Ooooby is an digital platform that functions as a decentralized network for local and small-scale food producers, empowering independent farmers and artisans to sell directly to consumers through strategically placed packing hubs. This approach bypasses traditional distribution channels, giving producers greater control and a larger share of the profits. Ooooby utilizes technologies to enable local producers to set up their shopfront and streamline the ordering and delivery process, offering convenience to customers of fresh, local, and sustainable food options. Their mission is to rebuild a food system centered around small-scale community-oriented producers using ecologically sound approaches to food production and consumption. Ooooby also partners with local institutes to support market gardening education and learning opportunities.
- digital infrastructure
- digital platforms
- marketplaces
- reduced food waste
- sharing economy
- social media / community
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
Fairbnb is a short-term rentals marketplace platform that aims to provide an alternative to traditional vacation rental platforms like Airbnb. It focuses on promoting sustainable tourism, social impact, and community development. Fairbnb prioritizes properties that are owned by locals rather than investors, and it allocates a portion of its revenue to support local community projects chosen by residents. The platform aims to address concerns related to overtourism, gentrification, and the negative impacts of short-term rentals on local communities by fostering a more responsible and sustainable approach to travel.
- community development
- cooperative
- hospitality
- tourism
Energy Web is a nonprofit organization using blockchain technology to accelearte the global energy transition through a open source decentralized digital infrastructure that connects grid operators, customers, and energy assets (like solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles) to create a more flexible and efficient energy system. Energy Web is focused on developing an ecosystem of users and application developers and infrastructure providers to work jointly to identify and assess blockchain use cases in energy across security, transparency, and efficiency. It has build an open source IT infrastructure upon which these use cases can be implemented and used to educate regulators and other stakeholders.
- blockchain
- cloud
- digital assets
- digital ledgers
- digital platforms
- edge computing
- marketplaces
Relier is a company tackling plastic waste in the produce industry through the upcycling of grapevine shoots. Relier's unique approach transforms discarded grapevine shoots into a sustainable biomaterial for packaging. This innovative material offers several benefits, including delaying fruit ripening, inhibiting microbial growth, and protecting produce during transport. Relier uses AI to analyze different recipe mixtures and percentages to obtain thermal, mechanical, and rheological behavioral to model the behavior of the clamshell, resulting in thousands of possibilities depending on the “how much” and “how” the components are mixed. Relier's biomaterial aims to be a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic clamshell containers.
- agricultural tech
- artificial intelligence
- bioplastics
- bioremediation
- composting recycling
- data
- reduced food waste
Newlight Technologies is a biotechnology company that captures greenhouse gases and transforms them into valuable products, specifically in foodware. Their technology uses microbes to convert methane and air into a bioplastic called AirCarbon. This plastic boasts similar performance to traditional plastics but has a net positive environmental impact. Newlight uses AirCarbon to create various consumer products, helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint with a sustainable alternative to traditional petrochemical-based materials.
- bioplastics
- bioremediation
- biotech
- circular economy
- computational biology & chemistry
- conservation agriculture
- nature tech
- plastics
Openbike is a project by Arquimaña, an architecture studio founded by Iñaki Albistur and Raquel Ares in 2011. They combine their passion for design, maker culture and mobile architecture (mobitechture) with the idea that technology can make us freer, more proactive and more creative. The result is their open-source bicycle and it's impact in promoting sustainable urban transportation. Openbike has been finalist in Arquia-Próxima 2018: Relevant Practices and part of the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 and the Cities exhibition of the Seoul Architecture and Urbanism Biennale SBAU2021 curated by Dominique Perrault.
- bicycle infrastructure
- mobility
- open source
- transportation
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
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
Junglefy is a company specializes in designing, installing, and maintaining living infrastructure, which are green walls, roofs, facades, and other gardens integrated into buildings or structures. They combine scientific research, biological design, and sensing and monitoring technology to create nature-based solutions to enhance the air quality, carbon sequestration, aesthetics, and improve wellbeing of people in and around built environments. Junglefy offers a full service suite, including financing, planning, co-benefits design, customization, installation, analytics and reporting, maintenance and removal of green waste.
- air quality
- built environment
- cities
- construction
- enterprise
- nature-based solutions
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
Fairphone is an electronics manufacturer that produces smartphones and headphones, focusing on social and environmental improvments across the entire mobile device value chain: mining, design, manufacturer, and lifecycle. They are focused on circumventing the use of conflict minerals and mining practices by prioritizing ethical sourcing of materials and fair labor practices and using recycled materials wherever possible; on designing for modularity, circularity, longevity and easy repair; and on reducing electronic waste. They also prioritize transparency, openly sharing information about suppliers and working conditions, enabling new relationships between people and their products, and prioritizing user data controls.
- circular economy
- electronics
- mobile devices
- modularity
