PWC News
Monday, June 23, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Economy
  • ESG Business
  • Markets
  • Investing
  • Energy
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Market Analysis
  • Home
  • Business
  • Economy
  • ESG Business
  • Markets
  • Investing
  • Energy
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Market Analysis
No Result
View All Result
PWC News
No Result
View All Result

Seven startups dare to create a sustainable future: Highlights from the SusHi Tech Challenge 2025 finals

Home ESG Business
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


SusHi Tech is an acronym for “Sustainable Excessive Metropolis Tech,” representing the Japanese capital’s dedication to attaining sustainable city improvement via superior know-how. Accordingly, the pitch occasion attracted startups from all over the world that aligned with this theme.

SusHi Tech Problem 2025 drew 657 startups from 46 nations worldwide, competing for a prize of 10 million yen by presenting cutting-edge technological options to international challenges. This text highlights the seven groups that made it to the ultimate spherical.

The judging course of evaluated firms from a number of views, together with not solely technical excellence but in addition practicality, scalability, social influence, and enterprise mannequin sustainability. The judging panel consisted of 5 distinguished people:

  • Ashley Grosh … Vice President of Breakthrough Power, the local weather tech funding and help group based by Invoice Gates
  • Joanna Drake … Co-founder and Managing Associate of Amplify Ventures, specializing within the $6 trillion care economic system
  • Koichiro Nakamura … Co-founder and Managing Director of Sozo Ventures, with funding expertise in firms like Zoom and Palantir
  • Miwa Seki … Normal Associate of MPower Companions, one among Japan’s main women-led VC companies
  • Murat Aktenoglu … Co-founder and Managing Associate of Outstanding Ventures, recognized for large investments in local weather tech startups

Options from the seven finalists

Grand Prize Winner: 3D Architech (Japan) — Revolutionizing hydrogen manufacturing via information middle waste warmth

Kai Narita (left), CEO and co-founder of 3D Architech, receives the grand prize from Yuriko Koike (proper), Governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Authorities     Picture by Masaru Ikeda 

Information facilities are projected to eat 13% of worldwide electrical energy and 13% of worldwide water by 2030, with as much as 40% used for cooling, producing annual electrical energy prices of $80 billion. This represents a critical problem. Concurrently, attaining a carbon-neutral society requires 200 million tons of hydrogen, however excessive manufacturing prices stay a serious barrier to widespread adoption.

Photo courtesy of 3D Architech
Picture courtesy of 3D Architech

3D Architech has developed a novel system that harnesses waste warmth from information facilities to provide hydrogen. Utilizing proprietary gel supplies, the corporate successfully makes use of waste warmth vitality that was beforehand discarded, enabling important reductions in hydrogen manufacturing prices. Information middle operators can cut back cooling prices whereas concurrently producing the added worth of hydrogen manufacturing.

3D Architech maintains bases in Boston, USA, and Sendai, Japan, with worldwide growth in view. As a know-how that concurrently achieves dramatic vitality effectivity enhancements and the belief of a sustainable hydrogen society, it has attracted important consideration from buyers and business gamers, drawing robust curiosity from each the information middle and vitality industries. The corporate is presently within the proof-of-concept stage with a number of enterprises and goals for business implementation in 2026.

Inspekly (Singapore) — AR-Powered facility administration options

David Castaneda, CEO of Inspektly      Photo courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025
David Castaneda, CEO of Inspektly      Picture courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025

Inspekly has developed facility administration instruments leveraging augmented actuality (AR) know-how. The corporate’s system creates digital twins of buildings and locations digital checklists to streamline worker coaching and upkeep operations.

Photo courtesy of Inspekly
Picture courtesy of Inspekly

A particular function of Inspekly’s know-how is that it operates on smartphones and good glasses with out requiring sensors. By turning paper-based checklists into digital and offering visible steering via AR, the system achieves improved work effectivity. The AI-powered verification performance that automates high quality assurance has additionally been extremely evaluated.

Inspekly has implementation data throughout a number of industries, contributing to the effectivity of facility administration and coaching in numerous fields together with development, manufacturing, and actual property administration. Significantly in large-scale facility implementations, the corporate has achieved fast system development and operation startup, realizing early ROI achievement.

Normal Prognostics (USA) — AI-Powered prevention of coronary heart failure affected person readmissions

Shunsuke (Sean) Matsuoka, CEO and Co-founder of General Prognostics      Photo courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025
Shunsuke (Sean) Matsuoka, CEO and Co-founder of Normal Prognostics      Picture courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025

With 64 million coronary heart failure sufferers worldwide, coronary heart failure ranks because the main explanation for hospitalization for these over 65, with 25% of sufferers readmitted inside 30 days of discharge. Every hospitalization prices $15,000-20,000, and the incidence fee is predicted to extend by 50% by 2030. Moreover, ladies usually have worse prognosis, and hospitalization will increase sufferers’ bodily and psychological burden.

Photo courtesy of General Prognostics
Picture courtesy of Normal Prognostics

Normal Prognostics’ innovation lies within the integration of three applied sciences. First, an algorithm that detects and predicts will increase in NT-proBNP biomarkers, attaining 76% sensitivity and 99.5% specificity. This efficiency equals or exceeds that of implantable gadgets requiring surgical procedures.

Second, medical software program that helps physicians prescribe applicable drug remedy, attaining 91% settlement with doctor judgment and decreasing hospitalizations by 79%. Third, the corporate is creating at-home blood potassium stage measurement know-how. Potassium is a vital indicator in coronary heart failure affected person administration, historically requiring frequent hospital blood checks. Normal Prognostics is creating gadgets that allow sufferers to conveniently measure potassium ranges at residence to handle this problem.

AVAtronics (Switzerland) — Subsequent-Technology noise cancellation know-how

Jeyran Hezaveh, CEO and Co-Founder of AVAtronics.        Photo courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025
Jeyran Hezaveh, CEO and Co-Founding father of AVAtronics.        Picture courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025

Even costly noise-canceling headphones can not block a child’s crying. It is because whereas the human audible vary spans 20Hz to 20kHz, standard lively noise cancellation know-how solely covers as much as 1.5kHz. This know-how can deal with airplane noise round 1kHz however can not handle human dialog (4-5kHz) or child cries (8kHz).

Photo courtesy of AVAtronics
Picture courtesy of AVAtronics

AVAtronics solved this problem when founder and CEO Jeyran Hezaveh, with 20 years of expertise within the telecommunications business, utilized high-frequency sign processing data to the acoustic area. The corporate’s know-how achieves 10-fold efficiency enchancment, permitting customers to selectively management sounds they wish to hear and sounds they wish to eradicate.

The corporate has achieved outcomes throughout various fields, together with ear safety at mining websites and tasks for plane and high-speed rail seat producers. Having already signed licensing agreements with OEM/ODM operators, merchandise are scheduled for market launch throughout the 12 months. Avatronics raised 50,000 Swiss francs (roughly $55,000) from VentureKick in 2019 and closed its first spherical with 1.6 million Swiss francs (roughly $1.76 million) in funding.

Secai Marche (Malaysia) — Southeast Asian farm-direct B2B platform

Ami Sugiyama, CEO and Co-founder of Secai Mache      Photo courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025
Ami Sugiyama, CEO and Co-founder of Secai Mache      Picture courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025

In Southeast Asia, provide chains for agricultural merchandise are extraordinarily inefficient. Challenges embrace issue procuring contemporary produce, frequent worth fluctuations, and unstable high quality. Small-scale farmers have restricted entry to know-how, markets, and assets, whereas eating places undergo from high quality points, worth instability, and restricted choices. Moreover, many agricultural merchandise are discarded on account of insufficient chilly chain infrastructure.

To resolve these issues, Secai Marche has constructed a B2B platform immediately connecting farmers and eating places. The corporate has developed AI-powered demand forecasting, warehouse administration techniques specialised for contemporary meals, and proprietary chilly chain logistics networks, delivering over 20 tons of contemporary produce from farms to city areas inside 24 hours each day.

Photo courtesy of Secai Marche
Picture courtesy of Secai Marche

The corporate’s uniqueness lies in its method: quite than working as a easy market (middleman), Secai Marche immediately purchases produce from farmers, holds it as firm stock, and sells it to clients with a 30% revenue margin. This permits full management of high quality and repair whereas constructing belief relationships with purchasers.

At the moment dealing with over 400 farmers and 4,000 merchandise from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and different areas, the corporate provides over 1,800 accommodations and eating places in Malaysia. Occupying over 90% of the high-end restaurant market, Secai Marche has maintained 200% annual income progress since its 2019 founding. Final 12 months, the corporate expanded into the Singapore market and diversified its enterprise from greens and fruits to seafood, processed meals, and kitchen tools.

Ryp Labs (USA) — Decreasing meals loss with pure compounds

Moody Soliman CEO of Ryp Labs      Photo courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025
Moody Soliman CEO of Ryp Labs      Picture courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025

As we speak, the equal of meals for a million folks is discarded each minute worldwide, producing 6,000 tons of greenhouse gases. Ryp Labs has developed the meals preservation answer “StixFRESH” by leveraging pure risky compounds that vegetation have used for self-defense over tens of millions of years.

Photo courtesy of Ryp Labs
Picture courtesy of Ryp Labs

StixFRESH formulates pure parts extracted from vegetation to food-safe requirements, supplied as stickers utilized on to fruit or small sachets packaged with meals. In demonstration experiments with mangoes, whereas untreated mangoes started spoiling on day 14, mangoes with stickers confirmed dramatically improved resistance to spoilage, doubling their preservation interval.

Demonstrations with Walmart prolonged strawberry preservation by 2-4 days, doubled grape preservation intervals, and prolonged citrus preservation by roughly 20 days. The corporate closed a Sequence A spherical of $8.1 million in 2023 and received the Greatest International Startup Award on the UN Local weather Convention “COP27” in 2022, receiving a $100,000 prize.

Emulsion Stream Applied sciences (Japan) — Round Options Born from Nuclear Know-how

Yuriko Iida, CMO of Emulsion Flow Technologies      Photo courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025
Yuriko Iida, CMO of Emulsion Stream Applied sciences      Picture courtesy of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025

In fashionable society, smartphone charging, electrical automobile adoption, and clear water entry have turn into commonplace, however behind this lies critical environmental air pollution from battery waste and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Lithium-ion batteries include uncommon metals together with lithium, cobalt, and nickel, inflicting geopolitical and environmental issues.

Emulsion Stream Applied sciences (EFT), a by-product from the Japan Atomic Power Company, addresses these issues by establishing know-how that creates water-oil emulsions via mechanical design and particular solvent recipes, extracting particular supplies from liquids with excessive purity and effectivity.

Photo courtesy of Emulsion Flow Technologies
Picture courtesy of Emulsion Stream Applied sciences

EFT’s know-how can handle various challenges on a single platform, from extracting vital minerals from lithium-ion batteries to recovering uncommon earth components from industrial wastewater and eradicating PFAS. By means of a “seize and reuse” method, the corporate can decompose and reuse PFAS, closing manufacturing plant circulation loops.

In comparison with standard battery recycling vegetation, EFT achieves 50% price discount, 70% measurement discount, low carbon emissions, and low vitality and water enter. The battery recycling market is predicted to develop considerably over the subsequent 10-20 years on account of EV adoption. After elevating $15 million in 2024, the corporate opened analysis amenities and headquarters, aiming for progress via various fashions together with plant development, know-how licensing, and offtake agreements.

International growth challenges and alternatives

Photo by Masaru Ikeda 
Picture by Masaru Ikeda 

Many finalist firms have already begun worldwide growth or have clear plans for it. Examples embrace Normal Prognostics’ growth throughout America, India, and Japan; Avatronics’ bases in Switzerland and Denmark; Secai Marche’s Southeast Asia and Japan growth; and Ryp Labs’ demonstration experiments worldwide. Enterprise growth past geographical constraints has turn into the norm.

Nonetheless, quite a few limitations to international growth persist. Regulatory variations, market attribute variations, cultural acceptance variations, and constructing relationships with native companions current challenges that can not be solved via technological superiority alone. Significantly within the sustainable know-how area that these finalists handle, alignment with every nation’s environmental laws and industrial insurance policies holds the important thing to success.

Conversely, since sustainability challenges are inherently international in nature, profitable circumstances in a single nation have excessive potential to turn into highly effective drivers for growth to different nations. Local weather change, meals safety, and vitality safety are widespread issues transcending nationwide borders, with international demand for efficient options.

Aggressive benefits and challenges of Japanese firms

Among the many finalists, two Japanese firms participated: 3D Architech and EFT. Each possess benefits primarily based on superior technological improvement capabilities, but every approaches international markets with totally different methods, which is noteworthy.

3D Architech has constructed a world construction primarily based on analysis on the California Institute of Know-how, with bases in Boston and Sendai. In the meantime, EFT, as a by-product from the Japan Atomic Power Company, adopts an method of commercializing Japan’s superior know-how for civilian use.

Analyzing these firms’ trajectories reveals that Japanese firms’ technological improvement capabilities and high quality administration talents are extremely valued in international markets. Significantly in fields the place Japan historically holds strengths—precision manufacturing know-how, supplies science, and chemical engineering—these benefits translate into startup competitiveness.

Nonetheless, room for enchancment stays in market improvement and enterprise scaling. In comparison with abroad firms, Japanese firms are likely to take extra cautious approaches, which can hinder fast market growth. Success in international markets requires aggressive advertising and strategic partnership constructing along with technological superiority.

New traits in sustainable know-how funding

This contest revealed adjustments in sustainable know-how funding traits. Whereas standard clear tech funding targeting large-scale infrastructure like photo voltaic and wind energy, present focus has shifted towards specialised applied sciences fixing particular person industrial challenges.

Judging panel feedback reveal an emphasis on clear enterprise fashions and profitability past easy environmental contribution. This displays classes discovered from the first-generation clear tech growth’s overreliance on authorities subsidy-dependent enterprise fashions, the place many firms didn’t adapt to market adjustments.

Present sustainable know-how funding sees exterior components—ESG funding growth, carbon pricing introduction, and regulatory atmosphere adjustments—combining with pure technological deserves to help funding selections. This creates more and more favorable funding environments for sustainable know-how firms whereas demanding larger ranges of enterprise execution functionality.

JStories, Japan’s solutions-focused multilingual information service, is an official media associate for SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025, Asia’s largest startup convention. This collaboration goals to amplify the occasion’s mission of fostering open innovation and addressing international city challenges via cutting-edge know-how and various concepts.

For inquiries concerning this text, please contact jstories@pacificbridge.jp

Click on right here for the Japanese model of the article



Source link

Tags: challengeCreatefinalsFuturehighlightsstartupsSushiSustainableTech
Previous Post

Middle East Conflict: What It Means for Macro and Markets | Investing.com

Next Post

Protecting your AI innovation: Strategies for startups (First part)

Related Posts

A technology to help stagnant waters ‘breathe’ again
ESG Business

A technology to help stagnant waters ‘breathe’ again

June 20, 2025
Protecting your AI innovation: Strategies for startups (Second part)
ESG Business

Protecting your AI innovation: Strategies for startups (Second part)

June 22, 2025
European Commission to Withdraw Anti-Greenwashing Regulation – ESG Today
ESG Business

European Commission to Withdraw Anti-Greenwashing Regulation – ESG Today

June 20, 2025
La Caisse Targets 0 Billion in Climate Investments by 2030 – ESG Today
ESG Business

La Caisse Targets $400 Billion in Climate Investments by 2030 – ESG Today

June 21, 2025
EPP Calls on EU Commission to Scrap Anti-Greenwashing Legislation – ESG Today
ESG Business

EPP Calls on EU Commission to Scrap Anti-Greenwashing Legislation – ESG Today

June 19, 2025
How to Make Your CFO Fall in Love with Your Sustainability Strategy
ESG Business

How to Make Your CFO Fall in Love with Your Sustainability Strategy

June 20, 2025
Next Post
Protecting your AI innovation: Strategies for startups (First part)

Protecting your AI innovation: Strategies for startups (First part)

‘A question of time’: Economists explain why the worst is yet to come in Trump’s economy

'A question of time': Economists explain why the worst is yet to come in Trump’s economy

Dow Jones Slumps in Risk-Off Trade Amid Middle East Escalation | Investing.com

Dow Jones Slumps in Risk-Off Trade Amid Middle East Escalation | Investing.com

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECOMMENDED

Trump must resist the siren call of regime change in Iran
Economy

Trump must resist the siren call of regime change in Iran

by PWC
June 23, 2025
0

Unlock the White Home Watch publication at no costYour information to what Trump’s second time period means for Washington, enterprise...

Traders watch XRP, ETH, SOL and HYPE now that Bitcoin trades below 0K

Traders watch XRP, ETH, SOL and HYPE now that Bitcoin trades below $100K

June 23, 2025
ETF Performance vs. Fees & Assets Under Management (AUM) – Meb Faber Research – Stock Market and Investing Blog

ETF Performance vs. Fees & Assets Under Management (AUM) – Meb Faber Research – Stock Market and Investing Blog

June 17, 2025
AI and ESG: One ChatGPT Prompt Uses Half a Litre of Drinking Water

AI and ESG: One ChatGPT Prompt Uses Half a Litre of Drinking Water

June 17, 2025
Trump will toss TikTok another lifeline, pushing back its sell-by date for a third time

Trump will toss TikTok another lifeline, pushing back its sell-by date for a third time

June 18, 2025
SUI Action: Weekly Pattern Suggests Price Is Coiling For A Bigger Move | Bitcoinist.com

SUI Action: Weekly Pattern Suggests Price Is Coiling For A Bigger Move | Bitcoinist.com

June 22, 2025
PWC News

Copyright © 2024 PWC.

Your Trusted Source for ESG, Corporate, and Financial Insights

  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Economy
  • ESG Business
  • Markets
  • Investing
  • Energy
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Market Analysis

Copyright © 2024 PWC.