Bet on Green: Why the Smart Money is on Climate Tech

Do you have the software idea that could save us all? Did you suddenly dream up the tech that could pull us back from the climate abyss? Are you wondering what to do about it? Tell us! There’s no time to waste…

For companies without the deep pockets of the Fortune 500 major players, their investors – often venture capitalists – set the wider market agenda and decide whether a given tech innovation flies like a bird, or sinks like a stone. 

With the UK economy – and possibly beyond – seemingly destined for a recession, you’d think companies would stick to sure-fire individual success, rather than anything more altruistic. You would be advised to think again. Because climate tech is as real as climate change itself (oh yes it is). 

We have been here before. Remember ‘clean tech’? The last big thing went small very quickly, repressed by negative market forces and a previous global recession. Venture investors certainly recall the burnt fingers and it’s taken a full decade – and a stack of scientific evidence that supports the reality of an unfolding global climate emergency – to go green, again. 

Where tech fits

Climate tech is now officially a thing. This article sums up the new area as “technologies explicitly focused on reducing GHG emissions or addressing the impacts of global warming.” It groups them into three broad, sector-agnostic genres: 

  • Mitigate or remove emissions
  • Aid adaption to climate change impacts 
  • Enhance climate understanding

Examples of climate technologies that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions include renewable energies such as wind energy, solar power, and hydropower. Their development, execution, and data compilation are all tech-led; It must be, to determine whether a climate technology is paying its way. The planet can’t afford bad bets. Construction, for example, has much work to do.

Big boys and little fish

The support of tech companies with big infrastructures and R&D dollars would help a lot. Investors – who sow the seed capital to help start-ups get going – want to see big hitters in the ring before they write the cheques. So, it’s good to see Tesla and Microsoft leading the way. 

Meanwhile, tech innovators like Earthly use their own innovative tech platforms to help corporates understand the scale of their contribution to the problem, and offer pathways to turn even the biggest ships around and become part of the solution. Virgin, L’Oreal, Coca-Cola and Garnier are on board. 

These 30 UK startups recently caught the eye of industry monitors Tech Nation, and EU-Startups nominated these 10 as helping to make a difference at the coalface of planet-preserving innovation. There’s a momentum here that deserves and is receiving, support. 

Net Zero companies ‒ those who have committed to cease being carbon positive by 2040 ‒ are thriving in the UK, with 323 on record compared to 207 in France (35% less) and 150 in Germany (53% less). Furthermore, 37% of UK Net Zero companies are at an early stage of growth, showing an impressive pipeline for the startup element of the sector. TechNation also noted the UK’s Net Zero sector already leads Europe for investment, at £336m.

What’s your big idea?

So, what does this all mean? Well, everything. It may be about how everyone from the enterprise to the humble start-up is focused on a shared delivery goal with a fast-approaching, non-negotiable deadline. We have eight years. Failure is not an option.

This isn’t a business story per se and matters more than the success or otherwise of any enterprise. The usual measures of profit and loss suddenly matter less in the context of a global emergency that matures by the day. Maybe that’s why the government is keen to get things moving and is even prepared to back their strategy with some green of their own 

TechCrunch believes these initiatives are ‘recession proof’, simply because there is zero logic (and fewer votes) in the UK Exchequer taxing or otherwise financially penalizing the innovation – or the company behind it – that could save us all. Just for once, politicians and investors are looking beyond short-term gain because, well, there may be no long-term. 

Talk to us about it

Purple Crane understands ‘innovation management’. How we can turn your amazing innovation into software that delivers the results you just know it can deliver. We call it ‘technology consulting’. It’s where the rubber hits the road for your great idea, where the intangible ‘I think this could really help’ meets the practical ‘we agree, and here’s what it looks like’. Purple Crane’s ‘Software for Start-ups’ is called ‘Do Something Great’ for a reason. 

Seriously – do it now

There’s not much time. If you think you have an idea that could help support the climate tech movement, then we have a video we’d like you to watch, and a brief form to give us an idea of what you want to do. Or just give us a call.

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