Hey fam,
I’m in Barcelona this week with an organization called Norrsken, who just released a list of the 100 top early stage impact startups that are “fixing the future”.
The energy here is amazing as talented people from all over the world have converged to meet each other, share what they’re working on, and figure out how we can build a better future together.
It’s perfectly aligned with the stories I like to uplift, and I teamed up with Norrsken to make a partnership video about the list! I’m also going to tell the stories of a few of these organizations in the coming weeks and months. Feel free to check out the full list if you’re interested.
Here are ten of my favorite ideas that are coming to life:
🛍️ 10: Using seaweed to replace plastic bags, and unlike other plastic alternatives that seem to mysteriously disappear, this actually exists and I even used a bag myself. (Sway)
🌱 9: Growing plants that extract metals from the soil instead of mining them. (Genomines)
🥶 8: Adding solar-powered freezers with built-in batteries to rural areas that preserve food for longer. (Koolboks)
🟣 7: Fermenting natural dyes that replace harmful petrochemicals in our clothes. (Octarine Bio)
💨 6: Making wind turbine towers out of wood to simplify the construction. (Modvion)
🔊 5: Projecting animal noises near dangerous infrastructure to keep wildlife away. (Flox)
🛰️ 4: Using satellites to monitor wildfires and plan controlled burns that prevent them. (Vibrant Planet)
🌊 3: Harnessing wave motion on buoys to make ocean water clean and drinkable without using any fuels. (Oneka)
🚞 2: Transforming existing freight train cars into battery-powered automated ones. (Intramotev)
🧶 1: Recycling exists materials like polyester back into yarn that can be used again in a circular model. (Syre)
Let me know which you want to hear more about!
And I’ll be back next week with our regular newsletter format full of good news stories from around the world.
Talk more soon,
Jacob
This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. Over 1.5 million people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by hitting reply. Brand illustration by Andrea Miralles. Thanks for helping spread some positivity, and see you next week for more.