From pollution to health, waste and joblessness, start-ups all over the world are increasingly focusing on finding solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems.
While they aim to create profitable businesses, they also want to create solutions for the poor, environment and health of the global population.
This change in strategy appears to be led by the younger generation according to a report by Co-operative Bank.
It found that one in four young business owners aged 18-34 are specifically trying to create a business to improve society.
Profits are just as important as changing people’s lives for the better and caring for the environment at the same time according to new generation business leaders
What are some of the most innovative and disruptive businesses from around the world doing to tackle things like climate change and health?
This is Money casts an eye on 10 ground-breaking start-ups – and finalists at the Chivas Venture entrepreneur competition 2019 – and spoke to them at the event in Amsterdam, Holland.
1. Thiago Mundano: Cataki (Brazil)
What problem are you trying to solve?
‘Cataki can improve the lives of millions of waste pickers and their families in different continents, creating a new way for them to get paid by their honest and necessary work.
‘With Cataki, they’ll receive not only for the selling of the recyclables collected, but also for the service provided as well.’
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
‘The benefits of these actions go beyond the waste pickers, since everybody will benefit from the preservation of natural resources, widely consumed every day.
‘For instance, one waste collector alone can easily collect one ton of paper in one week.
‘The recycling of this material can save 22 trees, using 75 per cent less energy and polluting the air 74 per cent less than if it were to be produced new.’
Thiago Mundano founder of Cataki hopes to transform waste picker’s lives through his business
2. Valentina Longobardo: Vegea (Italy)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Vegea is turning waste from wine production, such as grape skins and seeds, into a bio-textile for fashion.
The wine industry produces seven million tons of waste every year. If landfilled or incinerated in large amounts, the waste pollutes air, soil and water.
Meanwhile, fashion is one of the most polluting industries worldwide.
Vegea solves these problems with one solution: transforming a renewable raw material into beautiful sustainable clothing, and supporting social enterprises.’
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
We believe it’s fundamental to work together with other social projects in order to offer training and job opportunities to people who have fought and overcome difficult situations on a personal or social level.
Valentina Longobardo, founder of Vegea, turns waste from the production of wine into fashionable items
3. Matthew Piper: Khula (South Africa)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Khula has created one huge digital farm, which comprises of thousands of smaller farmers.
These farmers contribute to orders as a group, and receive logistics support through our app, allowing them to increase their volumes.
In essence, Khula is a shared economy approach to farming, giving visibility to some of the world’s poorest and allowing them to build growing businesses with their greatest resource – arable land.
The app gives further support through group buying inputs at a lower cost, connecting with local experts, and offering lower cost logistics.’
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
The economic impact filters through socially, where increased incomes have an effect on local community and families – 30 per cent of all food is wasted between the farmer and the market.
Much of this is because of the ‘specs’ required by buyers. Each product has to be a certain size or shape.
Our marketplace has a range of clients, from processors to retail who can buy different shapes and sizes, giving the farmer alternative channels to sell their product, instead of going to waste.
Matthew Piper founder of Khula connects local South African farmers to major retailers through the company’s app, cutting out the middle man and creating ‘digital farms’ in the process
4. Gergana Stancheva: Lam’on (Bulgaria)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Paper recyclers aim to maximize the yield of fiber from the re-pulping process, but many treatments – coatings, laminate layers or components are all considered contaminants and reduce the amount of fiber that is recovered.
Lam’on helps the recycling process. Our laminating film is easier to detach when paper is soaked even in water, without harsh chemicals, thanks to our special glue (adhesive) layer.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
When using petroleum-based laminating films VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are emitted.
They are associated with chronic migraine, respiratory problems, and even cancer.
In our prototyping phase we established that there are no VOCs emitted during the use and production of Lam’on. That allows us to provide a healthier environment for everyone involved.
Gergana Stancheva, founder of Lam’on, wants to reduce waste and chemicals
5. Yamaguchi Mikio: Pocket Marche (Japan)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Japanese farming and fishing are on the verge of collapse. We provide a platform where farmers can sell directly to consumers, thus avoiding middlemen and substantially increasing their profits.
By selling directly to consumers, they can personally engage with them, putting a face to the food that goes into their table and earning back their respect.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
Allowing small farmers and fishermen to sell their product directly to consumers helps maintain diversity of species grown for food.
We see plenty of producers selling their irregularly shaped carrots, unusual fish varieties, apples that have a few scratches because of a typhoon, etc. sell their products on our platform with great acceptance by consumers.
This helps not only decrease food waste and increase their income, but also keep alive minor local varieties.
Yamaguchi Mikio, founder of Pocket Marche, is trying to prevent the farming and fishing industries in Japan from collapsing
6. Javier Larragoiti: Xilinat (Mexico)
What problem are you trying to solve?
We created a sustainable, natural and patented process to transform agricultural wastes into the only sugar substitute that looks and tastes identically to sugar, is ideal for diabetics, low in calories and protects teeth against cavities.
Farmers are unfairly paid and in some countries like Mexico, most of them live in extreme poverty conditions.
Through our solution, we enhance the economy of poor farmer families by buying their waste, we avoid pollution and we aid to solve health issues like diabetes and obesity.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
In Mexico, poor farmers usually incinerate their residues and this practice creates 40 per cent of the CO2 that we generate in the country.
This also means that the people living in rural communities is highly exposed to toxic pollutants like CO and dioxins, which are extremely carcinogenic.
By buying their waste, we benefit their economy, avoid pollution given by their incineration and enhance their living conditions.
Javier Larragoiti founder of Xilinat (right) is pictured with actress and Chivas Venture judge Zoe Saldana (left). His business is creating a healthier alternative to sugar and sweetner to tackle obesity and diabetes
7. Martyna Sztaba: Syntoil (Poland)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Over one billion tyres are replaced every year, which translates into over 13million tons of waste annually. Only a small portion of these tyres are recycled.
Syntoil has developed an economic breakthrough method for processing tyres and rubber waste into industrial products operating in the circular economy.
It means that processed tires are used in the production of rubber products.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
Our process is energetically self-sufficient. The reduction of energy consumption necessary to extract natural resources (mainly oil and gas) has a significant impact on limiting the deterioration of the quality of the environment.
Our impact is also in our values as founders: we hire people, we care about them, we listen their advice – I know that it’s something very basic, but it is important for me.
Martyna Sztaba’s Syntoil processes tyres and rubber waste into industrial products
8. Scott Kennedy: Revive Eco (Scotland)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Currently over 500,000 tons of coffee grounds are generated each year in the UK, with the majority being sent to landfill.
We are tackling two major problems; the volume of waste going to landfill, and the unsustainable nature of a lot of the materials used in the likes of the cosmetics and food and drink industries.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
We have currently diverted around 20 tons of coffee grounds away from landfill, in the process saving around 36 tons of CO2.
We aim to be processing 5,000 tons in five years’ time, which would be a CO2 reduction of around 9,000.
We will also be creating a monumental impact through the sales of our sustainable produced natural chemicals which will disrupt a range of industries.
Scott Kennedy (pictured left) is a co-founder of Revive Eco which uses coffee grounds and turns them into oils that will use it as ingredients in various sectors
9. Michal Matus: Save the Bees (Slovakia)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Non-chemical bee healing with hyperthermia – it is in development and we would like to market it during this season.
Almost all bee colonies are tortured by a parasite called varroa destructor.
The varroa destructor latches on the bee body and slowly sucks out its life.
Beekeepers usually treat this destructor with chemicals.
Unfortunately, most of the time, they do not have different alternative and this way is not ecological nor sustainable.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
Less chemicals means fewer diseases. Fewer diseases means happier people and happier people create a happier environment.
10. Komal Ahmad: Copia (USA)
What problem are you trying to solve?
Every day in America, we waste three times more food than there are hungry mouths to feed.
The truth is: hunger is not a scarcity problem, it’s a logistics problem, and Copia is out to solve it.
We help businesses track and manage their food waste, donate edible excess food to those in need, and reap significant financial benefits from reducing waste and feeding the community.
Why is being green/sustainable so important?
The issue of ‘donation dumping’ is rising.
Non-profits receive more food than they can serve or refrigerate, and they are left with the burden of disposing of the excess food.
Through Copia Connect, non-profits can create profiles specifying what type of food they can accept, the hours they can accept food, and the amount of food they can reasonably store and serve.
Komal Ahmad, founder of Copia, is trying to reduce food waste by ensuring that it gets to those who need it most in the quickest amount of time
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.