Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups working towards the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal #11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Startups working towards Sustainable Cities & Communities out of 497
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 2.093.000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 497 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 startups that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 492 climate action solutions, get in touch.
Smart Havens Africa provides Affordable Housing
Lack of affordable housing hinders the progress of multiple SDGs by its impact on poverty, as well as access to food, clean water, and other necessities. This is why cities around the world take on developmental projects to offer low-cost housing. Construction startups offer prefabricated or modular homes that are easy to put together. Such solutions further decrease costs by the use of recycled or recovered materials.
Ugandan startup Smart Havens Africa provides low-cost and sustainable housing solutions for vulnerable populations. In addition to the homes, the startup ensures that the customers receive full legal ownership of the land. The homes have two to four bedrooms and access to water and electricity. Moreover, the startup also trains the beneficiary families in property management and financial literacy.
EMSOL improves Urban Air Quality
The air quality is fast deteriorating in most metropolitan areas, with many cities having unhealthy levels of particulate matter (PM) in the air. Effective pollution mitigation strategies require cities and companies to come together. Startups are developing a range of sustainability solutions to help cities reduce air pollution. For instance, real-time tracking of vehicular pollution aids in the development of better public transport projects.
EMSOL is a British startup creating solutions for healthy urban communities. The startup’s urban air quality solution helps organizations achieve net-zero targets for cleaner air. It provides real-time data on vehicular pollution to fleet owners and corporates, helping them reduce emissions. EMSOL also offers a solution to reduce noise pollution in urban settings.
ClUrb enables Disaster Risk Management
Largely driven by climate change, the frequency and impact of disasters are on the rise. Many cities globally are ill-equipped to quickly respond to natural disasters. As part of the SDGs, cities are taking on development projects that make them more resilient to political, economical, or climate-related crises. Startups are working on disaster management platforms to improve cities’ preparedness for disasters.
German startup ClUrb offers solutions for disaster risk management. H.A.R.D, the startup’s web and mobile-based tool, identifies risks to cities and devises measures to act against them. It also aids in relief implementation as well as the dissemination of information to help citizens during a crisis. The startup’s solution allows cities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters or crises.
Innovopolis offers Urban Waste Management
Cities generate massive amounts of different kinds of waste ranging from food to industrial and electronic waste. Most of this waste ends up in landfills where it continues to emit greenhouse gases. Sustainable waste management solutions divert waste from landfills and convert it into valuable materials for use in other industries. Energy startups, for example, offer waste-to-energy systems that produce clean energy from waste.
Swiss startup Innovopolis provides waste to resource solutions for cities. The startup digitalizes the recycling process, making the waste collection process interactive and enabling real-time reporting. A compact and modular unit converts the waste into clean, thermal energy. By enabling on-site energy recovery from waste, the startup’s solution furthers the circular economy.
Greenlines advances Green Urban Mobility
Reducing emissions from urban mobility systems is critical to make cities and communities sustainable. This is why mobility and smart city startups offer a range of green urban mobility solutions. These range from investments in public transport and electric vehicles (EVs) to intelligent traffic systems. Startups now also offer carbon credits to help mobility companies offset their emissions.
Greenlines is a Canadian startup developing decarbonization solutions. The startup’s Mobility Carbon Engine (MCE) records carbon emissions from trips undertaken by users of mobility platforms. It then quantifies emission reductions, converting them into carbon offsets. The turn-key system works with any transport mode and advances green urban mobility. The startup also offers a solution to quantify and monetize carbon in e-commerce.
Discover more startups
Startups such as the examples highlighted in this report focus on zero poverty and hunger as well as clean water & sanitation. While all of these technologies play a major role in advancing the UN’s SDGs, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more technologies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download our free Industry Innovation Reports to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.