Global Compact International Yearbook 2016

innoVAtion
Start-ups are innovative motors for fresh ideas from outside.
That is why they are increasingly drawing the attention of large companies.
This trend can be observed globally. Here are some markers.
United Kingdom
For start-ups, it’s not easy being green
The world needs smart new players to meet global challenges
such as climate change. But when young entrepreneurs try to
promote their environmentally friendly business ideas, they get
a lot of pushback from investors as well as customers. This is
the result of a recent study from the Warwick Business School
(WBS). One of the reasons for the disillusion is that entrepreneurs
focus too much on their own values and beliefs instead
of listening to their stakeholders. Balancing “what matters to
me” with “what matters to them” is the principal challenge.
“Their ambitions to ‘break free’ and enact their hopes and
dreams to make a difference often need to be tempered by the
realities of attracting investors and other stakeholders whose
primary goal is making money and not environmental issues,”
says Deniz Ucbasaran, one of the study’s authors and a professor
at WBS who spoke to the Journal of Business Venturing. “This
led some entrepreneurs to question if it was all worth it, as
they had to compromise the scope of their ‘green’ ambitions.”
Tanzania
electricity for tanzania
Standardized containers equipped with a photovoltaic battery
hybrid system provide remote areas in Africa with clean energy
around the clock. In Tanzania, the pilot plans of Rafiki-Power
bring electricity to domestic and business customers. The
system can be used anywhere in the world independently.
Thus, the business model can be transferred to other African
or Asian countries. “We bring not only light in the sector but
also help the people to learn about television or the internet.
You can compare prices and offers, and their products are more
marketable,” says project manager Daniel Becker.
India
Few companies put CSr money into incubators
India became the first country in the world to force companies
by law to invest in sustainability programs. The official
Schedule VII list tells companies what they can do to comply
with CSR regulations. Of the 10 possibilities are “contributions
or funds provided to technology incubators located within
academic institutions which are approved by the Central Government.”
But only a few companies have put CSR money into
these incubators, reports the Hindustan Times. All over India,
there are more than 100 incubators associated with the legal
regulations, each of them coaching about a dozen start-ups.
But raising money for CSR business is hard. The main reason
seems to be that companies investing in CSR start-ups do not
get returns on their investments because the returns are given
to society. “CSR funding in incubators is an interesting option
but may not be sustainable for building a start-up ecosystem
for the longer term. That is better done by capital that will
look for returns also, as that will ensure more competitive
start-ups take root,” says Alok Bardiya, Director of Corporate
Development at Cisco.
The project is part of the Corporate Accelerator program named
Agile, which E.ON launched in 2013. Agile helps innovators
to realize their business ideas in the field of flexible energy
solutions and to develop marketable business models.
Global Compact International Yearbook 2016 45