17 Growing Environmental Companies & Startups (2024)
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Amid ongoing concerns about carbon emissions, climate change, and what the future of our planet is going to look like, protecting our environment is more and more essential every day.
A number of impressive environmental startups have sprung up in an effort to help. In fact, the environmental and sustainability market is expected to reach $134.9 billion by 2030 at an impressive CAGR of 29.5%.
The startups on our list are attempting to solve tricky (and lucrative) problems ranging from effective recycling to tracking and limiting carbon emissions.
Read below for our list of innovators who are helping clean up and preserve our planet for future generations.
1. ClimateAI
5-year search growth: 1,075%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2017
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $38.2M (Series B)
What they do: ClimateAI has created a software platform for enterprise companies to monitor and adapt to weather and climate risks. The platform ClimateLens uses machine learning models and historical data to predict risks from climate events like water scarcity and biodiversity loss. ClimateAI ranked #74 on the list of America’s Top 250 GreenTech Companies in 2024 by TIME and Statista
2. Lasso Loop
5-year search growth: 350%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2018
Location: San Mateo, California
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Lasso has crafted an innovative at-home recycling solution that greatly increases the amount of material that actually gets recycled. According to Lasso, only 20% of materials recycled from a normal house are recycled. They report that this low level of efficiency is due to the fact that the current recycling system has been the same since 1981.
An easy-to-use app provided by Lasso tracks storage levels and schedules a pickup with Lasso drivers when the recycling is ready to be processed.
3. EcoCart
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $17.5M (Series A)
What they do: EcoCart’s carbon emissions software integrates with e-commerce storefronts for retailers like Walmart, Cuts Clothing, APL, and others so that customers can select to have a carbon-neutral checkout experience.
It starts with EcoCart’s unique algorithm that calculates carbon footprint for shipping, allows customers to select carbon-neutral shipping options, and then tracks results for a retailer. The net outcome (according to the startup’s internal data) is a 10% higher AOV, 15% higher repurchase rate, and 14% higher cart conversion.
4. Algenesis
5-year search growth: 900%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: San Diego, California
Funding: $15.7M (Seed)
What they do: True to its name, Algenesis has developed a patented plastic material derived from algae and other plants.
Attempting to be part of the solution to the massive issue around plastic waste (18 billion pounds of plastic flow into the ocean each year, and 532 billion pounds of landfill plastic are incinerated each year), Algenesis’ uses range from the foam used in flip-flops to foam surfboards.
5. ECOdrive
5-year search growth: 85%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 1997
Location: Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: ECOdrive integrates with fleets of larger vehicles like trucks and vans, and works by syncing with the electronic gas pedal. This allows fleets to optimize the power and energy they use when driving, and conserve energy whenever possible.
The European startup has been operating since 1997 and has acquired a large assortment of customers from across the continent.
6. Treeapp
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: London, United Kingdom
Funding: Undisclosed (Pre-Seed)
What they do: Treeapp gives everyone a way to support tree restoration efforts with their smartphone app. A user simply answers a few questions from sponsors and a tree is then planted in their name.
Over 1 million trees in over 12 countries have been planted so far.
7. North Spore
5-year search growth: 600%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2019
Location: Portland, Maine
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: North Spore specializes in mushroom cultivation, offering grow supplies and free educational resources for growers. The company aims to make mushrooms more accessible by using and promoting sustainable cultivation techniques. Their production processes utilize composting, recycling, and organic, non-GMO raw materials.
8. Aurora Solar
5-year search growth: 29%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2013
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $523.5M (Series D)
What they do: Aurora is a leader in the solar space with over 10 million solar roofs constructed through their software in their 9-year history. They provide tools that allow solar companies to sell solar projects and proposals in a far quicker and more accurate fashion than with existing approaches.
9. Bottle+
5-year search growth: -9%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2022
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Funding: $110K (Seed)
What they do: Bottle+ is capitalizing on the popularity of well-known portable water bottle brands like Swell and others, but with a twist. Their bottle allows anyone to make sparkling water on the go with the touch of a button.
Bottle+ crushed its initial crowdfunding goal of $25,000 and currently has a list for pre-orders. The startup raised €156,493 from 936 backers on Kickstarter.
10. Biome Makers
5-year search growth: 1,600%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Sacramento, California
Funding: $25M (Grant)
What they do: Sacramento startup Biome Makers is tackling the enormous problem of sustainable farming. Their proprietary BeCrop technology improves soil health by using the power of microbial networks. Biome’s database contains a staggering 14 million microorganisms.
Over 8,000 farmers have used Biome Makers, and the startup has over 200 industry collaborations with leaders like Bayer and Valegro.
11. Tirtyl
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2020
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Minimizing waste is at the center of Tirtyl's ethos. The Queensland-based household goods wholesaler creates zero-waste personal care products that are both cruelty-free and non-toxic.
These products include hand soaps, laundry detergent sheets, and dishwasher tablets.
12. Greenly
5-year search growth: 140%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2019
Location: Paris, France
Funding: $77.6M (Series B)
What they do: Greenly is a climate solutions startup offering a suite of carbon management tools for companies to measure, reduce, and offset their greenhouse gas emissions. After surpassing $10 million in ARR in 2023, the company raised $52 million in Series B funding in March 2024 to continue expanding into other avenues like life cycle assessments.
Greenly currently has over 2,000 clients, resulting in the management of 40+ tons of CO2-equivalent emissions, which equates to roughly 8% of France's total emissions.
13. AMP Robotics
5-year search growth: 14%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2015
Location: Louisville, Colorado
Funding: $175.1M (Series C)
What they do: AMP helps governments, businesses, and NGOs recycle items that are commonly missed by humans, and also provides greater quantities of post-consumer recycled materials for post-process use.
Using AI automation, AMP identifies and recovers recyclables that are typically missed or incorrectly categorized with precision and speed.
14. SINAI Technologies
5-year search growth: -5%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2017
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $36M (Series A)
What they do: SF-based SINAI has built what they call “one of the planet’s leading decarbonization platforms”, a comprehensive software program that lets major enterprise brands like Siemens, Natura, ArcelorMittal, and others track their emissions.
Branching out from their core emission product, they’ve built a suite of modules that help companies analyze, price, and reduce their emissions.
15. Azure Construction
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: Los Angeles, California
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Azure uses recycled materials, state-of-the-art 3D printing technology, and a modular construction process to create sleek ADUs and backyard studios for residential properties.
Customers can select from smaller studios that can be turned into anything from a meditation room to a painting space, or larger units that can fit beds and bathrooms.
16. Grow a Wish
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2018
Location: Netherlands
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Entrepreneur Fabiënne Overbeek started Grow a Wish in 2019 to solve the problem of constantly throwing out birthday cards and wasting enormous amounts of paper.
The solution? Seed paper. Grow a Wish cards are made in a specialized factory in South Africa, providing valuable jobs to a population where unemployment can reach as high as 40%.
17. Coral Vita
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2017
Location: San Diego, California
Funding: $2M (Grant)
What they do: Coral Vita aims to restore our precious coral reefs by cultivating a diverse, robust ecosystem of corals and planting them into decaying reefs. Coral reefs support 25% of all marine life and generate $30 billion annually for fishermen, tourism agencies, and many others. They’re essential but dying due to pollution and human activity.
Coral Vita hopes that by planting coral and restoring vital ecosystems to full health, future generations will be able to enjoy the numerous benefits of coral reefs.
Conclusion
As climate discussions become more and more urgent, these featured startups will play a part in shaping the evolution of green commerce for years to come.
Keep your eye out on these promising environmental innovators as they continue to grow, scale, and transform everything from energy to recycling, and even the planet itself.
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Josh is the Co-Founder and CTO of Exploding Topics. Josh has led Exploding Topics product development from the first line of co... Read more