Helsinki’s startup scene evolved around behemoths such as Nokia, games giant Supercell, and food delivery platform Wolt. It’s reaping the rewards with experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and engineers powering a lively scene based around the Aalto University campus and the startup festival Slush, one of the world’s largest gatherings of investors …
Read More »The Hottest Startups in Dublin in 2024
Thanks to low corporation tax and government incentives, Dublin has hosted the European headquarters of many large US technology companies—Google, Meta, LinkedIn and Microsoft all have offices in the city’s Silicon Docks. “The big US companies operated independently of the startup world for many years,” explains Will Prendergast, partner at …
Read More »The Hottest Startups in Madrid in 2024
Having spent many years as second fiddle to Barcelona, Madrid surpassed its Catalan cousin in 2023 with startups securing €605 million ($672 million) investment above Barcelona’s €457 million ($507 million). “Lots of Latin American talent is arriving thanks to the recent entrepreneur visa and talent programs run by Telefonica to …
Read More »Good Climate Solutions Need Good Policy—and AI Can Help With That
To achieve real climate solutions, changing behavior and developing technology is not enough, says Michal Nachmany, founder and CEO of the environmental nonprofit Climate Policy Radar. “A lot of this is policy,” she says. We need better laws, policies, and regulations, as well as needing to hold policymakers and corporates …
Read More »Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat
Humanity’s superpower is sweating—but rising heat could be our kryptonite, and an average temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels could bring regular, fatal heat waves to large parts of the planet, says Tom Matthews, a senior lecturer in environmental geography at King’s College London. “We have evolved …
Read More »A Discarded Plan to Build Underwater Cities Will Give Coral Reefs New Life
A combination of AI, a wild 1970s plan to build underwater cities, and a designer creating furniture on the seabed around the Bahamas might be the solution to the widespread destruction of coral reefs. It could even save the world from coastal erosion. Industrial designer Tom Dixon and technologist Suhair …
Read More »Forget Carbon Offsets. The Planet Needs Carbon Removal Credits
We can reverse climate change if we redefine what carbon neutral looks like, said Gabrielle Walker, cofounder of carbon removal startup CUR8, at WIRED Impact in London in November 2023. Scientists define net zero not just as the reduction of carbon emissions, but the removal of carbon from the atmosphere …
Read More »The Transport Companies Leaving Fossil Fuels Behind
Cleaner, greener transport is on its way—from delivery to air travel—but government action on incentives and infrastructure is needed to make it work fast and at scale. “It’s a bit frustrating sometimes in the UK, with the government delaying targets and support,” says Murvah Iqbal, co-CEO and founder of all-electric …
Read More »Tech Still Isn’t Doing Enough to Care for the Environment
We are in a climate crisis, and technology can be either a part of the problem or a force for good, says Greenpeace CTO Priscilla Chomba-Kinywa. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, she explains, we have “less than seven years before Earth becomes really difficult to live on.” …
Read More »Fake Caviar Invented in the 1930s Could Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution
Imitation caviar invented in the 1930s could provide the solution to plastic pollution, claims Pierre Paslier, CEO of London-based packaging company Notpla. He discovered the cheap food alternative, invented by Unilever and made using seaweed, after quitting his job as a packaging engineer at L’Oréal. With cofounder and co-CEO Rodrigo García …
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