“Sustainability is winning on economics alone. You see sustainable products and solutions that are both efficacious and cheap. People are buying electric vehicles not just because they are green, but because they are starting to become cheap enough, and provide better performance.”
The Booming Commerce of Sustainability and "Nature Based Business"
The business of 'sustainability' is attracting high-performing entrepreneurs. They care about the mission to drive the financial performance. As technology shapes our world, we are are seeing a massive rise in consciousness to make meaning in our work and in our life.
Startups and Ideas on Sustainability
NeoTop Water Systems prevents water from evaporating. it also cools down the water temperature, which reduces algae and keeps the ecosystem in the pond or reservoir balanced — "a great example of a company that has found a strong business case by solving an environmental problem and can be a great inspiration for all future entrepreneurs that want to make a sustainable impact with their business idea."
Crické is a food-innovation start-up based in London that produces and markets healthy, eco-friendly and tasty insect-based food products. It combines traditional Mediterranean recipes with cricket powder — a great low-impact source of protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber.
iGreengo is a platform for sharing and improving open green spaces and the environment while seeking to collaborate with the owners of these spaces. iGreengo "understands the essential and individual needs of nature and green spaces for the general public, offering something unique, removing the chaos generated by the local mass tourism hotspots. iGreengo proposes an experiential or emotional tourism where tourists can immerse themselves in beautiful exclusive places."
Resourcify is an online-platform that enables a simple solution for companies to manage their waste, improve resource efficiency and save costs. Gathering this data, the company also helps European policy makers to get a more detailed picture on the amount of waste generated by businesses and can improve regulations based on this. It is one of the few start ups in Hamburg that are part of the Climate-Kic Accelerator, an EU program that supports clean tech start ups.
Sintalala Design — Wood Furniture and accessories without depleting forests.
The company works with wood that has been collected from fallen trees, prunings and remains of other manufacturing processes. Sintala Design states, "Our finishes are highly ecological and respectful with the environment."
Zero Mass Water aims to make clean water easily accessible to more people around the world.
Zero Mass Water makes solar panel arrays that harvests and filters water from vapor in the air. The $4,500 arrays launched in the United States in late 2017. Now they're expanding to Australia thanks to a $420,000 grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Zero Mass arrays could come in handy in areas where water sources are far away or scarce. Some homeowners have purchased arrays as an alternative to plastic water bottles.
In 2015, it launched its first product, Source — a solar panel array that harvests and filters water from vapor in the air. The company has installed the devices in 11 countries, including Chile, Jordan, Peru, and the US, where it became available in late 2017.
Inspired by Nature and empowered through technology, iNergy AgTech brings the benefits of sustainability and the innovation of technology to "the grassroots level, for smart producers, cities and communities, making healthy food and nature available and accessible. It offers value through iNergy’s holistic approach and product mix, empowering everyone to take control and re-vitalize their crops, greenhouses and, even any kind of space. That means more productivity for growers, more nature and healthy food in urban areas — all with less input."
The spectrum of benefits resulting from investing in Sustainability covers all organisational aspects; it improves the overall performance of the organisation by a chain reaction of benefits such as:
Enhanced brand value and reputation
Positive image to stakeholders (Stakeholder Perception)
Positive image to investors (Relationships of Trust with Shareholders) – one out of every eight dollars under professional management in the United States is involved in socially responsible investing. That $3.07 trillion represents a huge pool of money that is being invested in companies that have been found to be sustainable.
Increased societal recognition
Improved risk and crisis management
Workforce/employee satisfaction: skilled, knowledgeable and engaged workers who perform consistently to deliver quality products on time
Positive relations with government and communities
Opportunities in ‘green’ markets, which are estimated to reach a value of $2.7 trillion per year globally by 2020.
In May 2019, Generation Investment Management announced that it has closed a $1 billion Sustainable Solutions Fund for growth investments. As the name implies, it plans to put the $1 billion to work backing later-stage startups that work on sustainability in at least one of three areas — environmental solutions; healthcare; and financial inclusion, including the future of work — and are creating financially sustainable businesses out of that focus.
