- Sustainability is essential for companies around the world, especially in the transport sector.
- There are hundreds of startups working on ways to make transportation and logistics sustainable.
- Here are 36 promising sustainability startups, according to top venture capitalists.
Sustainability in transportation has quickly become a hot topic for start-ups, as giants like Ford, Nestlé and Amazon, among others, are electrifying their fleets in hopes of meeting corporate ESG goals and public promises of sustainability. reduce its climate impact.
But there are more ways to decarbonize transport than simply electrify, and meeting carbon reduction targets will require every available strategy.
Hundreds of startups are developing different types of fuels, rethinking electric car charging infrastructure, creating new supply chain technology, and refining methods of extracting and recycling battery materials. And some of the most prolific venture capitalists hope to take advantage of this change to make big profits.
Investors are flocking to support sustainable vehicles for the transportation sector, but they are also increasing investment in technologies that address other critical parts of the transition. Greater adoption of alternative vehicles will require new strategies for fleet management and maintenance. The transportation industry in general will need new ways to route vehicles, new chemical batteries, and new fuels like hydrogen.
And even without swapping out old vehicles for new, technology can help run existing assets more efficiently by using routing software, machine learning, and edge computing to reduce downtime and increase utilization of existing space in cargo nets.
Insider spoke with 12 venture capitalists at firms including Khosla Ventures, AP Ventures, and Energy Impact Partners, all of whom have made significant bets in the space. Here are their picks for the 36 promising startups vying to make transportation and logistics more sustainable.