At LabStart, we support brilliant entrepreneurs willing to bring bold climate ideas to market. Our 2026 Launch cohort includes six fellows with outstanding talent and hustle, and they inspire us every day. 

Let’s get to know them better!

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Monica Sanders: Bonne Terre Labs

From: New Orleans, LA
Currently: Alexandria, VA

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Monica is a Georgetown Law professor developing a tool to help tech leaders make data center siting and sustainability decisions that are equitable, transparent, and community-backed, reducing the chances of costly litigation.

Q: What first sparked your interest in entrepreneurship?
A: It came to me! This journey has been an extension of my community work in other spaces and wanting to solve climate impact challenges at scale. 

Q. What problem is your startup solving?
‍A. Data center siting inequity and ESG expenditure tracking. We are building software that at their core are decision tools to help companies work better with and for communities.

Q. What’s the story behind your company name, Bonne Terre?
A. My family's origin story starts in southeast Louisiana, during the time when it was under French rule. When the French got to the swampland, which was actually fertile wetlands, they named it Terrebonne, which means good land, as in good for cultivation and construction. 

When I was founding this company, I thought about all of the beautiful things in my community, but also all of the struggles that communities like mine are going through. And I said, well, what if we flip this? Because in French, if you say Bonne Terre, we mean good earth, this good planet.

Q. Why are you excited about this LabStart cohort?
‍A. I’m excited about the ability to not have to "go it alone" on this journey. Also the sheer diversity of innovations and opportunities means that we collectively have a shot at making a real difference.

Q. Why did you apply to the LabStart fellowship specifically?
A. Its commitment to working with underrepresented founders initially appealed to me. I was also drawn to, and am growing to appreciate, the curriculum and guidance. 

There's a lot of accelerators out there, but none of them are led by people like Deepa and Troy and John. None of them, particularly in this climate, are brave enough to say, we want to do this with people who don't look like most of the folks in Silicon Valley, and we're going to lean into it, even when everything else in the ecosystem is telling us not to bet on these folks. 

LabStart comes into this gap. These people are willing to open up their network and their experience and Rolodex to make a real substantial change in the ecosystem itself.

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Meet our other fellows!

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