123Fab #104

1 topic, 2 key figures, 3 startups to draw inspiration from

Urban areas face rising temperatures from the combined effects of climate change and the “urban heat island” phenomenon. Concrete and asphalt trap heat, creating hotter cities, escalating energy demands, and endangering vulnerable populations. To mitigate these effects, solutions must address the problem across all scales: city, neighborhood, street, building, and individual levels.

City-Level Strategies

At the city scale, urban planning focuses on creating cooler environments by improving airflow, increasing plant cover, and reducing heat-retaining surfaces:

• Urban Planning and Cool Corridors: Designing open spaces and cool corridors encourages air circulation and reduces heat concentration.
• Increasing Plant Cover: Initiatives like Paris’ Oasis Project transform schoolyards into green spaces, doubling as cool islands and heat refuges.
• Low-Emission Zones (ZFE): Reducing vehicular traffic in cities cuts emissions, indirectly lowering heat retention.
• Urban Water Management: Large-scale rainwater management systems and urban basins help infiltrate water into the soil. This not only prevents flooding but also encourages evaporation, naturally cooling the air during heatwaves.

Neighborhood-Level Strategies

Neighborhood interventions tackle heat through surface treatments, targeted greenery, and smart solutions:

• High-Albedo Materials: Reflective materials reduce heat absorption, like those used in Paris’ “cool islands.” High-albedo materials are surfaces that reflect more sunlight than they absorb, helping to lower surface temperatures.
• Vegetation and Cool Islands: Projects like Urban Canopée integrate vegetation into neighborhoods, while ENGIE Lab Crigen’s Skycooling panels provide shade-based cooling.
• Water Permeation: Soil desilting and localized rainwater infiltration enhance evaporation, which cools the surrounding air naturally. Incorporating small water features like ponds or fountains within neighborhoods can amplify these cooling effects.

Street-Level Strategies

Streets act as heat hotspots, but targeted solutions can reduce their thermal footprint:

• Draining Pavements: Products like Holcim’s concrete, a permeable concrete Hydromedia, allow rainwater to infiltrate the soil, supporting evaporation and natural cooling.
• Green Walls and Photovoltaic Shades: Vegetated walls and shaded walkways lower street temperatures while improving aesthetics and functionality.
• Localized Water Features: Incorporating fountains, small basins, or artificial streams along streets can provide significant localized cooling effects.

Building-Level Strategies

Buildings are central to urban cooling, as they represent a significant proportion of heat storage:

• Green Roofs: Vegetative layers provide natural insulation and cooling, reducing the heat stored by buildings.
• Reflective Paint: Products like Cool Roof reduce heat absorption, keeping interiors cooler.
• Advanced Insulation: Aerogels, a cutting-edge material known for their lightweight properties and high thermal resistance, can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs by providing superior insulation compared to traditional materials.
• Bio-Reactive Facades: Innovations like XTU Architects’ microalgae facades actively regulate temperature by producing oxygen and absorbing heat.
• Rainwater Harvesting: Buildings can integrate systems to collect rainwater, which can then be used for evaporative cooling or irrigation for rooftop and vertical gardens, further reducing heat buildup.

Individual Actions

Individual behaviors also play a vital role in reducing urban heat:

• Soft Mobility: Walking, cycling, and using public transport help reduce vehicular emissions and heat contributions.
• Urban Greening: Individuals can plant greenery at home, install small water features in gardens, or volunteer for local tree-planting initiatives to enhance cooling.
• Water Stewardship: Households can promote cooling by managing rainwater infiltration with permeable garden designs, rain barrels, or bioswales to ensure water is available for natural evaporation processes.

Cooling urban environments requires a multifaceted approach across different scales. From city-wide planning and water management to individual actions like soft mobility, these strategies not only provide immediate relief from heat but also promote the long-term sustainability of urban life. Addressing the urban heat island effect is a pressing necessity as cities prepare for increasingly extreme temperatures in the decades ahead.

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2 Key Figures

4

Temperatures can be 1 to 4°C higher than surrounding rural areas due to the presence of heat-retaining infrastructures like concrete and asphalt.

15%

A 10% increase in tree cover in cities reduces surface temperatures and lower energy consumption needs for cooling by around 15%.

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3 startups to draw inspiration from

CoolRoof

French-based startup specialized in reflective coatings for rooftops and pavements to reduce heat absorption in cities, lowering temperatures and energy consumption.

SolCold

A materials startup from Israel that creates innovative coatings which cool buildings by converting heat into light, reflecting sunlight to reduce urban temperatures.

Green City Solutions

German startup that develops urban green spaces using “CityTree,” a smart, air-purifying moss wall that cools and cleans the air in densely populated areas through IoT integration.

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123Fab #103

1 topic, 2 key figures, 3 startups to draw inspiration from

Microplastics—plastic fragments smaller than 5 millimeters—originate from two main pathways:

• Primary microplastics are intentionally manufactured at microscopic scales, such as microbeads in cosmetics or fibers from synthetic textiles.
• Secondary microplastics are created when larger plastics break down over time due to environmental factors like sunlight, wind, and water.

Over time, these tiny particles infiltrate ecosystems, contaminating soil, waterways, and even human blood. Recent studies reveal that microplastics have been detected in the bloodstreams of up to 80% of the people tested, raising serious concerns about their long-term health impacts.

Faced with this crisis, companies are taking steps to tackle microplastic pollution. For instance, Nestlé Waters is participating in the Plastic Trace Project (2022–2025), which aims to standardize the tracking of microplastics in water, food, and the environment.

Key industries responsible for microplastics

The variety of consumer and commercial products that are intentionally loaded with microplastics is vast: cosmetics, detergents, paints, medicines, diapers, pesticides, and more. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), identifies seven sources of microplastics in marine environments:

• Synthetic textiles (>50%): Washing synthetic clothes discharges millions of microfibers into wastewater.
• Vehicle tires (10-20%): The EU alone generates around 0.5 million metric tons of microplastics annually from tire wear, and this is expected to increase with the rise of electric vehicles that are typically heavier.
• Urban dust (10-20%): These come out of the sum of several sources that involve artificial turf, building paints, and industrial abrasives.
• Road marking (3-5%): Everything, including the roads’ infrastructure deteriorates. Hot-melt paints used for road markings contain polymer binders that contribute to microplastic pollution.
• Marine coating (4%): The coatings applied to ships’ hulls break down over time, contributing to the load of microplastics in the oceans.
• Personal care products and cosmetics (1-2%): Most skincare and cosmetics products contain microbeads, a well-known source of microplastic pollution. Since 2023, the EU called for a ban for microplastics in consumer products, including cosmetics.
• Plastic pellets (0.3%): Resin pellets, which are used as raw material in producing plastic items, often spill into the environment.

These categories only scratch the surface. Microplastics have countless other sources, many of which remain poorly quantified. Our understanding of the problem is still evolving, but the urgency to act is clear.

Solutions

Efforts to address microplastic pollution focus on two main strategies: reducing pollution at its source and improving filtration systems to capture particles before they reach the environment. Here’s how different industries can contribute:

• Textile industry:
  • Developing alternative fibers: Dutch startup Boldwill produces microplastic-free sports apparel. The company uses hemp, cotton, and fabrics made from eucalyptus and beech trees in its sportswear.
  • Installing filters in washing machines: A variety of filters are being developed capable of catching fibers before they go into the wastewater system. One example is the innovative filtration technology of Matter, originally developed for washing machines. Today, its solutions extend to industrial applications, stopping microplastic entry into sewage sludge.
• Automobile industry:
  • Durable tire materials: Projects like LEON-T are developing and testing airless tires for heavy vehicles. This would reduce friction of rubber material and minimize particulate emissions.
  • Tyre dust catchers: The Tyre Collective has designed a device to capture tire dust directly at the source. This device is placed behind the wheel and uses both a suction system and an electrostatic capture system to capture the plastic microparticles.
• Manufacturing:
  • Industrial filtration solution: Companies like IADYS or ECOFARIO are developing technologies to capture microplastics during industrial processes
  • Alternative materials: For instance, Naturbeads offers cellulose-based microspheres as a viable substitute for microplastics in everyday products.
• Packaging:
  • Plastic-free alternatives: Companies are manufacturing new materials that will replace traditional plastics. For example, Lactips produces water-soluble and biodegradable thermoplastic pellets using casein, a milk protein. The pellets can be used to make all sorts of packaging material.
• Cosmetics:
  • Biodegradable alternatives: Cosmetic products can be reformulated to be microplastic-free. A French company, Dionymer, has developed a 100% biosourced and biodegradable polyester obtained by fermentation for use in make-up and skincare formulas.
• Agriculture:
  • Bio-based fertilizers: BioWeg has developped AgriWeg a biodegradable emulsion for the substitution of coatings from petroleum and acrylic based materials on fertilizers and seeds.

2 Key Figures

51 trillion

According to the UN, there are as many as 51 trillion microplastic particles in the seas, 500 times more than stars in our galaxy.

Between 78,000 and 211,000

The average person eats, drinks, and breathes between 78,000 and 211,000 microplastic particles annually.

3 startups to draw inspiration from

Naturbeads

A UK based-startup commercializing biodegradable, cellulose-based ingredients, offers a sustainable alternative to plastic microbeads used in personal care products, paints and coatings, packaging, adhesive and many other industrial products.

ECOFARIO

The German startup ECOFARIO develops microplastics removal systems for wastewater treatment plants. Its High-G-Separator uses hydrocyclone-based separation technology, eliminating the need for filter media to separate microplastics.

PlanetCare

A Slovenian startup that has developed innovative filters capturing 90% of synthetic fibers that are being released from textile products during each wash.

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Last week, during a discussion with a project leader from a major corporation, we asked a simple question: “How many business models do you know?”His response surprised us: “Uh… 5 or 6?”

This got us thinking about the importance of understanding business models in today’s dynamic landscape.

What is a Business Model? 🧐

A business model is essentially how a company creates, delivers, and captures value. It’s a fundamental concept that we explore using the Business Model Canvas (BMC). For those unfamiliar, there’s even a social version of this tool.

The Variety of Business Models

There are numerous business models out there, and a single company can adopt multiple models simultaneously.Take Google as a prime example:

• 💰 Pay Per Use: Google Cloud
• 🛠️ Self-Service: Clients access services directly
• 🎁 Freemium: Free services with paid options
• 🤝 Revenue Sharing: Partnerships with content creators on YouTube
• 🕵️‍♂️ Hidden Revenue: Monetization of user data
• 🎨 Long Tail: A vast catalog of services

As a transformation consulting firm, our role is to assist our clients in developing new business models.

Want to Go Further? Discover Our Business Model Toolkit

We’ve put together a toolkit to explore the 60+ business model in the format of a card game.

Context 

Our client, a major player in the construction industry, established an intrapreneurship program that led to the creation of a startup gaining traction both internally and externally. The company, that developed a platform for ordering low-carbon concrete, required additional funding to expand further. We mentored the intrapreneur in developing multiple comprehensive business plans and diverse funding scenarios.

Mission

In this context, we supported our client to:

• Team, Market, and Growth Analysis: Evaluate the team’s expertise, commercial robustness, and growth prospects
• Financials: Review the company’s financial health and performance to date, as well as future projections
• Business Plan: Craft a strategic business plan that outlines the company’s vision, objectives, and actionable steps for growth
• Funding Requirements: Assess the amount of funding needed for expansion and how it aligns with the business plan
• Funding Scenarios: Build scenarios to explore different funding options and their potential impact on the company’s future

Key figures

Context 

In the charging point operator (CPO) field, there are four main types of players: construction companies, energy companies, OEMs and startups. We worked with a leading construction player to help speed up the deployment of their EV charger network by assisting with funding.

Mission

• Market and Competitor Research: Conducted in-depth analysis to understand the landscape and identify key competitors.
• Customer Interviews: Engaged with current customers to gather insights and feedback on their experiences and needs.
• Financial Model: Developed a comprehensive business plan with a 20-year horizon to ensure sustainable growth.
• Pitch Deck Creation: Designed a compelling pitch deck from scratch to effectively communicate the project’s value proposition to potential investors.

Key figures

Effectuation is a concept in entrepreneurship that emphasizes transforming uncertainty into opportunity by leveraging existing resources rather than relying on predictive planning. Developed by Professor Saras Sarasvathy at the University of Virginia in the late 1990s, effectuation arose from her studies of expert entrepreneurs who navigate unpredictable environments through a unique decision-making framework.

What is Effectuation?

Effectuation is defined as a decision-making process where entrepreneurs start with the resources they currently possess and derive goals from those resources, rather than beginning with a specific goal and acquiring the necessary resources to achieve it. This approach contrasts with traditional causal reasoning, which is linear and goal-oriented.

The Fridge Analogy

A common analogy used to illustrate effectuation is that of planning a dinner party. Instead of creating a detailed menu and shopping for specific ingredients, one assesses what is already available in the fridge and pantry. This encourages creativity and adaptability, allowing for the combination of existing ingredients to create a meal, similar to how entrepreneurs can utilize their current assets—skills, relationships, and knowledge—to innovate.

Applicability to Corporate Innovators

Effectuation is particularly relevant for corporate innovators operating in fast-paced and uncertain environments. By adopting effectuation principles, these innovators can effectively utilize their existing resources for innovation while managing limited budgets. This approach allows organizations to experiment and innovate without overextending their financial resources.

The Six Pillars of Effectuation

1. Bird in Hand Principle: This principle emphasizes starting with the resources you already possess, which can be categorized into three groups: who you are (your traits, tastes, and abilities), what you know (your education, training, expertise, and experience), and who you know (your social and professional networks).
   Example: 3M leveraging its existing adhesive technology to create Post-it Notes.

2. Affordable Loss Principle: Focus on what you can afford to lose rather than potential gains.
   Example: Google exemplifies this through its 20% time policy, where employees dedicate one day per week to personal projects, effectively “losing” productive time. This calculated risk has led to breakthrough innovations like Gmail, demonstrating how a controlled, affordable loss can generate significant value.

3. Lemonade Principle: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Embrace surprises and use them as opportunities.
   Example: During the COVID-19 pandemic, General Motors (GM) pivoted its manufacturing capabilities to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.

4. Crazy Quilt Principle: Just as a multilayer fabric consists of several layers woven together, the crazy quilt principle involves weaving together partnerships with various stakeholders.
   Example: Siemens collaborates with various stakeholders, including local governments and technology partners, to develop smart city solutions.

5. Pilot-in-the-Plane Principle: Focus on activities within your control.
   Example: Tesla exemplifies this principle by actively shaping its market through innovations in electric vehicle technology and battery production.

6. Non-Predictive Control: Shape the future rather than trying to predict it.
   Example: Toyota’s Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing system exemplifies non-predictive control

Aster Capital’s Experience and Toolkit

We have developed a series of workshops aimed at educating corporate innovators on intrapreneurship and essential entrepreneurial tools. Our intrapreneurship toolkit equips project managers with the skills to de-risk their initiatives and foster innovation within their organizations.

Ready to empower your team? Book a meeting with us today to explore how our tools can guide your innovation managers in a structured way.

Want to Go Further? Discover Our Recent Webinar on Effectuation with Michelin, SNCF & EDF

We recently conducted a webinar that explored nine key lessons drawn from over 20 years of experience in the intrapreneurship space. If you’re interested in discussing how to structure a program leveraging effectuation principles, check out our summary and YouTube replay here.

123Fab #102

1 topic, 2 key figures, 3 startups to draw inspiration from

The circular economy redefines traditional economic models and contrasts with the “take-make-waste” linear approach. In the latter, resources are extracted to create products that later become waste, with very limited uses or value recovery. Circular economy, on the other hand, emphasizes sustainability, keeping materials in use for as long as possible while minimizing waste and resource consumption.

Key frameworks such as the Value Hill and the Butterfly Diagram shed light on how this system works: the Value Hill describes how to maintain and regain value at every stage in a product’s life, while the Butterfly Diagram helps to visualize infinite cycles of reuse and regeneration within an economy. (For more information, read those articles on the Value Hill and Butterfly Diagram.)

At its core, the circular economy is guided by seven pillars, each offering actionable strategies to reduce waste, optimize resource use, and foster innovation. Let’s delve into these principles and their potential for transformative change in driving sustainability.

The 7 Pillars of the Circular Economy (as defined by l’ADEME)

1. Sustainable procurement: This involves considering the environmental and social impacts of resource extraction and usage, with the aim of minimizing waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is to prioritize sustainable resources by choosing suppliers based on ethical and environmental standards, aligning with the overall circular model.
2. Eco-design: This involves considering the entire life cycle of a product or service, from the design stage onwards, to limit its impact on the environment. A very good example is the Renault Scenic E-Tech Electric, with its high rate of recycled materials in the manufacture of the car. Many parts are designed to be recyclable at the end of their life to reduce its ecological impact as much as possible.
3. Industrial and territorial ecology (or industrial symbiosis): This pillar connects various economic actors to optimize the use of local resources such as water, energy, materials, waste, equipment, and expertise. By sharing resources, one company’s waste becomes another’s resource. The most representative example of industrial symbiosis is the one in Kalundborg, Denmark, where companies like Novo Nordisk (pharmaceuticals), Ørsted (energy), and Kalundborg Municipality collaborate to share resources such as steam, water, and industrial by-products. This innovative collaboration not only optimizes resource use but also drives significant cost savings and reduces the overall carbon footprint.
4. Service economy: In this model, usage is prioritized over ownership. It emphasizes offering services connected to products rather than selling the products themselves, which extends their lifespan without consuming more material resources or energy, creating jobs, and encouraging sharing. A notable example is Michelin‘s “Tyre as a Service” model, where the company retains ownership of the tires and manages their entire lifecycle—maintenance, retreading, and recycling. Thus, customers are charged based on usage: per kilometer for trucks and per landing for airplanes.
5. Responsible consumption: Consumers, whether individuals or organizations, must consider the environmental and social impacts of products at every stage of their life cycle. This means choosing sustainable products and adopting eco-conscious consumption habits. Key questions include: Do I really need this? Is the product recyclable? What materials were used? How was it made?
6. Extending product lifespan: Consumers should opt for repairing, reusing, or donating unused or broken items to give them a second life. This not only benefits the environment but also supports circular business models and offers financial savings. For example, Back Market, a French platform specializing in refurbishing electronic products, collects smartphones, computers, and other devices nearing the end of their life, repairs them, and resells them, reducing e-waste and offering affordable products.
7. Recycling: This is the final phase of the circular economy whereby existing materials are converted to other new forms. The process is to recover and reduce the amount of waste by recycling into raw materials. This closes the cycle as recycled materials start being used for procurement. For instance, ROSI provides an innovative solution for recycling and valorization of raw material in the photovoltaic industry. Their technology can recycle all valuable raw materials in waste solar panels, including silicon.

How can companies benefit from the circular economy?

Businesses can significantly benefit from the adoption of circular economy principles through new profit opportunities, cost reductions from lower reliance on volatile raw materials and increased use of recycled inputs. New business models, such as rentals or leasing, also create stronger, long-term customer relationships by increasing touchpoints throughout a product’s lifecycle.

2 Key Figures

70%

Material extraction and use amount to 70 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

7.2%

 Only 7.2 percent of used materials are cycled back into our economies after use.

3 startups to draw inspiration from

Hubcycle

A French startup that specializes in upcycling food industry by-products into valuable ingredients. By sourcing vegetal by-products from industrial food processes before they are discarded, Hubcycle transforms them into ingredients for the food, pet food, cosmetics, and homecare sectors. This approach eliminates the need for new raw materials, reducing environmental impact and significantly lowering the carbon footprint for both suppliers and customers.

GreyParrot

A UK startup, leading the way in AI-driven waste analytics for the circular economy. GreyParrot aims to increase transparency and automation in waste management, unlocking the hidden financial value of waste. With its advanced AI-powered computer vision systems deployed globally in sorting facilities, the platform can monitor, analyze, and sort waste at scale. GreyParrot’s insights will help waste managers, producers, and regulators increase recycling rates.

Faircado

Berlin-based, Faircado has created a browser extension designed to promote the circular economy. The idea is simple: thanks to artificial intelligence, the extension uses a combination of image and text matching to suggest second-hand alternatives when you search for a product on the Internet. Faircado supports 1,600 sites, including Amazon, Zalando, Patagonia and Apple. These recommendations come from over 50 partners, including eBay, Back Market, Grailed, Rebuy, Vestiaire Collective…

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