Climate tech venture builder Wavemaker Impact forges partnership with Enterprise Singapore to launch climate tech companies from Singapore

Wavemaker Impact aims to reduce global carbon emissions by 10% by 2035

SINGAPORE, November 9, 2021 – Wavemaker Impact, a climate tech venture builder in Southeast Asia, today announced a partnership with Enterprise Singapore (ESG), which will support its ambition to launch new climate tech startups that will reduce global emissions by 10% by 2035. Under the partnership, ESG will be supporting Wavemaker Impact as a Startup SG Accelerator partner, to run programs and activities to groom more than 12 high-growth climate tech companies in the next three years. 

The announcement comes as part of the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) 2021, organized by ESG from 8 to 12 November 2021. SWITCH brings together leaders, entrepreneurs, creators, accelerators, and investors from the global tech ecosystem.

Wavemaker Impact will leverage its unique model of working with proven entrepreneurs and operators to build new climate tech startups in Singapore, and work with them to export their solutions to other markets.

With a US$25 million target for its first fund, Wavemaker Impact was founded by veterans who have invested in and helped build more than 35 sustainability startups, and have stellar track records in growing successful and scalable businesses. They include Steve Melhuish, PropertyGuru founder and impact investor; Doug Parker, ex-COO of Nutonomy; Paul Santos, Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners in Southeast Asia; and Quentin Vaquette and Marie Cheong, who built more than 10 climate tech startups during their time at ENGIE Factory, the Asia-based venture arm of a global low-carbon utility.

Doug Parker comments, “We believe that entrepreneurs are critical to driving scalable and disruptive solutions to climate change in Southeast Asia and beyond. Big challenges present big opportunities, and our partnership with ESG underscores our belief that Singapore can be a center for high-impact climate tech innovation in the region.” 

Edwin Chow, ESG’s Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Innovation & Enterprise), comments, “We are delighted to partner Wavemaker Impact in growing a pipeline of strong tech startups in Singapore that will have regional impact in sustainability, across areas such as clean energy and mobility. This partnership not only strengthens the startup ecosystem in Singapore, but contributes to our goal of helping enterprises incorporate sustainability into their business, and building new capabilities to meet the demands of the green economy.”   

Quentin Vaquette adds, “We have identified at least 50 opportunity areas where we can build companies with the potential to reach US$100 million in revenue and abate 100 million metric tons of carbon at scale. We call these ‘100 x 100 companies’. If you are an entrepreneur looking to start your next venture-backed business in sustainability, come and talk to us.”

Some of the opportunities Wavemaker Impact has identified are in sectors like land use and carbon sinks, agriculture and food, industrial processes, and energy. The team aims to target the biggest sources of carbon emissions in Southeast Asia—where significant impact is possible.

About Wavemaker Impact 

https://wavemakerimpact.com/

Wavemaker Impact is a first-of-its-kind climate tech venture builder in Southeast Asia. The Wavemaker Impact team will co-found sustainability-focused businesses with proven entrepreneurs, with the goal of reducing 10% of the global carbon budget by 2035. It aims to rally individuals, investors, and businesses that care about the planet, and want to make a rapid, tangible change in the reduction of carbon emissions. Contact us on impact@wavemaker.vc.

About Wavemaker Partners

https://wavemaker.vc/sea/

Wavemaker Partners is Southeast Asia’s go-to VC firm investing in enterprise and deep tech startups. Since 2012, it has backed 140+ companies, of which 120+ (85%) are in enterprise and deep tech. The firm has US$180 million in AUM across three funds in the region, and has seen 10 exits valued at close to US$700 million. Today, 70% of Wavemaker’s active portfolio startups in Southeast Asia are aligned with at least one UNDP Sustainable Development Goal.