December Week 1, 2024: In this weekly series, we highlight 5 climate tech startups to watch by featuring the incredible startups, companies, or projects that are leading the fight against the climate crisis.
Each month, we add these startups to our running list, which we have categorized based on fuel emission sector data from the most detailed, recent data SBC could identify from the World Resource Institute in 2016.
This initiative from Startup Basecamp aims to support founders by giving them access to networking and exposure opportunities that help them to scale and finance their climate tech solutions.
Do not hesitate to join our collective movement by requesting your membership.
With care,
Guillaume and the SBC TEAM
Cross-cutting Enablers
1. Kanpla
Founded: 2020 – Aarhus, DK
Founders: Robert Wolf & Peter Baech
Elevator Pitch: Kanpla revolutionizes contract catering with its intuitive, whitelabel platform, integrating an App, POS, and Hospitality system. Designed specifically for canteens and lunch providers, Kanpla enhances customer experiences, reduces food waste, and increases profitability while driving sustainability through innovative digital solutions.
Problem they solve: Contract catering has been overlooked in digital transformation, leading to inefficiencies like excessive food waste, long queues, disconnected systems, and labor-intensive manual tasks. Existing software often fails to meet the specific needs of contract caterers, leaving them without effective tools to optimize their operations and improve customer experiences.
Impact: Kanpla helps kitchens reduce food waste by providing precise order visibility and inventory control, significantly cutting unnecessary waste. Its platform promotes sustainable practices within the catering industry by enabling better resource management and streamlining operations, ultimately lowering the environmental footprint of daily dining services.
Stage: Series A.
Interested in Kanpla?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch, see here.
Energy use in Industry and Buildings
2. King Energy
Founded: 2020 – Durango, CO, USA
Leadership: John Witchel
Elevator Pitch: King Energy simplifies commercial solar adoption for multi-tenant properties like shopping centers, office buildings, and industrial complexes. By paying rent for unused roof or parking space, King Energy installs solar systems at no cost to property owners. Their innovative OneBill™ platform delivers clean energy to tenants and the broader community, enabling sustainability goals while increasing property value and generating long-term rental income.
Problem they solve: Commercial multi-tenant properties face challenges in adopting solar energy due to high upfront costs, complex tenant billing, and infrastructure management. These barriers limit the financial and sustainability potential of solar energy adoption in these sectors.
Impact:
King Energy accelerates the transition to renewable energy by transforming unused commercial roof and parking spaces into solar power generators. Their solutions reduce reliance on fossil fuels, lower carbon emissions, and contribute to cleaner local energy grids, making sustainability accessible to property owners and tenants alike.
Stage: Seed.
Interested in King Energy?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
Waste (water & landfills)
3. Green Gravity
Founded: 2021 – North Wollongong, AUS
Leadership: Mark Swinnerton
Elevator Pitch: Green Gravity is revolutionizing renewable energy storage by repurposing abandoned mine shafts into cost-effective, sustainable, and ultra-green energy storage systems. Their innovative solution provides flexible, long-duration storage and grid ancillary services with minimal environmental impact, driving the transition to a cleaner, more circular economy.
Problem they solve: Renewable energy systems like wind and solar face challenges in providing consistent energy due to their dependence on weather conditions. Existing storage solutions, such as batteries, often involve high costs, limited lifespans, and significant environmental concerns related to materials, land use, and waste.
Impact: Green Gravity’s technology eliminates the need for environmentally damaging materials and processes by reusing existing mine shafts. Their systems are fully recyclable, operate without water or chemicals, and avoid degradation over time. This reduces land use, preserves farmland, and minimizes the environmental footprint of energy storage while contributing to local economies through job creation and resource utilization.
Stage: Series A.
Want to learn more about Green Gravity?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch see here.
Cross-cutting Enablers
4. Everyone Energy
Founded: 2021 – Berlin, DE
Founders: Fabian Reetz & Céline Göhlich
Elevator Pitch: Everyone Energy is revolutionizing renewable energy sales with its automated, white-label software. Designed for municipal utilities, installers, and energy solution providers, the platform streamlines customer advisory for photovoltaics (PV), heat pumps, wall boxes, and battery storage while integrating regulatory, technical, and economic considerations into a seamless, automated consulting experience.
Problem they solve: The energy transition faces significant barriers, including the complexity of technical and regulatory requirements and a shortage of qualified energy advisors. This creates inefficiencies in sales processes, poor customer experiences, and slower adoption of renewable energy solutions.
Impact: Everyone Energy accelerates the transition to renewable energy by making PV systems and other clean energy solutions more accessible and understandable. By automating customer advisory and pre-qualifying leads, the software reduces the bottleneck of human-dependent energy consulting, ultimately driving higher adoption rates of sustainable technologies and advancing the global energy transition.
Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use
5. Tender
Founded: 2020 – Boston, MA, USA
Founders: Christophe Chantre, Luke MacQueen, Grant Gonzalez & Kevin Kit Parker
Elevator Pitch: Tender is reinventing meat with a new generation of 100% plant-based alternatives that replicate the taste, texture, and experience of chicken, beef, and pork. Engineered in the kitchen by chefs and crafted using natural plant protein fibers, Tender’s meat-free products offer a sustainable, healthier option without sacrificing flavor, making them ideal for meat lovers and conscious consumers alike.
Problem they solve: The traditional meat industry significantly contributes to climate change, deforestation, and resource depletion, while also raising concerns about health and animal welfare. Consumers looking for sustainable, ethical, and healthier food options are often disappointed by plant-based alternatives that fail to deliver on taste or texture.
Impact: Tender’s plant-based meats reduce greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water consumption compared to conventional animal farming. By providing meat alternatives that satisfy even the most discerning palates, Tender helps decrease reliance on industrial animal agriculture, advancing sustainability and supporting the health of the planet.
Stage: Seed.
Interested in Tender?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
Do you know of other startups we should include in our Startups to Watch Series? Submit to our list!
How do these startups fit in with all the others we have looked at?
Check out our running list of the 400+ climate tech startups to watch we have featured.
