The Green Startups Movement

In our era, startups abound for some years now. And although they are fashionable, everything indicates that they are not a fashion in itself and that they will continue to be many to emerge and, for some, reach success. In the current world conjecture, the importance of the environment primes in several spheres and startups are no exception. Indeed, the green startups movement, of which BiogasWorld is a part, is obvious and we must concede that this wave is an encouraging sign for the future of our planet. It must be admitted that it is our duty to re-establish the current path at the industrial, energy, social, economic and environmental levels, and entrepreneurs have a big share of the responsibilities associated with the global task there is to be done.

Why startups in our time?

Several reasons explain the popularity of startups today. Financially first, the 2008 global crisis has undoubtedly contributed greatly to motivate people to find new ways to become independent of an employer, and especially to be accountable for their own success and to have the freedom to enjoy this success according to their work. The fruit of this work is also a great motivation because the fact that many famous startups have reached impressive valuations in a short amount of time certainly encourages more entrepreneurs in the soul to go into business. Then, venture capital is now more easily accessible than ever for any project that has good potential if it is well put together and well presented. This is especially true considering the fact that in many cases startups require relatively low initial investments by the nature of their products and services, particularly with respect to projects based online.

Regarding non-financial factors, the market currently offers a very interesting place for startups. Among others, there are several startups incubators, a popular phenomenon since the beginning of the web era and stronger than ever today. Incubators allow startups to benefit from the creativity and experience of fellow entrepreneurs in order to facilitate the elaboration and the development of their project and maximize the realization of their potential. Subsequently, social media and crowdfunding sites allow through their instant and global deployment on the web, to get known and to promote themselves easier than ever. However, it is important to know how to use them to get the most out of them. Finally, today’s market being resolutely global and connected, geographical limitations are no longer obstacles to target a world market as long as a startup adapts its offer and its message according to the particular cultural characteristics that will obviously be encountered.

Moreover, large multinationals are increasingly likely to acquire startups instead of generating internal innovation. It follows that access to the entire planet makes it possible for startups to maximize their potential of being acquired by a multinational, despite not often being an objective as such initially. Though, the aspect of startups acquisitions by large companies demonstrates that corporate innovation petered out and migrated ineluctably among the community of startups and their often young, ambitious and very creative entrepreneurs.

Green startups, including those of biogas

There are many green startups and they are particularly noticed. Their commitment to the future of the environment is timely with current issues and it is not surprising that their success is praised, especially after the recent COP21. Startups are launching in all kinds of green technologies, including in the areas of clean and renewable energy. Thus, a large number of entrepreneurs go into geothermal, biofuels, solar energy (thermal and photovoltaic), tidal and wave energy, electric cars, etc. Of course, biogas is part of these green technologies and startups did not lose time to get involved in this area.

BiogasWorld is one of these startups, and we are proud to connect, bring closer and promote this promising green industry that is the one of biogas. Though fragmented around the world, the biogas industry has already proven its worth. It is clear that optimizing its development and deployment will benefit the environment, the economy as well as society as a whole, both locally and globally. Therefore, BiogasWorld is dedicated to catalyzing it by connecting the biogas projects developers with the suppliers of products and services of this industry in order to facilitate and accelerate commercial trade between them. BiogasWorld aims to become the unique commercial, technical and information online platform for all that relates to biogas, from residual waste collection to the valuation of biogas and digestate.

Far from being the only startup investing itself in this industry, there are of course other biogas startups that make headlines either for having recently launched or to highlight their success. Among the most recent startups, there is Moulinot Compost and Biogas in France, which recovers the food remains of many restaurants in the City of Light, Paris. Entrepreneur Stephan Martinez, a former restaurant owner, found his idea because of the huge amount of food waste his restaurant was generating. His company now collects food remains of 30,000 meals daily, equivalent to eight tons of compost per day. Besides, his company was also responsible for recovering the remaining meals served during the COP21. Financially the project seems to be holding well, having registered in 2015 a turnover of € 350,000 and expecting to reach € 1.3 million by 2017.

Another company, HomeBiogas, is simply a great example of a startup taking advantage of the opening up of borders through the web and social media, and has a very promising future according to the amount of more than USD 230,000 it has managed to stack on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. The company from Israel has developed an anaerobic digester adapted to the consumption of a family that can turn household food waste into biogas and fertilizer. Moreover, the company argues that in a year, the HomeBiogas system can offset the equivalent of GHG emissions from a car, or 6 tons of CO2. For 1kg of food waste, the HomeBiogas system generates 0.2 cubic meter of biogas, which is enough to cook with gas for one hour. The company states that the initial investment of about USD 1,000 to purchase a HomeBiogas system pays for itself in as little as three years.

The natural question that follows is whether these startups are or not achieving success. How many will realize a prowess like that of Ontario-based StormFisher Biogas which in 2008 had managed to land a USD 350 million financing from Denham Capital Management, based in Boston, and thus became the largest biogas project financing pool in the world at the time? StormFisher, a green startup of biogas in 2006, is still active and influential today, having also acquired in January 2016 a biogas plant generating 6 megawatts and 5,200 tons of fertilizer. The plant was acquired of Harvest Power, a large company in green energy that is present in the United States and Canada. Obviously, all green startups do not have the same possible potential, but it remains that the example of StormFisher is very inspiring for startups who choose to embark on the path of green entrepreneurship today.

What future awaits green startups? Will they succeed to achieve success as done by the great startups of the recent years such as Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb and Uber to name only a few of them? What is certain is that the future of the environment looks increasingly flourishing and that consequently green startups find themselves in a global conjecture favorable to their success. Still, it is necessary that they know how to seize the opportunities, to surround themselves with the right partners, to develop strategic alliances, and to arm themselves with the right tools to fully exploit their potential. Globally, the environment’s wind is shifting, and it is the green startups’ responsibility to avail orientating themselves in order to have the wind blowing off in their blades.

By Simon Lefebvre | 2016-04-22

Sources : Martin Zwilling (Forbes – Entrepreneurs), Léa Lejeune (Challenges), HomeBiogas – Create your own energy, HomeBiogas, Joanna Pachner (The Globe and Mail), Waste Management World