AGENTS OF CHANGE

A new force for change that is working – Kiran Dhanapala

English author George Eliot once asked: “What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?” Today, global trends point to increasing entrepreneurship and opportunities for such ventures.

Entrepreneurs are known to have the ability to sense and act on opportunity, merging unique out of the box thinking with unusual determination to create or bring about something new into the world. And entrepreneurship is increasingly evolving towards sustainability or providing profit making solutions to the environmental, social and governance challenges facing society.

These identify gaps and provide solutions for the corresponding issues while also making a profit. So while these enterprises are primarily profit seeking, they want to provide solutions for the challenges affecting society too.

The knowledge economy of the 1990s generated growth using technological innovation, creativity and knowledge intensive activities. However, high expectations around it fell short due to a lack of equitable opportunities and inclusiveness.

This led to new inequalities such as expensive and high-tech bionic limbs being developed for lucrative, high paying markets. And it was only much later that others responded to social needs – for example, by developing the Jaipur foot at a lower cost.

Technology often plays a significant role in sustainability entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurs concerned may specifically aim to develop and deploy technology driven solutions to address social needs.

These social tech entrepreneurs leverage technology not only to make parts of their operations more efficient but also to effect a disruptive change in the way specific societal problems are addressed and safeguard economic sustainability.

Sometimes, they seek to satisfy social needs through technological innovation in a financially sustainable manner.

There are significant moves around the world to invest in entrepreneurial startups that provide game changing solutions. For instance, the Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund by Energy Impact Partners, and a host of investors including the venture arms of Microsoft and others corporations, are targeting early stage climate tech startups.

This is a new fund that has already received commitments totalling of some US$ 350 million. It has five goals associated with decarbonisation: to achieve low-cost, abundant, reliable, ubiquitous ‘zero carbon’ electricity; tackle the biggest industrial emitters; solve transportation problems; build a carbon management industry from almost scratch; and decarbonise Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Its first investment was in a battery technology startup called Form Energy that focussed on multi-day energy storage for the electricity grid. Batteries are a key to scaling up renewable energy and making these affordable is a major game changer. Financing innovations that are game changers will bring immense benefits in scaling up solutions.

Another drive for decarbonisation is through crowdsourcing support for entrepreneurs using the Liveability Challenge.

It provides entrepreneurs with opportunities to win US$ 1 million in project funding, and benefit from mentoring and networking opportunities within an ecosystem of investors and partners.

In Asia, institutions such as DBS Bank in Singapore are investing in startups – especially those linked to innovation and purpose. These advocate the creation of profitable businesses that also drive social change in the region. Sri Lankan entities that are following this global trend include HNB and DFCC Bank.

In Sri Lanka, there are several initiatives fostering sustainability entrepreneurship. One example is the global Best Co-Working Space 2021 award-winning Hatch, which runs incubators and accelerators of new high-potential entrepreneurship with a focus on disruptive innovation.

The Green Energy Champion programme is an initiative that’s supported by German development agency GIZ, and has been promoting energy efficiency and conscious energy consumption since 2016. It has a six month accelerator programme that’s followed by a matchmaking effort with partners on a demo day to showcase ideas and solutions.

It also offers mentoring support including expertise sourced globally. Forty applicants led to 12 shortlisted ideas and five winners. These included RHODA, a local manufacturer of smart bicycles that are ideal for sustainable urban transport; and ECO TECH BASE, which provides biogas solutions using biodegradable waste.

Given the current emphasis on local manufacturing, these are timely products for real needs.

The ongoing pandemic and macroeconomic context in Sri Lanka have increased operating costs, responsibilities, availability of materials and risks for these entrepreneurs. It is vital that they’re supported through a network of different types of organisations that will provide a supportive ecosystem – be it financing, use of digital and other technologies or logistical assistance.

There needs to be investment in science and technology so that such entities can play a role in developing sustainability linked solutions. Co-working spaces and the support they offer through their myriad services and spin-offs need to be incentivised to provide space for growth in sustainability entrepreneurship.