Materiom is an open biotech platform facilitating the discovery and sharing of recipes for sustainable and regenerative biomaterials derived from natural sources. By democratizing access to knowledge and fostering collaboration, Materiom accelerates the development and adoption of environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional petrochemical-based materials.
- biopolymers
- biotech
- circular economy
- green chemistry
- material science
- open source
- plastics
BackMarket’s digital marketplace for refurbished electronics helps coordinate stakeholders to close the loop on e-waste and open up access to reliable tech for all. The platform connects buyers and sellers of smartphones, laptops, TVs, wearables, gaming, e-mobility, and countless other devices from all the leading manufacturers. Promising “better than new,” it partners with certified refurbishers to repair electronics for resale, at a ~70% lower price than new. The digital platform helps coordinate discovery, customer service, payment, logistics, tracking, a 25+ point quality assurance verification of authenticity, functionality, security, data erasure, battery, testing, cleaning, and more; and manages partners to refurbish products. Refurbished devices reduce an average of ~90% raw material extraction, emissions, water use, and waste relative to new devices.
- circular economy
- digital platforms
- e-waste
- electronics
- mobile devices
- refurbishment
Houdini sportswear caters to adventurers and athletes with a focus on eco-conscious, high-performance clothing. They craft technical apparel that combines durability, functionality, and minimalist design for activities like hiking, climbing, skiing, and trail running. Houdini prioritizes sustainability throughout their production process, using recycled materials whenever possible and employing practices that minimize environmental impact. Beyond performance and eco-friendliness, Houdini is known for innovation in material science and garment design, creating lightweight, weather-protective, and versatile pieces for dedicated outdoor enthusiasts.
- circular economy
- clothing
- digital platforms
- marketplaces
- material science
- textiles
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
Flourish Science is a well-being and AI startup co-founded by psychologists from Stanford University and a designer and serial entrepreneur previously at Google and C3 AI. Utilizing a B2B2C model, Flourish Science offers a science-based app and organizational programs that helps employees and students develop and implement small habits for happiness and well-being. Flourish's proactive, personalized, and social approach seeks to provide an effective method to improve users' daily mood, social connectedness, and overall life satisfaction.
- artificial intelligence
- data
- digital platforms
- health tech
- marketplaces
- welltech
Sway is a cleantech startup scaling seaweed-based, rapidly compostable replacements for plastic, beginning with flexible packaging. Sway's patented products match the vital performance attributes of conventional plastics and are designed to plug into existing infrastructure, enabling scale and competitive pricing. Unlike plastic, Sway's materials are made from an abundant, regenerative resource and decompose into healthy soil after use.
- agricultural tech
- bioplastics
- bioremediation
- nature tech
- plastics
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
LemonGRAFT is a peer-to-peer marketplace that connects homegrown food growers with people who want to buy it and hosts who steward its preparation and pick-up. The platform enables a local supply chain to make it easy for people to buy fresh, local food directly from the people who grow it. The platform helps decentralize the food supply, foster community connections, and increase local food sovereignty providing tools for growers to improve biodiversity and source nutrient-dense produce, seeds, compost, as well as source animal products from local certified producers.
- digital platforms
- food sovereignty
- food tech
- local
Silicon Ranch is a solar energy company that approaches, constructs, and manages solar project development designed for community impact and environmental stewardship. They offer a platform called Clearloop to help businesses offset their carbon footprint through solar energy investments. Beyond generating clean power, Silicon Ranch works collaboratively with local communities to create jobs and boost the local tax base to ensure the region's long-term economic health. Installations also focus on regenerative land management practices, designing strategically placed interconnected solar panels to maximize the capture of sunlight and integrate with sheep grazing or pollinator-friendly plantings to improve soil health and biodiversity. Throughout the Southeastern US, Silicon Ranch makes solar a force for positive change, owning and operating all projects to benefit both the environment and the communities they partner with.
- concentrated solar power
- distributed energy storage
- distributed solar photovoltaics
- energy storage optimization
Dollar Donation Club is a digital platform designed to facilitate micro-donations to various systemic impact projects around the world. Premised on the idea that collectively pooling small amounts lowers barriers to entry and can hyperfund the massive impact areas with minimum resources, the platform curates a selection of social impact projects across various areas ""acupuncture points of change"" like poverty alleviation, environmental protection, ocean restoration, and animal welfare.They prioritize projects based on their ""Integrated Impact Score"" metric which assesses a project's effectiveness for creating positive and scalable social and environmental benefit, while acounting for how well the solution: Integrates into local cultures and economies; Is resilient to threats of reversal; Results in self-reliance rather than dependence; Is long-term (7 generations deep); Solves root-causes rather than symptoms. Dollar Donation Club offers traceable donation monitoring for donors and gamifies the experience with points, leaderboards, and prizes. It also offers customized campaigns to business to automate giving, impact investments, and reporting.
- crowdsourcing
- impact investing
- philanthropy
- regenerative finance
Earth Species Project is a non-profit research lab and impact organization focused on using artificial intelligence to advance our understanding of animal communication, and ultimately to decode non-human languages. The organization is founded on the belief that understanding non-human languages will transform how we perceive the world and our relationship with the rest of nature. Their work involves developing machine learning models to interpret animal sounds and movements. While "decoding" communications are a long-term objective, the ESP supports other organizations along the way by supplementing animal and ecological research; supporting existing conservation efforts; and contributing to the fields of ethology, bioacoustics, and machine learning by making their research public.
- animals
- artificial intelligence
- bioacoustics
- conservation
- ethology
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
