Even if something is good for the planet, it doesn’t mean people will bet on it. “I don’t
think most people will pay a premium for sustainability. Well, not yet anyway,” says Marie Cheong.
One of the founding partners of Singapore-based venture firm Wavemaker Impact, which brands itself as Southeast Asia’s first climate tech venture builder, Cheong posits that understanding human nature is the key to designing truly impactful climate solutions. People have and always will be driven by incentives.
“Entrepreneurs need to identify market fragmentations and inefficiencies that can generate real value for stakeholders while allowing them to become more climate-friendly,” says Cheong.
One startup backed by Wavemaker Impact that exemplifies this is Agros. With its solar-powered irrigation pumps, the Singapore-based climate tech company aims to make farming more sustainable and economically viable.
According to Cheong, farmers in Southeast Asia can spend up to US$600 (S$826) a year on diesel fuel to power their conventional irrigation pumps — it’s a significant outlay considering many make just a few thousand dollars annually. Solar power becomes a powerful incentive for farmers since it saves them money and reduces pollution caused by diesel.
A seasoned venture capitalist who started by helping tech startups find their wings, Cheong explains that one of the main reasons Wavemaker Impact focuses solely on Southeast Asia is because the region is “incredibly underserved” when it comes to venture capital funding for climate tech. She points out that although climate tech investments have grown internationally, only a meagre sum trickles into the region.
Most of the funding goes to extensive research projects in Europe and North America. Asia is also lagging when it comes to addressing climate change.
But this doesn’t mean that Cheong and her partners at Wavemaker Impact are indiscriminate in backing startups from the region. To make the grade, she says, candidates must use commercially available technologies. Startups developing climate
technology that requires a lot of research and time are unlikely to be considered. Aspiring climate tech entrepreneurs looking to secure venture capital funding should also cast their eyes on relatively unexplored segments.
“One area is land use. In 2020, for example, 270,000ha of forest were burned in Indonesia. Global Forest Watch estimates that to be 200 megatons of carbon dioxide generated,” says Cheong.
“Southeast Asia is home to 25 percent of all investable forest carbon, 97 percent of all tropical peatlands and about 40 percent of all blue carbon habitats in the world. We can have a tremendous impact on the world if we could work out how to protect this in a commercial and scalable way.”
The two most important criteria, however, are having a clear customer and a solution that effectively addresses areas emitting at least 300 to 500 megatons of carbon emissions annually.
What about reusable straws? Would such startups make the cut?
“Nay,” she chuckles. “Probably not.”
Videography: Belle Chew
Photography: Mun Kong
Producer: Cara Yap
Styling: Chia Wei Choong
Hair & Makeup: Rick Yang/Artistry, assisted by Alycia Tan, using Shiseido and Keune
