'Startups Driving Sustainability' - September 2021 Showcase Recap & Recording

Understory Team -

On September 15, 2021, Understory hosted the 'Startups Driving Sustainability' Showcase highlighting the startup and investor innovators making our world more sustainable.

A recording of the event is available below.

Our featured speakers include:

Each lightning talk highlighted innovative products and business models across sustainable fashion, net zero, zero waste, renewable energy, and venture capital sectors.

This month we learned the importance of overcoming complexity to better serve consumers and drive climate impact. These are a few key highlights:

  • Education won't improve recycling rates - but robots might. Despite years of consumer education, recycling rates are only half their potential. Utilizing sensors, and eventually robots, can improve waste collection and drive circular waste practices like recycling and regeneration.
  • Consumers need more data to make sustainable purchasing decisions. Years of questionable sustainability claims by brands have eroded consumer trust. Sustainability scoring that is personalized for individual priorities can better drive consumer demand to truly sustainable products.
  • Marketplace innovation can overcome market fragmentation. Streamlined digital marketplaces that remove complexity have the potential for increasing adoption of new technologies, such as solar energy.
  • Blockchain technologies have potential to drive impact. The emerging technology delivers transparency, liquidity, and security which can by applied to climate and other sustainability use cases.

For more information about innovators driving sustainable change or our upcoming events, check out Understory's 'Startups Driving Sustainability' Showcase information page.