New Zealand Cleantech Companies Making An Impact On The World Stage

With cleantech critical to both climate mitigation and economic growth, a visit to Singapore last week by six New Zealand cleantech companies, a Venture Capital firm and the MacDiarmid Institute, couldn’t have come at a more important time.

OpenStar Technologies, TasmanIon, Nilo, Cetogenix, Mushroom Material, Allegro Energy (now Australia-based) and BridgeWest Ventures travelled as part of the "Cleantech Trek" to attend The Liveability Challenge and Cleantech Forum Asia, where they met with investors and multinational partners.

"It’s huge that these NZ startups-some named in the Asia Forum’s ‘APAC Cleantech 25’-have developed technologies with the potential to help transition the world to a greener economy," said Natalie Plank, MacDiarmid Institute Deputy Director Commercialisation and Industry Engagement.

The APAC Cleantech 25 recognises forward-thinking companies developing and deploying breakthrough environmental solutions, while driving economic growth and technological progress across the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr Plank said the opportunity for the companies to be part of the wider Cleantech ecosystem in Singapore, to seek investment and to partner with multinational partners, comes at a significant time.

"The world needs climate mitigation technologies like never before. Singapore offers a chance to connect with investors and global players who can help scale New Zealand cleantech into international supply chains and energy infrastructure."

Dr Ratu Mataira, Founder and CEO of fusion startup OpenStar, said that Aotearoa had built a reputation for building creative technologies that support a greener future.

"We’ve seen that in companies like Lanzatech, and it’s unsurprising a new crop of Kiwi startups feature so strongly on this list. In our field of fusion, Kiwis were here at the start with Rutherford, and they will be here at the end with OpenStar."

The importance of cleantech to the future New Zealand economy

Cleantech industries are rapidly emerging as a cornerstone of the global economy. The World Economic Forum describes them as "the enablers of our future decarbonised energy system" and recognises them as "a major economic factor."

Michelle Polglase, GM of Project Delivery at Ara Ake, highlights a recent Boston Consulting Group report that identifies "Green Tech" as a key growth sector for New Zealand. "We already have many of the ingredients for a thriving cleantech ecosystem," she says, "including research institutes, innovative startups, incubators and private investors."

The cleantech sector is scaling rapidly around the world. Global investment reached more than US$40 billion in 2023, and the International Energy Agency projects that spending on clean energy will rise from US$1.8 trillion in 2023 to US$4.5 trillion annually by the early 2030s under its ‘net zero pathway’ scenario.

The New Zealand Cleantech Mission is helping local companies tap into this global opportunity. Now in its third Cleantech Trek - a series of visits to leading cleantech companies regionally and overseas - the Mission is backed by foundational sponsors Ara Ake and the MacDiarmid Institute, continuing work originally supported by Callaghan Innovation.

"We’d love to see more clean energy companies from New Zealand on the world stage," says Michelle Polglase. "To get there, they need commercialisation support, growth capital and strong global connections."

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