The SET team is proud to have built a strong and long-lasting partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, also known as GIZ, as we are always inspired by their commitment to social responsibility, ecological balance and economic capability. Today, we introduce you to our work together.
SET x GIZ: Introducing our Work
As a German federal enterprise, GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, as well as peace and security. Within their 2030 Agenda, GIZ shows a steadfast commitment to UN’s SGD-7, aiming to reconcile global economic progress with social justice and the conservation of natural resources. Indeed, two-thirds of the countries in which GIZ operates are affected by crises, violence or conflicts, and the company implements around 60% of its total order volume in fragile contexts.
Our joint efforts from earlier this year presents short films on 5 expert innovators of SET100 start-ups from GIZ’s energy partnership countries.
Meet Prosumir from Brazil
Founded in 2014, this Brazilian start-up operates in the energy recovery market. They develop innovative solutions to turn energy waste into opportunities for energy generation, cogeneration and energy efficiency, immensely creating value for society in a sustainable way. The company has produced a Pressure Reducing Turbine (PRT) that lowers and controls pressure in systems using a steam chair, replacing the pressure reducing valve. The resulting effect allows for the conversion of ‘wasted’ heat energy to clean energy.
Meet Pollinate Group from India
The Pollinate Group empowers women in India and Nepal as leaders of change. The start-up distributes products that improve health, save time and save money for the world’s most neglected communities. Therefore, the most vulnerable women, who earn less than $1,9 per day and lack access to electricity grid are selected for their program. The goal is to provide these communities with access to clean, reliable, affordable energy for example by equipping them with solar lights and solar fans. With the help of the solar lights, the children have the possibility to study even after dark. The aim is to drive economic development, overcome gender inequality and improve quality of life.
Meet Sun Exchange from South Africa
Founded in 2015, Sun Exchange is a global solar cell leasing platform whose goal is to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution. The start-up offers possibilities to own solar cells to meet your energy needs as well as the opportunity to build wealth by leasing owned cells to power businesses and organizations in emerging markets. Both installations and maintenance are taken care of by one of Sun Exchange’s carefully selected installation partners. The start-up leverages financial innovation and the power of the crowd to drive sustainable energy development to make the environmental, social and economic benefits of solar accessible and affordable for all. The company has raised over $2.8 million via croundfunding in the last two years.
Meet Whattnow from Tunisia
Wattnow from Tunisia helps companies to understand and reduce energy usage by visualizing their energy consumption. The start-up developed devices that collect the data, which also provide resulting reports analytics. The percentage of savings through these devices can go up to 30% thereby, contributing to saved costs and improved environmental protection. In March 2022, the innovative start-up raised $USD 1.3 Million in pre-series A funding.
Meet Inti-Tech from Chile
Last but not least, let us introduce you to Inti-Tech, an innovative start-up designing and manufacturing robots that help to make the operational maintenance of solar panels an easy task. In fact, the robots clean the solar panels without water or fossil fuels to eliminate energy loss by dirt accumulations on solar panels. These technological and automatic solutions allow improvements in efficiency and simplify the operation of renewable energies. In their last funding round, Inti-Tech received a whopping $USD 2 million dollars from VC-backed Alchemeist Accelerator.
The SET Award
The five listed start-ups participated in the SET Award, our international competition for start-ups. It is powered by the German Energy Agency (dena) in collaboration with the World Energy Council and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWk). The Award gives innovative entrepreneurs the chance to forge value networks, a cash prize as well as gain global visibility. In the last six years, the award has received more than 2,700 applications from over 100 countries.
