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The recently released Green Startup Monitor (GSM) shows that sustainable startups have left the niche: In 2018, 26 percent of the young, innovative growth companies in Germany were operating with products and services that contribute to a Green Economy.

GSM identifies specific challenges and needs and recommends measures to improve the start-up and market environment of these green start-ups.

It was published by the Borderstep Institute in cooperation with the German Startups Association and financially supported by the German Federal Environmental Foundation.

The current GSM can be downloaded here free of charge.

Every fourth company in the EU uses cloud computing. Whether for email services or storing and sharing data. The Environment Agency Austria and the German Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability are analysing for the first time which IT infrastructure and IT services are used via the Internet and how the use of cloud computing will develop in the EU-28 over the next few years. The experts survey how high the energy demand of cloud computing is and how energy efficiency can be taken into account in the public procurement of cloud services. The aim is to develop recommendations for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly cloud computing services in Europe.

Trends such as 5G and Industry 4.0 are changing the structure of the cloud

One focus of the experts’ analysis of cloud computing deployment in the EU is on the energy efficiency of the huge central data centres that ensure that data can be stored online and accessed anywhere. With new technologies such as Industry 4.0 and Autonomous Driving, the decentralized storage and processing of data will also gain in importance in the future.

A model from the Borderstep Institute, which is already in use in Germany, is being used to measure energy consumption. The German project partners are responsible for the analysis of cloud technologies and services and their current and future areas of application. The Austrian Federal Environment Agency is dedicated to the framework conditions for the cloud computing market in Europe. The experts examine which framework conditions, such as eco-label standards or national specifications for environmentally friendly technologies, currently exist for virtual structures and services in the member states. On this basis, they develop strategies for public procurement of environmentally friendly digital services.

Database on the energy requirements of data centres in the EU

For Germany, there is already very detailed data on the energy requirements of the data centres – above all through the work of the Borderstep Institute. For other European countries and the EU as a whole, the data situation is much worse. “The project should create a new database that also takes into account the regional distribution of data centres in the EU,” says Dr. Ralph Hintemann, project manager at the Borderstep Institute and expert for data centres.

Trends like 5G, industry 4.0 and autonomous driving are changing the cloud infrastructure, explains Simon Hinterholzer, researcher at the Borderstep Institute. “So far, it’s mainly large cloud computing centers that process and store data. For the future, we expect an enormous number of small and very small data centers to be set up, for example, in switching centers or on the roadside.” According to Hinterholzer, operating these so-called edge data centers in an energy- and resource-efficient manner represents a major challenge for the future.

The project will provide an insight into the relevant future technologies that enable energy-efficient and sustainable cloud computing.

Borderstep Institute was pleased to welcome the association On Purpose in its Berlin office on 22nd February, 2019. Their associate-programme offers motivated professionals the opportunity to get to know the sustainable entrepreneurship sector through a one-year placement in different working environments, ranging from start-ups to non-profit organisations. Currently, Martin Strobel is developing the StartGreen platform at Borderstep Institute as an On Purpose associate.

During their visit, the On Purpose associates received an insight into Borderstep’s work in the field of Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Specifically, the projects GreenUpInvest and StartGreen were introduced by Alexander Schabel, senior project manager at Borderstep. Further, Dr. Yasmin Olteanu, researcher at Borderstep, presented the results of the publication Green Start-Up Monitor 2018, which was developed in collaboration with Bundesverband Deutsche Startups.

A concluding creative session offered the possibility to discuss different questions at the interface of economy and sustainability, ending the day with interesting insights into advancing sustainable entrepreneurship and green economic activity.

Borderstep Director Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter is co-chair of the track “Sustainability, Circular and Green Tech Innovation” of the EURAM 2019.

With the theme Exploring the Future of Management: Facts, Fashion and Fado, EURAM 2019 invites you to participate in the debate about how to explore the future of management. Management is about doing things through people. Who are these new people? The behaviour of organisations vis-à-vis society is increasingly scrutinised and its impact cannot be ignored. Strategy, behavioural sciences, business and society, networks, services and global value chains, entrepreneurship and innovation… these and many other topics can and will be discussed during EURAM 2019.

Short description of the track:

Innovation researchers and practitioners are increasingly interested in reframing ecological and societal challenges as opportunities for innovation. In this track we explore recent advances towards the broader field of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) as well as the subthemes of circular and green technology innovation. We are keen to understand these innovation directions on the levels of products, product-service systems, and business models and are particularly interested in a better understanding of the innovation and entrepreneurial processes, as well as the related ecosystems, underlying these innovation outcomes. More information.

The conference will take place from 26 to 28 June 2019 in Lisbon. Scientific articles (full papers) can be submitted until 15 January 2019.

The twin cities of Berlin and Los Angeles discussed the topic of Smart City. As part of the Berlin Urban Tech Summit 2018, the central Berlin business conference, Berlin welcomed Chief Sustainability Officer Nancy Sutley from its twin city Los Angeles (USA). At the invitation of State Secretary Christian Rickerts, Borderstep and his partners presented to her the WindNODE project.

The participants then exchanged ideas on Smart City Projects and intelligent neighbourhoods in the twin cities of Los Angeles and Berlin. The focus was on the common challenges in the expansion of renewable energies in the two cities. In Los Angeles, surplus renewable energies are to be increasingly integrated into the supply via storage technologies. In WindNODE, on the other hand, in addition to storage, the flexibility potential on the consumption side (industry, infrastructure and consumers) is also being researched.

Dr. Severin Beucker, Managing Director and co-founder of the Borderstep Institute, referred in this context to the large storage and flexibilisation potential in the building sector. The possible use of power-to-heat and power-to-cold technologies can also be developed relatively easily and economically for energy transition. There is still plenty of potential in both cities.

A further exchange has been agreed for the coming months.

Start-up teams and young companies in the field of climate protection, green economy and sustainability can apply for the StartGreen Award (SGA). Application deadline is July 31, 2018.

The leading startup award for sustainability solutions in Germany will be presented for the fourth time in a row in 2018. The focus is on networking green start-ups, companies, investors, funding institutions and political pioneers for a green economy.

Community award for the green startup scene

The community award for the green startup scene will be awarded this year in three categories: start-up concept (not yet established), start-up (up to 5 years) and energy of the future (0-15 years). For the first time, the SGA is looking for concepts and start-ups in the category “Energy of the Future”, which work on solutions for the sustainable production and use of energy.

The green start-up community can participate by a public vote to decide who is worthy of recognition. The final pitch in front of a specialist jury is about cash and prizes worth more than 60,000 euros. In addition to a cash prize of 5,000 euros per category, the # SGA18 main partner SDG Investments offers the registration of the finalists of the categories “Start-up” and “Energy of the future” on the SDG Investments platform (equivalent to 5,000 euros each).

With # SGA18 to San Francisco

All entries in the “Start-up” category also have the opportunity to qualify for the Cleantech Open Ideas Challenge in California. The international competition for enterprises from the Cleantech range takes place 2019 in San Francisco (USA). The three selected winners of the German preselection are nominated for the final. In addition to travel expenses, the teams will also receive a coaching package and mentoring for the preparation of the competition as well as intensive on-site support. This prize is made possible by the main partner RKW Competence Center.

The candidates selected for the 2016 and 2017 StartGreen Awards were very successful on the international stage. The start-ups Interpanel and Intrapore prevailed against the international competition in the categories “Scale Track” and “Growth Track” at the Cleantech Open Global Ideas Challenge 2017 in San Francisco (USA). In the following year, the start-up Matteco reached the 2nd place in the category “Seed Track”, Ineratec, a spin-off of KIT, was able to win as another German representative in its category “Scale Track”.

The award ceremony will take place on 15 November 2018 at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in Berlin.

Application and further information: www.start-green.net

The current issue of the Green Economy Start-up Monitor (GEMO) of the Borderstep Institute reports for the first time on questions of financing green start-ups (special pages Green Start-up Investment Monitor). This special evaluation is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the National Climate Initiative as part of the Green Start-Up Investment Alliance – GreenUpInvest project.

Cooperation with German Startup Monitor (DSM)

In cooperation with the German Startup Monitor (DSM) 2017 of the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups (BVDS) data on financing conditions and challenges of green and non-green innovative start-ups were evaluated. The green start-ups include all start-ups that have indicated “GreenTech” as a field of activity in the DSM survey. The results show that the future financing requirements of green start-ups (an average of 200,000 euros) are higher than those of non-green start-ups (an average of 35,000 euros). This also explains why GreenTech start-ups regard capital generation as a greater challenge than non-green start-ups.

Green start-ups want political support

Against this background, it is not surprising that the Cleantech start-up respondents hope for greater support in the procurement of funds from policy and the public sector. In contrast, the other start-ups hope to see the removal of regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles above all else. Furthermore, what becomes apparent is that the Cleantech start-ups wish to improve the exchange with politicians much more than other start-ups do.

The Green Economy Start-up Monitor 2017 shows that green start-ups in Germany must network with politics and business in order to be successful – and vice versa. Green start-ups are an indispensable transformation engine for Germany as a business location. Tapping the environmental and economic potential of green start-ups should therefore be a key objective of future start-up support. Green start-ups do a lot for Germany as a business location and its environmental, climate and sustainability policy objectives.

Green Startups Network of the Federal Association of German Startups

The German Start-ups Association has already taken an important step in this direction in 2017 and, at the suggestion of the Borderstep Institute, founded a new specialist group on green startups. The Green Startups Network sees itself as a platform for start-ups, young and established companies, investors and important players from the green economy, i.e. in particular from the fields of renewable energies, mobility, cleantech, environmental services, resource efficiency, IT, software, agriculture and food. With various activities such as networking events, communication campaigns and digital projects, the platform supports members in successfully anchoring new ideas and innovations in the market, networking industry and start-ups and enabling attractive financing options for investors.

Startups, companies and investors who are interested in the platform and would like to stay informed about the numerous activities, please register in this registration form to become part of the platform and receive a regular newsletter.

Borderstep is invited to give a presentation on innovation alliances for sustainable ICT at the ICT4S conference in Toronto (Canada).

The ICT4S conferences bring together leading researchers in ICT for Sustainability with government and industry representatives, including decision-makers with an interest in using ICT for sustainability, researchers focusing on ICT effects on sustainability and developers of sustainable ICT systems or applications.

Dr. Ralph Hintemann, Senior Researcher at Borderstep, and Simon Hinterholzer, Researcher at Borderstep, prepared and submitted the presentation. Simon Hinterholzer will present it in Toronto. The paper will be published after the conference.

Abstract:

Digitalization is driving the increasing energy and resource needs of ICT. In Germany, ICT accounts for eight percent of electricity consumption. Data centers alone currently consume 2.3 % of the electricity in Germany, with an upward trend. Although the ICT sector is generally considered to be very innovative and new solutions are often implemented very quickly, deployment of energy- and resource-efficient innovations is frequently confronted with considerable obstacles and barriers. Innovation alliances of companies are a promising instrument of governmental support for new environmental technologies in the fast-paced ICT sector. In the past ten years, several initiatives of this kind have been launched, e.g., the consortium GreenIT Amsterdam, the Innovationsallianz Rechenzentren (Innovation Alliance Data Centers) in Hesse, Germany, and the Netzwerk energieeffiziente Rechenzentren (Network Energy-Efficient Data Centers). Some of these initiatives have achieved remarkable successes. The present paper analyzes such innovation alliances using the example of energy efficiency in data centers as the field of application. Three good-practice examples from Germany are presented. The paper shows what these innovation alliances can achieve and analyzes the factors contributing to their successful implementation. It concludes with concrete recommendations for practical implementation of such initiatives.

You can find more information about the program here.

The data experts from Data Science for Social Good Berlin (DSSG) are supporting the Borderstep Institute and its Green Economy Startup Monitor with their third “Datathon” from April 20 to 22, 2018. The aim is to optimize the data analysis of the Green Economy startup monitor and thus to save time and costs in the search of data.

DSSG alerts social service charities to the value of their data and brings them together with volunteers from the data science community. Special data events are then used to create tailor-made solutions to the identified data problems.

The “Datathon” takes place in DB mindbox Berlin. Volunteers with relevant knowledge are still being sought.

More information about the program and the process can be found here.

Linda Bergset, senior researcher at the Borderstep Institute, was one of the reviewers for the Climate Fellowship 2018 of Echoing Green. The Fellowship promotes green talents from around the world and their innovative ideas on topics such as water, waste and energy.

Echoing Green identifies tomorrow’s transformational leaders today. Through its Fellowships and other innovative leadership initiatives, Echoing Green spots emerging leaders and invests deeply in their success to accelerate their impact.

Echoing Green has been ahead of the curve for more than 30 years, supporting visionaries around the world who are transforming economies, and pursuing racial and gender equity, environmental sustainability, and more. Echoing Green’s unparalleled community of talent consists of nearly 800 innovators who have launched Teach For America, City Year, One Acre Fund, SKS Microfinance, Public Allies, and more. The organization provides seed-funding and leadership development to a new class of Fellows every year and welcomes them into its lifelong community of leaders. For more on how Echoing Green accelerates talent that will change the world for the better, visit echoinggreen.org.