Wavemaker Impact

Like the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of sustainability, Wavemaker Impact also has our own 3Rs - Recharge, Reset and Resume! 😎 As we conclude the first semester of builds for 2024, the team will be taking a break next week to gear up for the next round starting in August. Our office will be closed from 29 July - 4 August. See you when we're back from the 5th onwards! ☀️

🌍 From Ikigai to Impact: How #WMi helps founders build climate ventures that make a difference 💡 The number one question entrepreneurs and founders ask us is: How does #WavemakerImpact’s venture-building process work, and how is it different from that of other VCs? ❓ When our founders-in-residence join us, we start with a key exercise called #Ikigai. Ikigai (生き甲斐, literally “a reason for being”) is a Japanese concept that refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose and a reason for living. 🌟 Founders do their best work when they are passionate about the problem they are solving, and that problem is a genuine pain point for their customers. However, finding that golden intersection between passion, mission, vocation, and profession is not easy. 🧩✨ That’s why at #WMi, we spend considerable time with our founders-in-residence to uncover their Ikigai. We believe that when founders identify their strengths, interests and motivators, they lay the right foundation to shape the #100x100 venture we build together. 💡💪 Curious to learn more about our venture-building methodology? Connect with us for a coffee chat! Or leave your questions in the comments below, and we’ll address them in future posts. ☕💬 #StartupJourney #VentureBuilding #Entrepreneurship #PurposeDriven #Innovation #Sustainability #Founders #ClimateTech

🌊#ThrowbackThursday: A Venture Builder’s Encounter with Sylvia Earle 🐠 Our Venture Builder Ben Ong recalls his encounters with legendary oceanographer, National Geographic Explorer and environmental advocate Sylvia Earle: “12 years ago, I was part of the C-241 expedition onboard the SSV Corwith Cramer as part of the Sea Education Association (SEA) Marine Biodiversity & Conservation programme. We sailed from the US Virgin Islands to Massachusetts while conducting #MarineBiology research. 🛳🔬 “I had the privilege of meeting Sylvia Earle when the crew stopped at Bermuda to support the Blue Halo initiative, which aimed to transform Bermuda's surrounding waters into a protected environmental zone. This encounter was a full-circle moment for me as she was one of the key people who inspired me to study marine biology in college. In particular, her acceptance speech for the 2009 TED Prize ignited my sense of urgency toward #conservation and #sustainability. It helped guide my career path that has ultimately led to #ClimateTech and #WavemakerImpact. 🌍🌳🐳 “Sylvia’s lifelong advocacy for ocean conservation is an ongoing reminder that we must all do what we can for tomorrow’s generation. This same spirit excites me to get out of bed everyday to build #100x100 companies with Wavemaker Impact.” 💙🌊 Thanks for sharing your story, Ben! Check out some of his photos from this special memory 📸✨ #ThrowbackThursday #SylviaEarle #EnvironmentalAction #SeaEducationAssociation #BlueHalo #OceanConservation

🌱#WMi Climate Commentary: Can Singapore lead the world in Climate Tech?🌱 In a recent opinion piece for The Business Times Investible CEO Rod Bristow asked a thought-provoking question: Can Singapore become the world’s #ClimateTech hub? 🌟 Rod powerfully highlighted: “In climate tech, opportunities aren’t yet as well defined.” Because of this, climate tech startups today have a less well-defined path to go global, making #innovation difficult. By extension, VCs get less deal flow when it comes to high-quality ventures. But as global climate action becomes more urgent, we don't have the luxury of waiting for those pathways to become clearer. ⏳ That’s why we set up #WavemakerImpact as a Venture Build #VentureCapital fund: to support #entrepreneurs in identifying present-day problem statements and creating future-ready solutions through business model innovation. 🚀💡 Reflecting further on the article's title, why should the aspiration to be a Climate Tech Hub end at Singapore’s shores? Perhaps we should dream bigger. After all, Singapore is but one country in #SoutheastAsia (SEA), one of the world’s fastest growing regions. With over 675 million people (8.5% of the world's population) generating close to 4 gigatonnes of #CO2Emissions, SEA is home to an embarrassment of #decarbonisation business opportunities, just waiting for the right founders to unlock. 🌱🌏 To quote Babylonian scholar Hillel: "And if not now, when?" We believe there’s so much potential for not just Singapore, but Southeast Asia, to become a world-leading #ClimateHub, and the time is ripe to mine these possibilities. 🌍✨ What would it take to make Southeast Asia a leading Climate Tech Hub? Leave your thoughts in the comments! 💬💡 This post is the first in our new [#WMi Climate Commentary Series] brought to you by our Ventures team members Ben Ong and Yifei Xiao to reflect on developments in the Climate Tech Space. Leave us a comment if there’s any news you’d like us to start a conversation about! 🗣️ 🔗: https://lnkd.in/grZ-Rude #Sustainability #GreenEnergy #Startups #VC #ClimateChange #CleanTech #SEA #InnovationEcosystem #TechForGood #FutureOfTech #EnvironmentalImpact #GlobalSolutions #BusinessInnovation

🌍 Can We Grow More 100x100 Climate Unicorns in Southeast Asia? Opportunities Abound. 🌟 Our founding partner Steve Melhuish sat down with Eco-Business’s Robin Hicks on the EB Podcast, to talk about the state of #ClimateTech in #SoutheastAsia. Here are some key takeaways: 1️⃣ Look Beyond #Deeptech: While deeptech and new R&D are crucial, they may take decades to mature. Beyond making long-term bets, we must also consider short-term opportunities. 📈 2️⃣ Shift Away From Software: Traditional VCs often stick to familiar territories like internet and software, even as they venture into the climate space. However, software alone isn’t enough. We need investments in businesses that directly abate or sequester carbon. 👩💻 3️⃣ Target Investment At Key Emissions Contributors: Five years ago, 70% of investments in SEA went into mobility, which accounts for only 12% of emissions. Meanwhile, sectors like food, #Agriculture and land use, which constitute 50% of emissions, were overlooked. 🌾 There’s an embarrassment of opportunities, from both an emissions and business perspective, to create #100x100 #ClimateUnicorns 🦄in SEA – ventures that earn US$100 million revenue from reducing 100 megatonnes of emissions. Where and how should we place our bets? Listen to the full conversation to find out more: https://lnkd.in/gXbjRVWk #WMi #CarbonSequestration #CarbonEmissions #CarbonNeutral #Decarbonisation #Sustainability #Innovation #Entrpreneurship #VentureCapital #EcoBusiness #AgriBusiness #RenewableEnergy #ZeroWaste 

❄️From Snowmelt to Solutions: Aik-Phong's Climate Action Journey #WMiFounders 🌏 Aik-Phong Ng's awareness of climate issues began in the 2000s after watching "An Inconvenient Truth", the hard-hitting documentary about #ClimateChange. In 2018, he felt the urgency firsthand during a ski trip to Japan, when he saw the snow melting as early as December. And more recently, the deadly summer heatwave in Asia further reinforced the ticking clock of #ClimateChange. 🌡️ ⚠️ Driven by these experiences and his track record in entrepreneurship, Aik-Phong decided to join #WavemakerImpact as a founder-in-residence. He was drawn to #WMi’s ecosystem of #ClimateTech companies, its passionate venture-building team and most importantly, like-minded partners committed to #Decarbonisation action. With WMi, he’s keen to build ventures that offer financially sensible, practical, accessible, and sustainable solutions to businesses and consumers alike. 💡 🌱 Climate action is also deeply personal to Aik-Phong as he wants to make his time on this planet matter. And as a father, he wants nothing more than to hand over a better world to his children 👨👧👦. Curious to find out more about Aik-Phong’s journey? Contact him for a coffee chat today! ☕ #GreenTech #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Sustainability #ESG 

🚀 Celebrating Quentin's Nomination for the Vlerick Venture Award! 🏆 Super thrilled for #WavemakerImpact founding partner Quentin Vaquette on his nomination for the prestigious Vlerick Venture Award by Vlerick Business School! 🎉 The Vlerick Award celebrates alumni who lead fast-growing organisations with a significant societal impact. Quentin’s work at #WMi, driving #sustainability and #ClimateTech solutions, exemplifies the values of innovation and positive change that this award honours. 🌍💡 Quentin - your passion for climate issues, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit continue to inspire us! We’re proud of your success and this well-deserved nomination. We’ll be rooting for you at the award presentation on 26 September! 🗓 👏 Congratulations to the other award nominees as well! Wishing everyone all the best! 🎊 #VlerickAward #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Alumni #GreenEnergy #Decarbonisation

Bill Gates Meets Rize at Breakthrough Energy Summit 2024! 🌍🌾 Our portfolio company Rize had the incredible opportunity to host the one and only #BillGates at the Breakthrough Energy Summit 2024 last week! The team was impressed by his expertise, curiosity, and interest in agricultural #sustainability. 🌱 Every year, the #BreakthroughEnergySummit brings together a vast network of global climate leaders for a robust exchange of ideas and actions, all aimed at accelerating our transition to a #CleanEnergy future. ⚡ #Rize started as a shared dream between #WavemakerImpact, #BreakthroughEnergy, Temasek and GenZero to #decarbonise rice farming. Fast forward two years, and Rize is now a thriving business that has increased regional farmers' livelihoods by 20% and reduced methane and water usage by 50% and 20%, respectively. 🚜💧 It's still early days, but with an amazing CEO in Dhruv Sawhney, four mission-aligned investors, and a recently closed $14M #SeriesA round, we're excited about what the future holds for Rize. 🚀 A big shoutout to Peter T. for pulling this together, and to Dhruv and Steve Melhuish for proudly representing Wavemaker at the #BESummit! 👏 #ClimateAction #ClimateTech #GreenEnergy #AgTech #Innovation #FutureOfFarming #SustainableAgriculture #MethaneReduction #WaterConservation #Decarbonization #Entrepreneurship #100x100

🇬🇧 Wavemaker Impact is here at the London Climate Action Week 2024 #LCAW2024 is in full swing with over 100 events happening across across the City. 🏙 Our Founding Partner Steve Melhuish will be speaking at a special panel on 'Bridging the Gender Gap in Climate Tech Investing,' jointly organised by Investors for Climate x Concave 🌟 Why is this topic important? 🌟 Gender equity in #climatetech investing is not only a matter of fairness, but also a driver of innovation and sustainability. Studies have show that companies with gender-diverse leadership teams are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability. #Diverse teams also make for better decision making: Companies where women♀make up >30% of the organisation were more likely to outperform those with fewer women, or none at all. 🔢 The statistics speak for themselves: Supporting #women to enter and thrive in climate-tech enhances our collective ability to build and support meaningful companies to combat #climatechange 🚩 There are still few spots left for this event. If you are in London looking to be a part of this important conversation, and to network with like-minded individuals, join us by registering via the link below. We look forward to seeing you there! 📅: 28th June 🕰 : 17:30 - 20:30 BST 📍: The Conduit 🔗 : https://lu.ma/lmiejc9d #londonclimateactionweek #lcaw2024 #beattheheat #wavemakerimpact #genderequality #diversity #climatetech #sustainability #venturebuilding #impactinvesting

🌱 Wavemaker Impact explores #LandUse and #CarbonSequestration opportunities in #Australia 🇦🇺 #DidYouKnow that #Agriculture makes up 55% of Australia’s land use? That’s 426 million hectares - 4 times the size of the UK, Germany, and France combined! 🌍🌾 With this in mind, our team spent a fruitful week in #WesternAustralia, investigating opportunities for business and carbon sequestration in their agricultural space. As we visited the many different land plots, one thing stood out: many landowners have segments of land not actively used for farm activities. 🚜 This led to our curiosity question: how can we partner rural landowners and businesses to leverage the Australia Carbon Credit Unit (#ACCU) scheme, to run projects that reduce emissions/store carbon while generating meaningful income? Since 1 tonne of #CO2E emissions stored or avoided is worth ~AUD$35 in Australia, the returns generated can be significant over many years. 💡💰🌏 If you own agricultural land in Australia, or know someone who does, we’d love to explore this question with you. Have a chat with our venture team Ben Ong, Yifei Xiao and Cassandra Yip-Lee! 🤝🗣 Finally, a big thank you to our friends across #WesternAustralia and the Shire of Chittering for hosting us in WA! 🙏 #WavemakerImpact #Sustainability #GreenEnergy #ClimateAction #BusinessOpportunity #ClimateTech #Decarbonisation