Scaling Climate Solutions Through Helix.Earth's Corporate Partnerships

The hard truth is that climate action is not happening fast enough. Despite heightened attention and some progress, global greenhouse gas emissions keep rising year after year. We desperately need breakthrough solutions that can be adopted quickly and at scale.

Photo by Melissa Bradley on Unsplash

Many of the most promising climate solutions are emerging from startups developing innovative technologies and business models. However, startups often struggle to grow quickly enough to have a meaningful impact on their own. They need strategic partnerships to reach the scale required.

That's where the Helix.Earth framework comes in. Helix.earth is an emerging asset manager that works with mid sized corporations. We aim to accelerate partnerships between climate tech startups and corporations, especially in hard-to-abate sectors like heavy industry, transportation, agriculture and energy. The framework provides guidance on how startups and companies can build successful, sustained collaborations grounded in shared financial incentives.

The Helix Approach

The core premise of helix.earth is that the most effective way to drive corporate climate action is by creating partnerships where decarbonization strategies align with profit motives and competitive advantages. If a startup can help a company increase revenues, reduce costs, mitigate risks or create new value streams, all while reducing emissions, it becomes a winning opportunity for both sides.

Helix.earth's process involves:

1. Mapping out a corporation's operations, value chains, markets and risk exposures to identify the biggest emission hotspots and potential for decarbonization.

2. Scanning the startup ecosystem for technologies and models that could reduce those emissions in ways that benefit the company's bottom line.

3. Facilitating partnerships by connecting startups to the right decision-makers, negotiating commercial deals, co-developing projects and financing vehicles.

4. Continuously measuring and optimizing outcomes on emissions, financial performance and other strategic priorities.

The framework aims to make decarbonization a profit catalyst rather than a cost center. It reframes sustainability as an opportunity for innovation, differentiation and future-proofing a business.

Benefits for Startups

For startups, helix.earth opens up the vast scaling potential of tapping into corporate resources, customers and supply chains. Startups gain:

• Access to capital, infrastructure, technical expertise and other assets that allow faster testing and commercialization of their solutions.

• Validation for their technology/model by establishing it works for major industry players.

• Inside knowledge of corporate needs, pain points and barriers that shape more compelling products.

• A springboard into new markets by integrating with corporates' operations and distribution channels.

• Revenue streams that reduce dependence on venture capital and pressures for short-term exits.

  
  Additionally, by prioritizing profitability alignments, the partnerships have greater long-term viability compared to corporate innovation outreach that gets deprioritized once a downturn hits.
  
  

  Getting Started
  

  
  For startups interested in helix.earth's approach, a key first step is clearly mapping out their solution's emission reduction potential and financial/strategic upsides across different industries and users. What are the cost and revenue impacts? How does it reduce risks like carbon pricing, regulations or supply disruptions? How might it enable new products/services?
  
  From there, helix.earth can identify the most promising potential corporate partners and initiate conversations about piloting and scaling that solution. The nonprofit's team of experts in industries, technologies and commercialization can smooth the path.
  
  While nobody has all the answers on climate, frameworks like helix.earth represent the kind of pragmatic strategies we need to rapidly operationalize solutions across the global economy. By incentivizing decarbonization as sound business strategy rather than corporate philanthropy, we can hopefully bend the emissions curve while there's still time.