Enterprise Singapore partners with climate tech venture builder Wavemaker Impact

Southeast Asia’s climate tech venture builder Wavemaker Impact announced its new partnership with Enterprise Singapore (ESG), the government agency championing enterprise development

The announcement was made during the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) 2021, organized by ESG. The forum brings together leaders, entrepreneurs, creators, accelerators, and investors from the global tech ecosystem.

With this partnership, ESG will be supporting Wavemaker Impact as a Startup SG Accelerator partner, to run programs and activities to groom more than 12 high-growth climate tech companies in the next three years.

The partnership is said to support the company’s ambition to launch new climate tech startups that “will reduce startups that will reduce global emissions by 10% by 2035.

Doug Parker, ex-COO of Nutonomy, said the partnership with ESG underscores their belief that Singapore “can be a center for high-impact climate tech innovation in the region”.

Doug is among the veterans who founded and invested in Wavemaker Impact. Others include Steve Melhuish, PropertyGuru founder and impact investor; Paul Santos, Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners in Southeast Asia; and Quentin Vaquette and Marie Cheong, who built more than 10 climate tech startups during their time at ENGIE Factory, the Asia-based venture arm of a global low-carbon utility.

Wavemaker Impact targets to have $25 million for its first fund.

Edwin Chow, ESG’s Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Innovation & Enterprise), said they are delighted with the partnership.

“This partnership not only strengthens the startup ecosystem in Singapore, but contributes to our goal of helping enterprises incorporate sustainability into their businesses, and building new capabilities to meet the demands of the green economy,” he said in a statement.

Quentin Vaquette said they have identified at least 50 opportunity areas where they can build companies with the potential to reach $100 million in revenue and abate 100 million metric tons of carbon at scale.

Vaquette is calling on entrepreneurs looking to start their “next venture-backed business in sustainability” to come and talk with them.