Notpla is a biotech company focused on fully biodegradable packaging solutions derived from seaweed and other plant-based materials. Notpla’s product portfolio includes a range of solutions, from a completely edible seaweed-based capsule for water consumption, as well as alternatives for single-use containers and shipping materials, and plant-based coatings that can replace plastic film and extend the shelf life of perishable items.
- biodegradation
- biotech
- circular economy
- material science
- packaging
- plastics
Openversum is a watertech company which has created an all-in-one biodegradable drinking water filter removes pathogens, pesticides, heavy metals, and micropollutants, lowering the risks of recontamination. Its mission is to provide water goods and services to disadvantaged rural areas and thus empower local communities to have a positive impact on public health. The organization offers a microfranchising model to train entrepreneurs to locally manufacture and distribute filters. Openversum continually measures the impact of its initiatives to refine and improve its model.
- bioremediation
- education
- health and education
- public health
- water distribution efficiency
The Indigenous Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Working Group is a program focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence and Indigenous knowledge systems. The project’s interdisciplinary team of experts includes 37 co-investigators and collaborators who come from eight universities and 12 Indigenous community-based organizations in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Most of the team members are Indigenous. They are motivated to expand the definition of intelligence by collaborating with Indigenous communities to integrate their knowledge systems with the AI research and development ecosystem to develop more integrated and practical approaches to building the next generation of A.I. systems.
- artificial intelligence
- indigenous peoples
- traditional ecological knowledge
Ecovative is a biomaterials company that develops sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics and other environmentally harmful materials using mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. Ecovative’s AirMycelium platform grows more than 400 tons of furniture, goods, and packaging annually with clients in CPG, housing, packaging, fashion, food, beauty, sports, and more. The platform uses AI to optimize mushroom mycelium for scale, density, elasticity, and other industrial parameters. Ecovative's products are fully biodegradable and compostable, offering a more sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
- biofabrication
- biomaterials
- biotech
- digital platform
- manufacturing
- mycelium
- mycotecture
Cambrian Innovation is a water treatment solutions company that focuses on transforming wastewater into clean water and renewable energy, enabling clients in resource recovery, energy circularity, and environmental responsibility. It offers several wastewater treatment infrastructure options, which leverage biological processes and microbes to naturally break down organic pollutants in the wastewater, making it cleaner and safer for release and reuse. Its flagship offering, the EcoVolt system, utilizes bioelectrically-active microbes which do not only treat wastewater but also produce electricity, reducing reliance on conventional energy sources. All infrastructure is remotely connected and operated via its AVEVA Insight managed cloud solution, which gathers, stores, visualizes, and analyzes plant performance.
- as a service
- bioremediation
- circular economy
- material science
- microbes
- renewables
- water conservation
- water treatment
Hunome is a digital platform designed to help people understand complex issues by bring together diverse perspectives for multidisciplinary sensemaking. Its platform is designed to bridge fragmented information and siloed perspectives into clarity, and supports environments for people to spend the time in dialogue developing perspective, openness, accountability, and collective sensing around complex topics. It uses data to transparently show interactions, "thinking paths," and how decisions are informed. Hunome recognises 16 different "knowtypes." These encompass knowledge derived from experience, research, observation, intuition, aesthetics, and creative exploration. Exposure to diverse ideas can spark creativity and lead to new solutions for global challenges.
- city planning
- collective
- decision-making
- digital platforms
- market research
- sense-making
Commonplace is a digital platform for citizen/community engagement and co-design. Commonplace's enables communty leaders, organizations, and projects to reach their communities, engage them around ideas, suggestions, concerns, analyse their feedback, and collaborate on future ideas. Its tools support surveys, communications, geolocated sentiment mapping, translating diverse voices into key themes, dashboards and reporting capabilities. The platform aims to promote dialogue also speeds up projects by getting local buy-in faster. Commonplace has supported over 3500 projects across 8 million visitors and 60+ themes, from development consultations, to wind and solar farms, community services, infrastructure, local planning, transport, and many other areas.
- civic engagement
- community consultation
- development
- participatory governance
Plastic Bank is a for-profit social enterprise whose model is designed to reduce plastic pollution and alleviate poverty in developing countries. It does this by establishing plastic collection centers where communities exchange plastic waste as currency for income and life-improving benefits such as income, zero-interest loans, education, or other social benefits. Exchanges are recorded through their proprietary blockchain-secured platform, enabling traceable collection, secured income, and verified reporting. The collected material is processed into Social Plastic® feedstock for reuse in products and packaging. The company re-invests the majority of its profits into collection benefits, development and maintenance of recycling infrastructure, and technology development for material traceability for a greater social, environmental, and economic impact.
- blockchain
- community
- credits
- digital platforms
- digital wallets
- fintech
- plastics
- pollution
Flying Whales launched in 2012 in France to develop and industrialize a 60 tons Large Capacity Airship to provide remote cargo transport. The development of this initiative began to enable the French Forestry Agency to increase large volumes of timber extraction from land-locked areas. This solution offers low operating costs, low to no environmental impact, and targets the large market of special transportation, logistics & freight market in countries with transport infrastructure deficit. This project is supported by the French Government and the Quebec Government.
SunHydrogen is a clean energy company in the development stages of creating a new technology to produce clean hydrogen fuel using sunlight and water. SunHydrogen utilizes nanoparticles to mimic the process of photosynthesis, splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The process itself is powered by sunlight, making it a truly renewable energy source. Through this process, the company aims to create a highly efficient and cost-effective method for hydrogen production, which could significantly impact the emerging hydrogen economy, supplying clean fuel for vehicles, data centers, and countless other applications.
- biotech
- computational biology & chemistry
- energy storage optimization
DepolarizingGPT is a political AI chatbot that gives three answers to every prompt: one from a left-wing perspective, one from a right-wing perspective, and a third answer from a depolarizing or "integrating" perspective. DepolarizingGPT was created by data scientist David Rozado and political philosopher Steve McIntosh. DepolarizingGPT's left-wing responses have been fine-tuned with content from left-leaning publications and writers, while its right-wing responses have been fine-tuned with content from publications and writers. The model's depolarizing responses have been fine-tuned with content from the Institute for Cultural Evolution think tank, from McIntosh's inclusive political philosophy. The model's depolarizing responses are designed to transcend centrism and reach a "higher ground" balance by exposing users to multiple views across the political spectrum.
- civic engagement
- decision-making
- politics
- sensemaking
Reef Relief Sunscreen protects people's skin while also nourishing coral reefs. The company was inspired by the dangers of chemical sunscreen ingredients to coral health, as Oxybenzone, a chemical found in 80% of sunscreens, has been proven to have a lethal effect on sea-life and can kill coral and coral larvae in even very small doses. Reef Relief's sunscreen was developed in collaboration with cosmetic chemists and marine experts to create a unique formula, containing nutrients used by coral farmers to help coral thrive. It has undergone university testing and boasts increased coral growth with their formula, and has developed the Reef Protection Factor (RPF) as a new certification for the sunscreen market.
- bioremediation
- coral
- sunscreen
