etsaW

The Result of EIR + XIR… 🤜 🤛 🚀 As we power into 2025, we write to both update on positive etsaW news below and highlight the potency of combining an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) and an Executive in Residence (XIR), particular in a #climatetech studio that blends R&D with AI services to determine informed innovation and venture building. So let us put names to titles, confirm their involvement in etsaW and why Nick Wall Sophie Thomas Dr David Greenfield are so pleased to have them both involved: Bengt Cousins-Jenvey joined us as etsaW EIR summer 2024 to explore how we might leverage AI in waste to resource, supply chain resilience and novel material angles. Bengt combines practical experience in architecture, design and engineering with further education in computational, research, and impact assessment methods.  Previous senior roles include Buro Happold, Expedition Engineering, and Useful Projects. Significantly, he led the technical team that authored the pioneering Circular Economy Statement Guidance for the Greater London Authority. Bengt has worked in multiple, purposeful service and software startups and is a two-time founder. His most recent climate tech venture won the Mobile & Emerging Technologies StartUp of the Year in the 2023 London StartUp Awards. Bengt is the key talent behind ARDANDI our new proprietary AI platform. Tom Wheeler joins us officially this month as etsaW XIR to support the next stage of our ever evolving Impact Innovation Studio and its growing portfolio of circular economy ventures.    Tom brings over 20 years of executive experience from HSBC, PwC and Unilever working in Leadership roles with strong focus on Sustainability, Digital and AI. His previous role was HSBC's Global Head of Sustainable Products and he has previously worked in London, Sydney, Toronto and Hong Kong, . In particular, Tom will be helping etsaW build out ARDANDI and further scale its impact. 🚀 The result of etsaW having both Bengt and Tom is a strategic advantage in navigating today’s dynamic business and startup environment. EIRs act as catalysts for innovation and venture creation, while XIRs provide the strategic leadership needed to scale and sustain growth. By leveraging the unique strengths of both roles, etsaW can foster impact innovation and enhance operational efficiency, whilst building a culture of continuous improvement (AKA disruption). Bring on 2025! #innovation #climatetech #circulareconomy #startups #impact

2024 - Part Two In my last post I listed my predictions for this year - areas and subjects I think will be hot and worth a focus. In this post I am adding in my resolutions. The ways we should be doing things and working together. The full article is on the etsaW Ventures website: https://lnkd.in/eKRvAzSP Firstly, resolutions: 1. DIY (not in the ‘time to fix that shelf’ meaning but more in the ‘Just do it’ category). Now is the time for purpose driven businesses, positive investment choices, better future start-ups, and mission driven objectives. We have finite time to fix this planetary situation, no time to muck about the clock is ticking. 2. Good News goes far.  We need good news stories and positivity to build hope and optimism. There are lots of people and companies working hard to find climate solutions. They need our support and investment – in time, money and intelligence. 3.     Look to the unconventional for help in finding the solutions. One evening when death scrolling Instagram (note to self - reducing this is high on my stop list) I came across a clip from ITV’s The Chase. The contender, Angela from Oxfordshire was asked what she does for a living: “I am a multi-layered insulation technician…I make the shiny blankets for satellites. But I am not an engineer, I used to have a crafts business. The space company had advertised for engineers but didn’t get any takers, so they had a brainwave, saying ‘we want the people who make things’. So, they advertised at the local crafts fairs and I saw the advert”.  Now that is out-of-the-box thinking. 4. Pick the harder to reach fruit.  We need to face up to the hard stuff. Take a deep breath, roll up our sleeves and tackle the trickier/wicked challenges. This stuff requires head space and finance to allow for a whole lot of trialling, testing, failing and creative thinking but some of the knottier challenges will give us the best return in progress. 5. Collaboration is the superpower. We must play well with others across the vast supply chains in order to find out where the challenges actually lie and where there are the innovation gaps. This is about partnerships with those that have the scale and resource on the side and know they have to do something but can’t get the time to think, unpick and redesign. As before do add your own in the comments! #circulareconomy #innovation #wastemanagement #yearofthedragon #venturestudios

2024 - it seems that the year of the dragon will live up to its reputation and is set to be fiery and hot. Reading through many predictions posts for this year really shows the current temperature of businesses and colleagues. In summary they echo an almost desperate desire for optimism and call for innovation and solutions. I feel the same. Just from a business perspective - and for those that have worked in sustainability for as long as I have - last year ended with a definite feeling of exhaustion and depression and the feeling that we were crawling to the finish line. A year of tipping points in climate and conflict, putting untold pressure on people and planet. So, now we have flipped into 2024 - what can we hope for? Where will the art of the possible, the disruptive game changers, the innovation shifts happen? Where should we focus our energy? These are my predictions. If I am honest, I have been saying some of them for a few years now – but they are still and now even more relevant IMHO. The full piece with added resolutions is here: https://lnkd.in/eKRvAzSP Do add yr own in the comments! 1.     Away is now really not away and waste is definitely not waste. You can’t throw things away and expect it and the related problems to disappear. It’s basics Physics - the law of conservation of mass which implies that mass can neither be created nor destroyed. We must invest as much time in working out the capture back and re-looping of our products and materials as we do in the initial R&D. 2.     The Future is material.  2024 is looking like it will have a big focus on material scarcity and therefore security. Already people are discussing Rare Earth Metals, Sand (silica) and Seaweed to name a few. Regenerative design will help. 3.     It’s all about 100%.  Back to old fashioned values of the rag and bone men who used to collect scraps from doorsteps. There is real value in the bits we are not using. I have seen exciting innovations using by-products (aka wastestreams) from food processing or industrial processes. The Icelandic 100% fish model sets the scene. 4.     Re-use and refill back on the table.  This is an area where technology has led the way and helped clean up the backroom logistics as well as the shop floor. There is no silver bullet in the circular economy system so it needs all the ‘REs’ working. 5.     Ai for good. Material innovation is known for having the longest innovation timescale albeit with a massively impactful end point. Ai and related Deep-tech will get us there faster. And for etsaW Ventures and my work – we are just at the beginning of a very exciting journey (that is jammed packed full of optimism, innovations, and potential solutions!). I am excited by the new people we’re meeting, and the collaborations being set up. This year for me is about positivity, action, conviction in people and solutions and belief that we can rebuild towards a much better future. 

We are at South East Angels Startup Roadshow at Projects in Brighton - one of our portfolio; MarinaTex is pitching for investment - keep an eye out for this company as they have some game changing #climatetech and #climatesolutions great to meet Kristina Pereckaite see Lucy Hughes pitch and hear the questions from Biro Florin Nicky Craddock Anthony Stonham