Today, the Harvard Innovation Labs announced that it has selected 28 ventures to join the second annual Harvard Climate Entrepreneur’s Circle, an incubation program for high-potential ventures working to address climate change.
According to a Boston Consulting Group report, The Next Generation of Climate Innovation, “Global momentum is building to achieve net zero in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—and to do so more quickly than previously envisioned. Getting there will require unprecedented levels of innovation."
“The Harvard Climate Circle is helping ventures with fantastic climate innovations get to scale faster," says Rebekah Emanuel, director of social entrepreneurship at the Harvard Innovation Labs, and Chair of the Climate Circle. “We are redoubling our commitment to accelerating ventures that are addressing climate head on, and look forward to seeing the incredibly important work that the second annual Climate Circle cohort accomplishes.
The Harvard Climate Circle is cultivating the next generation of climate entrepreneurs who are actively uncovering new, unexpected ways to take on climate change. Climate Circle participants have access to world-class 1:1 coaching, pro bono legal counsel, warm connections to industry leaders, negotiations advising, and a peer group of ventures that are all working on innovative solutions to tackle climate change. The program is spearheaded by the Harvard Innovation Labs, HBS’s Business and Environment Initiative (BEI) and Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment.
The 28 members of the 2022 Climate Circle include:
ADAPT: An automated sustainability reporting platform for Fleet Operators with the aim to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation industry. Our platform makes it possible for every vehicle user to know the status of their emissions, accurately and instantly, and to respond to reduction targets.
AntarcticDAO: For polar researchers who find it difficult to access grant funding, and for environmental-minded investors who cannot participate in the ecosystem, AntarticDAO uses tokenization to democratize ownership of funding on Antacrtic research projects. Our solution removes red-tape, providing investors tangible privatization of research investments, clear governance decisions on research proposals, and opportunities to make returns on the investment from tokenization.
Axle Technologies: A universal API to access data from any vehicle. Axle brings together data of various formats from automakers, telematics providers, and other sources to optimize fuel usage, track vehicles and reduce insurance premiums.
blip energy: An affordable, portable smart battery that offers backup power and bill savings, fights climate change and stabilizes the grid. blip allows regular consumers to charge when energy is cheap and discharge when energy is expensive.
Bring4You: Collaborative delivery that disrupts traditional delivery services. We enable companies and individuals to seamlessly send bulky items anywhere at low cost while reducing CO2 gas emissions.
Carbon Burial Systems: We sequester carbon by sinking waste wood and woody biomass to the ocean floor, preventing carbon captured by plants from re-entering the atmosphere vía wildfires or decomposition. Our proprietary process causes biomass to sink naturally and remain stored at the sea floor several miles deep for 1000-plus years.
Carbon Re: Using artificial intelligence to decarbonize energy-intensive industries, such as cement and steel. Clients in the cement industry have substantially reduced fuel costs and CO2 emissions in a matter of weeks.
Carbon Vacuum: Carbon Vacuum's electro-chemical direct air capture technology pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. We use redox mediated bipolar membrane electrodialysis, a proprietary technology recently developed at Harvard University. Our solution is efficient and scalable enough to make a meaningful impact on our air's CO2 concentration.
Cardinal LCA: For architects who want to comply with the net-zero city standards when designing new buildings, Cardinal LCA provides an easy to use tool that enables decarbonization. Cardinal highlights the most effective decisions architects can make at each stage of building design and construction to reduce emissions.
Climate & Health Equity Practice Fellowship: The fellowship promotes local climate leadership in the Global South by training doctors on preventative care related to climate and health equity, climate communications, and climate advocacy.
Earth Warriors Global: Providing a comprehensive climate education school curriculum for 3-11-year-olds using a positive and empowering approach.
GarboCarbo Inc.: Coal-fired power plants are responsible for nearly half of the CO2 emissions globally, and GarboCarbo has a solution that is capable of capturing these emissions at super-industry rates.
Ghoom.Bike: Providing micro-EV rentals of electric vehicles & batteries to Gig Workers. Ghoom rentals increase the income of Gig workers by 4x.
Grassroots Energy Inc.: Addressing the lack of clean energy in emerging economies, we use bioenergy sources at distributed scale. Grassroots Energy generates reliable and cost-effective Green Hydrogen, Biomethane and Biogas serving mini grids and industrial customers.
Julius: Solving the talent needs of the cleantech transition by providing inclusive opportunities to start and grow green careers. Julius provides innovative programs to help energy employers attract new talent and upskill current talent for the future of work.
Loo Works: Eliminating thousands of tons of plastic waste by recycling materials into sturdy toilet systems supported by biological digesters for poor communities in Ghana.
Lord of The Trees: Utilizing drones, robotics and AI to provide integrated Ecosystem Restoration Services. We capture data while remediating soil and planting crops, forests, mangroves, grasslands and pollinator corridors at scale. Our high-tech tools complement the Local Traditional Ecological Knowledge (Lo-TEK) of the indigenous people we partner with.
MIDAS: Recovering valuable materials (e.g., metal, alloy, hydroxide, and construction materials) from incinerated ash of municipal solid waste.
MyGug: We enable individuals and businesses to generate renewable energy and reduce waste through a micro-scale anaerobic digestor. Our digestors help lower GHG emissions and reduce regular consumers’ fossil fuel reliance from the comfort of their kitchens.
Nilus: Creating artificial glaciers and technologies to maximize the storage of water resources to be used in times of high temperatures. Nilus is a Nature-based buffer solution that aims to restore mountains’ ecosystems by re-shaping the water seasonal cycle and increasing its availability to mitigate the effects of global warming.
Physis Investment: Uncovering the impact of every investment to help institutional investors report expanded ESG metrics and build sophisticated portfolios.
Quino Energy: Making affordable, non-flammable and low-maintenance flow batteries for storing renewable energy in the electrical grid. The ultrastable battery materials are made from plentiful coal tar or wood tar that are dissolved in water, are extremely easy to recycle, and offer unmatched safety surpassing that of any other battery chemistry.
RegenerateLand: Providing a software for low cost, transparent monitoring, reporting and verifying of carbon stocks in forest and agroforestry systems, degradation, regeneration, deforestation, and fire monitoring in the tropics. Using multi-resolution optical and radar satellite the founding teams has designed solutions supported by NASA, Cambridge University, and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing.
RockFix: Providing permanent CO2 sequestration through mine waste to empower the global mining industry to decarbonize at scale.
Sagewell, Inc.: Delivering insights from utility smart meters and customer data analytics, we target incentives that accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and heat pumps. Our work reduces emissions and ensures a reliable, stable grid for all customers.
Shamsina: Designing, manufacturing, and delivering affordable, locally-made solar water heaters for all Egyptians, from energy poor communities to energy-conscious consumers. Our local production process helps revive industry and strengthens local know-how. Shamsina’s grid-free model transforms the way we secure energy by decentralizing access and freeing users from monthly bills.
The Climate Board: Investigating and documenting step-by-step best practices to quickly empower C-suite leaders to implement workable, effective climate solutions. We tap the expertise of industry executives to give decision makers implementation-ready solutions to thorny climate issues.
XCharge Energy: Manufacturing and providing smart, fast charging products to build out an open EV charging network supporting the transportation of tomorrow.
