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That’s where Wavemaker Impact and its network comes in. It’s hard to translate that into ‘where’s the business opportunity here?’” There’s all this data out there about climate change and a lot of it is quite academic. “If you haven’t been working for an energy transition for the last 10 years, you probably don’t know what’s coming next. “The energy work is super complicated, it’s kind of opaque,” said Cheong. “Our pitch to him was, come work with us and you can start at least midway in your journey.”įor some entrepreneurs, the U-curve is thinking that they need a science background. “I met an entrepreneur yesterday and he said, ‘I feel like there’s a U-curve of learning, I’m on the downhill and I need to get deep before I get up,’” said Cheong. That’s one of the things Wavemaker Impact wants to address. (Wavemaker has invested in more than 140 companies and currently has $180 million in AUM across its three funds in Southeast Asia.)īut even entrepreneurs with a track record of founding successful companies might have concerns about launching a climate tech or sustainability startup.

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After talking with them, Wavemaker’s team realized that many startups were already thinking about how to reach sustainability goals, so it created a pledge for companies to enact more initiatives as they scale up. “So let’s create business models that can help fight climate change and seriously address climate emissions, solutions that work for our market and are based on local dynamics.”īefore launching Wavemaker Impact, the firm implemented an internal initiative called Green Wave to look at its carbon footprint and hold workshops for portfolio founders. “It’s something that is kind of unique to our region,” said Santos. Wavemaker created its own emissions map focused on Southeast Asia, and found that 26% of the emissions in the region come from land use. Here are 4 books for autumn to understand what’s changing For example, researchers have found that Jakarta, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City are at risk of being underwater by 2050. Much of Southeast Asia’s economy is focused on regions that are especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change. “If you can follow the process and find the right entrepreneur to work with, you can build a company that has the ability to have a significant carbon impact, but also that the venture world recognizes is investable.” “To us that was a real validation,” Cheong told TechCrunch. Vaquette and Cheong first met the Wavemaker team when it invested in TablePointer, an energy efficiency startup that was one of the first companies to emerge from ENGIE Factory. He says the firm has already identified over 50 issues that startups can address in sectors like land use and carbon sinks, agriculture and food, industrial processes and energy. Santos told TechCrunch that Southeast Asia is filled with opportunities to create what Wavemaker Impact calls 100×100 companies, meaning they can generate $100 million in revenue while abating about 100 million metric tons of carbon.

Vaquette and Cheong led ENGIE Factory, the sustainability focused Southeast Asia venture arm of ENGIE Group, one of the world’s largest utility companies. The founding team includes Wavemaker managing partner Paul Santos PropertyGuru founder and impact investor Steve Melhuish Doug Parker, the former COO of Nutonomy and Quentin Vaquette and Marie Cheong. Wavemaker Impact is planning to raise $25 million for its first fund and is currently looking for founders. Today, the Singapore-based firm announced the launch of Wavemaker Impact, a venture builder that identifies potential business opportunities, finds seasoned entrepreneurs to turn those ideas into startups and acts like a co-founder as companies scale. Wavemaker Partners doesn’t just want to invest in climate tech and sustainability startups. Wavemaker Impact’s founders: (from left to right) Quentin Vaquette, Doug Parker, Marie Cheong, Paul Santos, and Steve Melhuish.

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