[ad_1]
In The News
06 Jun 2023
Sustainability is not your typical business model approach. But with investors increasingly making decisions based on impact data, there is a strong business case for start-ups to be thinking long-term and systemically from the onset.
According to research carried out by our accelerator partner Amazon, more than half (56 per cent) of investors have declined a start-up investment opportunity in the last 12 months due to concerns about a company’s sustainability credentials. This critical cultural shift is an important signal for businesses to actively participate in societal transformation.
At EIT Climate-KIC, we are equipping emerging start-ups with the tools to measure, forecast and monitor a wide range of environmental and social impact metrics from emissions mitigation potential to gender diversity. This suite of services, also known as Impact Shift, can support start-ups in building a comprehensive view of their long-term impact, which can be translated into simplified reports for investors and other stakeholders.
“Entrepreneurs understand how important their climate impact measurements are but it’s difficult for them to calculate in a simplified manner,” explains Lisa Janssen, Programme Lead at EIT Climate-KIC. “We guide them through a climate impact assessment step by step, from the initial hypotheses to the final validation. This allows start-ups to quantify their emissions reduction potential which can be presented confidently to employees, investors and customers.”
The benefits of impact measures can unlock various strategic advantages beyond a competitive advantage. Customer attraction, improving operational efficiency, and fostering a positive company culture are also critical factors for entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses.
“Prospective clients and retailers want to see the results of these impact assessments so it’s massively beneficial for us to have this information,” explains Gemma Doyle, co-founder of Nimbi – one of 16 start-ups from the 2023 Amazon Sustainability Accelerator that EIT Climate-KIC is consulting on climate impact.
The newest cohort of the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator recently completed their first climate impact assessment where they measured the emissions mitigation potential of their products compared to similar ones currently on the market. This allows the start-up founders to calculate a climate impact forecast using a refined and streamlined approach to Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
“The assessment was a breakthrough moment for us. We’ve been able to go through all the LCA tools, understand them and have a really strong indicator of what our product can do in terms of environmental impact,” says Anna Reid, co-founder of Nimbi.
Last year’s Amazon Sustainability Accelerator cohort of only eight start-ups projected a climate impact of -13 ktCO₂ eq per year. This is a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential similar in magnitude to 3.5 wind turbines running or the amount of carbon sequestered by 6,000 hectares of forest.
Climate impact is at the core of EIT Climate-KIC entrepreneurship programmes. Our team of technical advisors can deliver tailored workshops, frameworks, and software tools to extract reliable and accessible data for scaling start-ups and enabling funders to co-create the most impactful projects.
For more information, contact our Impact Team at impact@climate-kic.org.
[ad_2]
Source link