Three climate-tech ventures. One clear pattern.
Yesterday I spent time with founders working across Africa’s plastic and circular economy space - and what stood out wasn’t just innovation, but the tension between science, scale, and reality.
From challenging plastic at source with biotech-enhanced moulded fibre, to rethinking packaging through climate-resilient cactus biomass.. the 3rd is pushing something even more radical - decentralised, point-of-use bioplastic fabrication.
Different models. Same ambition: eliminate waste before it exists.
But here’s the real question I kept coming back to as a judge:
Where does innovation break when it meets procurement, infrastructure, and human behaviour?
A few reflections for founders:
* Science is not enough without cost realism
* Local supply chains will make or break scale
* “Circular” only works if the system already exists to receive it
* And hype does not survive first customer friction
What excites me is not perfection - it’s directional honesty. These founders are building in the gap between what should work and what actually does.
Any other founders having the same questions, challenges and concerns?