#TNYSCM19: Leading-Edge Circular Startups That I’ve Met and Interacted With

#TNYSCM19 is focused on Circular Economy ventures, and I’ll be introducing leading-edge circular startups that I’ve met and interacted with across the EU. 

While NYC’s startup ecosystem leads in many sectors, we’re a bit behind when it comes to circular startups, Sustainable Development Goals, and imagining a future with no waste. I’ll be taking us on a European vacation to get inspired for how to reshape NYC as a circular system.

The clue: circular startups are not just leading with changes to materials flows. They are leading with customer-centric business models that pull behavior change forward. This marks two fundamental shifts that some like to call the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

The Two Great Shifts 

Linear to Circular: There is the shift from Linear to Circular material flows and supply chains, a concept first described as the Performance Economy by architects like Walter Stahel and popularized by William McDonough, and then the Circular Economy by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

Industrial to Ecosystem: Then there is the less understood shift from standard linear industrial business models to more complex digital services models, often called the Platform Revolution. 

The EU has fast-growing circular startups that are raising fairly large amounts of capital (for Europe), and they will sound very European. 

As we tour these ventures, keep on eye on the business model as the primary tool for shaping circular supply chains. 

Here are the startups we’ll cover with more details.

What can you see in all of these startups? Regulation shapes demand, but companies step up to envision the possibility of space and generate new revenue streams and new business models. And there’s more - stay tuned for my favorite business model: industrial symbiosis - which I’ll present and update this post. 

If you want to learn more, join me at #TNYSCM19 at Microsoft’s offices in Times Square. I look forward to seeing you there.

The author of this article is Jen van der Meer who is the Founder of Reason Street and is an Assistant Professor at Parsons School of Design Strategies. Jen believes that if we want to change the world, we have to change how the world makes money. Business models can be designed to build the future we want to see.