Posted on

Invest in Earth’s biggest problems to save the planet and turn a profit



Share

Champ Suthipongchai
Contributor

Champ Suthipongchai is a co-founder and general partner at Creative Ventures, a method-driven deep tech VC firm investing in startups that address the impact of increasing labor shortages, rising healthcare costs and the climate crisis.

More posts by this contributor

Investment in construction automation is essential to rebuilding US infrastructure

Whether you call it sustainability, ESG or climate tech, there is no doubt that doing good while making money has taken the world by storm.
According to Bloomberg, global sustainable investment assets grew to $35.3 trillion just last year. That pencils out to about $1 of every $3 managed globally seeking to profit out of “making the world a better place.”
As these dollars flow into venture capital, the world seeks to solve some of the hardest climate-related problems to keep the globe within 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. Investors seem to sense the urgency: Climate tech investment grew at a faster rate than overall VC between 2013 and 2019, according to a PwC report.
To clarify, the term “impact investing” is being used here loosely and synonymously with other terms, such as socially responsible investing (SRI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG). In essence, impact is “making the world a better place.”
But therein lies the problem with impact investing: If better is in the eye of the beholder (and it is), then what exactly is better?
After all, Philip Morris makes 700 billion cigarettes a year, but it’s striving for ESG goals to …

Read More