Global capital must recognise the power and profit of investing in youth innovation. These were the insights shared at an event held by beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, at a recent New York Climate Week event.
Generation Innovation convened investors, corporate leaders, and youth entrepreneurs to highlight the role of capital in effectively scaling climate solutions, especially in emerging markets.
“Climate solutions in Africa and Asia are projected to hit $500B by 2031. However, only 15 percent of clean-energy investment reaches emerging economies -even though they’re home to 75 percent of the world’s people” shared Florian Hoffmann, a founder of beVisioneers. .
The gathering underscored the urgency of new approaches. Despite the green economy representing a $2.5 trillion annual investment opportunity, less than 15 percent of clean-energy investment currently flows to emerging markets, though they generate 60 percent of breakthrough solutions and are home to the majority of the world’s youth innovators.
“Global climate investment is clustering in later-stage deals, leaving early-stage innovators overlooked,” said Hoffmann, “Generation Innovation showed the power of bringing young entrepreneurs and seasoned leaders together, and showed that collaboration across generations is essential to unlocking a better future for our planet.”
beVisioneers is the world’s largest fellowship dedicated to youth-led environmental innovation and supports 1,000 fellows annually across more than 55 countries. Each fellow receives funding, training, mentorship, and access to networks that enable them to launch community-driven sustainability projects.
At the event, beVisioneers fellows spoke on their inventions, from cocoa bean waste turned into textiles, to biodegradable diapers made from pineapple, to breakthrough systems recycling plastic into oil.
The beVisioneers event offered a framework on how to support climate ventures that will move into profitability in the near future.