Berlin is a famous tech hub, especially when it comes to sustainability. With its innovation focus and skilled workers, environmental startups can flourish in the German capital — and it’s easy to find amazing businesses tackling climate change with creative and accessible solutions.
From wood bank cards to sustainable Christmas trees and easy investment in green energy, here are a few of the environmental Berlin startups that have caught our eye recently.
Sustainable apps for a greener life: Plan A, Klima, and One Trust
Businesses can count on an app to reduce their carbon footprint. Plan A, for example, has developed software that helps companies calculate, monitor, and reduce their carbon footprint through tailored sustainability action plans and offsetting.
Their algorithm uses over 300,000 data points to predict and prioritize environmental issues in each country and connect companies to the most impactful environmental projects. One Trust is also committed to helping companies achieve carbon neutrality using data – since businesses are one of the largest offsetters of CO2 globally, it’s extremely relevant to have diverse projects working on it.
If you have ever calculated your CO2 footprint and were disappointed about it, check out Klima. This environmental Berlin startup will allow its consumers to completely offset their carbon footprint by funding science-backed projects that remove or prevent the same emissions elsewhere.
Green Christmas is here!
The Christmas tree dilemma: get a natural tree (Berlin alone uses 400,000 Christmas Trees each year) that you can put in the compost bin or get a recycled plastic one that you will keep forever? Wundertree has made it easier for us: Christmas trees alive and in a pot delivered in Berlin and Potsdam. After the holidays are done, they’ll collect them and replant them in a forest. And if you want this project to come to your city as well, sign up here.
Greentech Alliance: an environmental startup for networking
How about joining a community of green startups around the world — for free? The Greentech Alliance is a community of worldwide sustainability-focused companies that connects its members to tier VCs, media, and experts. The idea is to create new business opportunities for its members while sharing knowledge and awareness of best practices around green business, impact, and funding.
Investing in climate action: Cooler Future
Become an investor and fight climate change at the same time — that’s Cooler Future‘s proposal. Still in development, this environmental startup promises to teach people about investment whilst giving them the opportunity to invest in the good guys: companies aggressively reducing their carbon emissions or working on removing carbon from the atmosphere altogether. We’re definitely looking forward to that!
No time? These green startups are planting trees for you: Ecosia, Active Giving, and TreeCard™
You might not have the time to go outside and plant trees, but several environmental Berlin startups are doing this for you. How? Fitness app Active Giving converts your calories (or kilometers) into trees planted, for example, while Ecosia is a search engine that plants trees with its ad revenue. The search engine also powers TreeCard™ a wooden debit card that uses card payments’ fees to sponsor tree planting around the world. If you ever needed an excuse to spend money, here it is!
Mitte: fresher, cleaner water
Our tap water is not as clean as we would like to think: it might contain traces of hormones, heavy metals, microplastics, fluorides, and much more. Mitte Labs is in the process of developing home filters that use advanced filtration and remineralization technology to purify water — mimicking the natural process that occurs when water is filtered through rocks. Also available in still or sparkling — with less plastic as well.
Better air with Green City Solutions
The 2018 State of the Global Air Report stated that 95% of the world’s population is breathing unhealthy air — in 2016, long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to over 6 million deaths, being the four-highest cause of death worldwide.
Green City Solutions wants to tackle that issue with amazing filters that use bio-tech (moss and Internet of Things) to remove air impurities in cities around the world, while also giving.
Berlin startups are taking solar power to the world
A future with green, renewable energy powered by sunshine — yes, it’s possible. No complications: Zolar, for example, helps homeowners to produce their own green electricity and at the same time make an active contribution to climate protection by making the process of buying solar panels completely fuss-free.
Ecoligo has a similar proposal, helping businesses finance their move toward solar-powered energy. On the other hand, Solytic‘s mission is to change the management of solar plants with interconnected value chains. The cleantech startup, founded in 2017, uses AI to identify potential and connects solar plants directly to offers from service providers. Then, users receive suggestions to improve the efficiency of PV-plants for more than 35 services, including direct marketing, financing, and many more.
Trash to Treasure: Waste management startups making a difference
Waste is everywhere. But rest assured, in Berlin, waste management startups are rising to the challenge.
First up is Zero Waste Berlin, offering consulting services and support to individuals, businesses, and communities in adopting zero-waste practices. FixFirst, on the other hand, is on a mission to change consumers’ mindset: fixing comes first. Their user-friendly platform offers easy access to circular services like repairs, encouraging repair over replacement (and avoiding landfill waste).
Companies are tackling waste from different angles, targeting sectors with higher pollution rates. Send Me Pack, for instance, focuses on the logistics and packaging industry, revolutionizing its handling by reusing and recycling existing packaging, diverting it from landfills. Meanwhile, Sirplus is boldly against food waste, reclaiming surplus food and reintroducing it into the food cycle. Clearago tackles the waste challenge in the construction sector head-on, offering circular and efficient solutions for the waste generated on construction sites.
Work with MTC in Berlin
Together, these environmental Berlin startups are reshaping the landscape, bringing sustainable practices to the forefront and inspiring change in their respective fields. And these are only a few of them.
At MTC | The Content Agency, we are proud to support environmental startups that are bringing innovation and sustainability into our lives.
If you’d like to learn more about whether LinkedIn is right for your team — and your greater company brand strategy, review our packages or book a meeting.
If you liked reading this article, I recommend the following content:
