ideas

“We have abundant sun, wind, and passion in Sri Lanka. The challenge isn’t harnessing these resources, but navigating the complexities of vested interests and envisioning a greener future.”

“Most of the social impact data that NGOs, impact investors or companies gather today is utterly useless”

“I just don’t like it when people waste money.”

“Not even a year in, our Test Bed Program has shown a wealth of insights into the real demands of teachers in the classroom.”

“The impact of movies on society are huge. But becoming a producer was never based on my love for movies only, every movie is also an investment decision: a long-seller (i.e. a classic hit) in your portfolio can serve as an exceptional retirement plan.”

“One of the big challenges for the production of biofilm at scale is its reputation of not being able to meet industrial requirements. Our products DO meet industry standards, while being fully compostable. If society would devote as much research and development to biofilm as it is has devoted to plastic, circular packaging would have made so much more headway by now.”

“Following the Bank of England, the ECB [European Central Bank] has now also decided on concrete steps to integrate climate considerations into its lending and purchasing programs.”

“There is a rising gap between the large demand for medical professionals and the scarce availability of doctors and nurses ”

“Venture Capital isn’t just about financial returns. Increasingly, our investment strategy considers environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors to create sustainable value and positive impact.”

“Especially when used in pre-defined contexts, a chatbot can very well do the job of a human being”

“We are establishing a fair, transparent and accessible platform for art creators, art lovers and intermediators, making it easier for new artists from around the world to form connections and establish themselves in the industry, and offer art buyers or collectors a service to find their individual new art from a diverse global pool of talents.”

“What motivated us in the beginning was the positive feedback from teachers, statements like “my students actually show up in school if I tell them we are going to use Ludenso tomorrow”. But now we are working on actual evidence on the impact we are having, meaning going beyond anecdotal evidence and employing proper measurement.”

“When we select entrepreneurs, we have a focus on those businesses with real system-change potential. You might say what we are searching for founders who are aiming to put themselves out of their jobs – by creating a system that not only addresses a problem effectively but runs self-sufficiently and sustainably.”

“The development of DNA and RNA printers has introduced the possibility to scale the production of drugs and treatments in a way that was unthinkable before.”

“The 3 key ideas for the future of education will be: 21st century skills, lifelong learning and inclusion through personalization.”

“We believe everyone should have equal opportunities in the capital market.”

“Soleil Health takes you on a unique digital journey to develop self-love. It is designed by women for women, and is based on the very latest research findings in psychology.”

“Being able to engage on a controversial topic in a productive manner is part of the operating system of any effective democracy. Currently, there seems to be a trend in that this ability is on the decline. We work against that trend.”

“I am investing in companies that help people to be more healthy, balanced and emphatic, and therefore better capable to deal with the big challenges that our future holds.”

“We are providing the interior and fashion industries with a customizable leather alternative that consists of 100% natural components. Our material is entirely biodegradable after its life-cycle and is sourced and produced locally.”

“There is hardly any look or feel that you can’t produce using recycled materials. But to recycle things several times over, you need to design them in a way that keeps separate materials separate”

“Today we have all the technical solutions at hand to make our cities net-zero. But the challenge we are facing is the [dispersed] ownership structure of the existing infrastructure.  If you could come up with an effective process for managing this diverse set of stakeholders, you could really make headway”

“In the case of many apps or games, we simply don’t know whether they have any impact, let alone a positive one.”

“Investors want to know about the true emission levels of companies. We use satellite data to identify the biggest methane emitters in near real time and feed that information into financial, commodity and insurance markets”

“I see three trends in healthcare that bear relevance for investors: first, improved processes, second, better information management for chronic diseases and third, home- and self-care.”

“Sustainable investing has gone mainstream. Many big players have already divested, but climate change manifests differently in every industry and many investors lack science-based, actionable strategies for  how to diversify right. This is what we provide at Macroclimate.”

“When we think about climate change, we should not only think about new infrastructure. We should also think about using the existing one in innovative ways.”

“We have spent the last 20-30 years feeling the impact of the costs of moving electrons/information around being driven to close to zero. That has dramatically impacted the world. Now what if we can move things around for almost free? What is this gonna do?!”

“Creating something really impactful does not start with money. If you know the right kind of people with the right kind of motivation, it is amazing how much you can build and achieve. Money has to follow at some point, but it’s never the start.”

„This is a classic „Ready Player One” theme; you have this parallel world and the question is really, how much of our life will we spend in this world and also to what extent will business be done there?”

“A big trend that we currently see with new technologies is that they create agency: consumers are redefined as changemakers.”

“Imagine the future of manufacturing if 3-D printers and knitting machines scale and become more affordable. Goods would not need to sit in inventories anymore. Big building complexes could have their own knitting machine in the basement, and what you buy at H&M is not the actual pullover, but the instruction to produce it yourself.”

“Rather than starting a discussion, most businesses give costumers what they want. But many widespread ideas about sustainable production are not taking the full picture into account. Responding to these ideas can lead to product innovations that sound sustainable, but are actually the opposite.”

“If you want to invest in innovating school education, you have to be willing and able to navigate in a highly politicized system which has grown over centuries, with an infrastructure that stems from the 80s and a kind of wildly grown heap of regulations. You are faced with a similar situation when you want to invest in new housing concepts.”

“nxtgn wants to think about new, future-oriented investment topics; but you could also think in terms of future geographical areas, i.e. what are the regions in Europe which are not yet on our map”

“There is this famous quote which compares blockchain to having a car idling 24 hours solving Sudokus with which you can then buy heroin. I think this analogy is not too far-off the truth.”

“These days, if you go through Frankfurt downtown on any regular afternoon, most of this vast amount of office spaces are empty. Obviously, the employees will come back partially once the pandemic is over, but I don’t think we’ll go back to a model where the big majority of workers spends 5 days a week 9-7 in a corporate space. This is a great opportunity to make cities more livable and at the same time create better workspaces.”