS WIRE )-Greenplaces announced today that it has been named an Approved Training Partner by EcoVadis, the leading provider of globally trusted business sustainability ratings. Approved Training Partners are formally equipped to help businesses complete sustainability assessments, review scores, and improve environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement practices. Approved Training Partners are carefully selected based on their experience and expe...