Organized by NUS Innovation with Societal Impact(ISI) and NUS Overseas Colleges(NOC) Stockholm

Current Situation

As the planet confronts the challenges of climate change, investment in sustainability-focused enterprises is at an all-time high. In 2020, USD51 billion was invested in sustainable US funds, double the amount from the previous year. Investments into the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) category is expected to hit USD 1 trillion in 2030. The message is clear: Start-ups that can scale technological breakthroughs are crucial for reaching targets in emissions reduction and to transform industries to be more sustainable. Sustainability+Technology = Sustaintech.

About the event

This event will feature a keynote presentation by Magnus Rehn who has a distinguished career in innovation and leadership roles in different organisations across 3 continents. He is currently a business coach and mentor in start-up communities, specialising in energy, environment and sustainable technologies ("sustaintech"). Magnus will present insights from Sweden’s success story in sustainability. Ranked second in the United Nations (UN) Index for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Sweden is a recognised global leader in sustainability. For entrepreneurs, talents, students and businesses alike, Sweden provides a wealth of opportunities in the sustaintech space.

Magnus will present insights on:

• Sweden as a sustainable nation – policy framework and other factors
• Major industrial initiatives and opportunities
• The role of Sweden's start-up ecosystem - funders and other players
• New sustaintech solutions and breakthroughs from some of the following areas: Renewable energy, energy storage, smart manufacturing, smart grid, water treatment, clean transportation, circular economy, agri/food technologies, carbon capture, and materials.

SustainTech Startups

This event will also feature a showcase of sustaintech start-ups from NUS Enterprise. Be inspired by the founders and their potentially world-changing innovations.

SOLV8 - a NUS spin-off company with a vision to achieve sustainable and energy-efficient solvent recovery, aligned with Circular Economy principles. Solvent recovery is an essential form of waste reduction in manufacturing; annually 460 tonnes of solvents can be recovered and reused across different industries. Solv8’s novel membrane filtration technology is a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to current thermal processes that are widely in use. Separating and recovering high-purity solvents is achieved without the usage of heat, which significantly reduces energy costs and carbon emissions and enhances environmental sustainability.

8VERLINK- a NUS-startup, aims to accelerate the adoption of Internet-of-Things wireless sensing networks for real-time monitoring with battery-free implementation, hassle-free deployment and maintenance-free operation to move towards sustainability. 8VERLINK technology can be applied to various industries such as supply chain & logistics, smart agriculture and facility management to eliminate wastage, reduce inefficiency and optimize usage of resources.

reActo- is a startup offering a sustainable and cost-effective solution to treat industrial wastewater with persistent organic pollutants. Each year more than 70 billion tons of this type of highly toxic and non-biodegradable industrial wastewater is improperly treated or incinerated through a high energy intensive process that releases a considerable amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) and wastes precious water resources. Their patented technology combines advanced materials with electrochemistry, to completely decompose these persistent pollutants onsite, residue-free, and just by using electricity. Their solution not only enables companies to safely treat their waste but also recycles hard-to-treat wastewater, minimises GHG emissions and reduces the release of hazardous chemicals to water and air, thus minimising their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.

Spotics- co-founded by a NOC Stockholm alumnus, aim to tackle industrial gas leakage. It is a serious safety and environmental hazard and is a SGD 3.6 billion market. The available solutions are restrictive, slow or too expensive for widespread use. Spotics aims to overcome these problems by bringing to market a compact multi-gas detector that leverages on a new and patented approach to mid-infrared spectrometry. Capable of detecting multiple gases with a single unit, their launch product, the SPOT 3000, is more sensitive, more portable and much more cost-effective.