July Week 2, 2023: In this monthly 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
Energy use in Industry and Buildings
1. 3E Nano
Founded:
2015 – Toronto, Canada
Founders:
Steve Ferrero
Elevator Pitch:
Nano-Thin Energy and Solar Control Coatings, Industry Leading Window Thermal Management.
Problem they solve:
Windows are primary source of wasted energy. It is difficult and expensive to upgrade existing windows. Current architectural polymers lack heat reflecting technology. Both fully transparent and absorptive
polymer applications already exist but their current use is limited due to
inadequate energy control.
Impact:
Triple pane performance at double pane cost. Patented, nano-thin advanced technology with unrivaled, high performance coating properties. High visible light transmission and heat rejection offerings in neutral colors. Our coatings use earth abundant, non-toxic materials only, creating products for green house gas reduction. Built in UV protection for your commercial buildings, homes, greenhouses and driving experience.
Stage:
Seed
Interested in 3E Nano?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch, see here
Cross-cutting enablers
Founded:
2021 – London, UK
Founders: Paul Chaney and Robert Douglass
Elevator Pitch:
Advanced software for ecological regeneration.
Problem they solve:
Urban Nature–Based Solutions are difficult to plan, and complicated to implement and maintain. There just isn’t enough expertise.
Impact:
Gamified digital twin of homeowner’s property with AI decision support. Delivers biodiversity uplift, water efficiency and food production.
Saves time | Saves money | New user experience
Stage:
Pre-Seed
Interested in Complex Earth?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
Waste (water & landfills)
3. Cyclize
Founded:
2023 – Stuttgart, Germany
Founders:
Dominik Novakovic, Maike Lambarth, Jan Stein and Stephan Renninger
Elevator Pitch:
Replacing fossil feedstock using plastic waste and CO2 to defossilize industry and enable a circular economy of carbon.
Problem they solve:
To stay on a pathway to net-zero carbon neutrality the emission of CO2 has to be reduced – however, not every industry can do without carbon. Carbon is the backbone of the chemical industry, and virtually every consumer product contains carbon that once originated from fossil resources. At the end of its life, a product becomes waste. Waste, that generates 3.2 million tons of CO2 in Germany by incineration and of which 700 thousand tons are exported annually.
Impact:
Cyclize offers an innovative plasma-based process that uses mixed plastic waste and CO2 as resources to produce syngas (a gas mixture consisting of carbon monoxide and hydrogen). This serves as the basic building block of the chemical industry and is used to produce plastics, methanol, hydrogen and also e-fuels. In industry, this syngas is currently still obtained from fossil feedstocks such as natural gas. We replace this with our process to enable a carbon circular economy and cut enormous amounts of CO2 emissions.
Stage:
Pre-Seed
Want to learn more about Cyclize?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch see here.
Cross-cutting enablers
Founded:
2022 – London, UK
Leadership:
Amos Wittenberg
Elevator Pitch:
Helping investors fund the climate transition and deliver great returns.
Problem they solve:
Making financial sense of the climate transition is an enormous engineering challenge. The transition to a lower carbon economy is underway. Whether in the decline of coal or the EV boom, trillions of dollars are on the move.
But the opportunities and risks of the transition are diverse. Pinpointing them is extremely difficult. From stranded assets to carbon market behaviour—each needs its own array of data and modelling approaches.
Impact:
Dovetail translates this complexity into clear financial signals. Scenario analysis for companies, portfolios, and industries. Based on market leading transition intelligence and cutting edge modelling. To align capital allocation with climate science.
Stage:
Seed
Interested in Dovetail Finance?
To learn more about this company, see here
Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use
5. MycoFutures
Founded:
2020 – Bonavista, Newfoundland
Founder:
Stephanie Lipp and Leo Gillis
Elevator Pitch:
Future materials for innovative design.
Problem they solve:
Leather manufacturing is a major polluter through the supply chain; from raising cattle to tanning. Current leather alternatives are made from petroleum-based plastics containing toxic chemicals which contaminate the ground and water as they break down. The carbon footprint of the fashion industry is significant.
Impact:
Mycelium compares with leather on the microscopic level as it grows to be naturally complex and intertwined, closely resembling leather’s cross-linking structure. By using mycelium as the building blocks, we are adapting mushroom cultivation techniques (solid state fermentation) and vertical farming, combined with novel tanning methods, to create an innovative textile without the use of animal products or
plastics that takes only weeks to grow.
Stage:
Pre-Seed
Interested in MycoFutures?
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.
