Who Wants to Enter Cleantech?

Talking about ecosystems cleantech startups, you could say this is not a new ecosystem. If you refer to several articles that explain the first time this term appeared, it was at least 2002 years old (Neal Dikeman). However, with all this time, is the ecosystem asvibratet segment startup other?

Term cleantech and climatetech or simply distinguishable in coverage startup who make products or provide green and clean solutions (green and clean) including increasing performance, productivity and/or efficiency of production while reducing negative implications for the environment. Whereas climatetech is a technology-based solution whose main goal is climate change which is to reduce the impact and driver of greenhouse gases globally.

Condition of Indonesia's cleantech ecosystem

Data revealed by New Energy Nexus Indonesia from its report, such as written by DailySocial. Mention several conditions in the ecosystem cleantech.

When it was released, the report said there were only 300 cleantech startups. Only 50 were surveyed and 2 of them closed. Which are interesting. in the report, more than 90% have runway (funds) that are not ideal for startup, i.e. most are under 1 year old. Another interesting finding is that most of them are still in progress idea/prototyping or testing to users.

From this report it can also be seen that VCs are very active in providing funding for startup (eg is EV), only invest on 1 startup just when the report was released.

One of the two obstacles revealed in the report stated that funding constraints were the main factor. There is also the problem that the number is not large enough founder who are experts in this segment, and the regulatory framework is also a factor in the ecosystem cleantech.

Sustainability trends

On the other hand, I also want to highlight the recent trends, especially in Indonesia. Jargon sustainability has become more widely heard in the past few years in the ecosystem startup One of the two factors could be due to several startup which is starting to release sustainability reports, as well as VCs active in Indonesia also released topics report the same ie sustainability reports. Or there are also those who release their 'brother', namely impact reports.

On topic sustainability and green topics are also increasingly becoming a topic for several media in Indonesia - including national media - which are starting to have their own special channels or verticals. DailySocial is no exception, which now has it Solum.id.

The increasing emergence of this topic could also be due to targets set by the Indonesian government: Net Zero Emissions in 2060, while the national EBT or renewable energy transition of 23% in 2025 has only been achieved at 12.3%.

Not only that, multinational companies have also started to be strict enough to apply various "green" requirements to partners. There are also those who are no longer shy about revealing their green targets. Call it Apple, the most valuable company in the world (July 2023 data from Dataword), Which provide quite a large portion for their green programs.

Why cleantech startups not mushrooming?

Although climate-related segments are more closely related to climatetech, but in general the trend of using technology for environmentally friendly solutions is increasingly needed, because it is not just a funding ecosystem trend startup Of course, our earth is in need of technology-based solutions to keep it somewhat livable.

After all, there are type slices startup from cleantech and climatetech. Still based on reviews Clean Energy Ventures, at least there is Clean Energy, Supply Chain. Built Environment and Transportation, which can be green and clean solutions but on the other hand can also have an impact on the climate or reduce GHG emissions.

So, it should be cleantech It could also play a role, so, the numbers could grow and develop because there are problems that need solutions, and VC interest here should (should) increase.

Is VC interest not yet able to shift from fintech, SAAS, F&B, transportation, agrite or maybe entertainment lead to startup in the cleantech segment because it doesn't exist startupor is there another reason?

Is it because investing in cleantech startups it's 'too heavy' and requires a lot of time and endurance (read: capital), so VC interest is still timid.

Or other influences, such as the shadow of an economic recession and consumer behavior in the post-covid era which is still confusing, which has an influence on the still low interest in incoming investment startupcleantech?

Or a paradigm shift (thesis) is needed from VCs so that the ecosystem of the funding climate allows it to thrive startup cleantech. Because the thesis' came in round early out in the round next'a, in my opinion is not a suitable investment thesis in the segment or ecosystem cleantech. Because most of them need a lot of funds to grow or for R&D development.

On the other hand, a solution low tech in the green sector - in some conditions - it actually becomes more attractive and easier to get funding, for example programs from NGOs or CSR funds. Or even funds in the form of programs from companies that require targets to be included in reports sustainability they.

I remember my writing, which more or less could be the conclusion of this article. As well as being a simple suggestion to open a discussion about ecosystem development cleantech going forward.

The advice I can make is similar to my advice to the ecosystem startup 2011 year, which for some reason, even though it has been more than 10 years, for me is still always and continues to be relevant: investors (individuals, VC or CVC) - accelerators - incubators - and also the government, including banks through the Green Taxonomy, must help the innovations developed by para startupcleantech so that the ecosystem can grow and develop.