Chapter 01 - Startups

We are at a critical point in our time. Climate change, social injustice, political turmoil, resource and food shortages – to name only a few of the global challenges we are currently facing – require new and radical solutions to secure a healthy planet and a prosperous life for future generations.

The time is now

We believe startups are a driving force of sustainable innovation. And we believe now is the right time, even more so with COVID-19 and the transformation and reconstruction of economies.

This playbook is for all startups that want to be a positive force in the world, and also for those who do not want to be left behind as sustainability becomes essential for every business. It will help you as a startup to get on the right track to maximize your value to all stakeholders that are key to your success – your investors, customers, employees, the environment, and many more.

But how?

We know from our own studies that startups are keen to build a sustainable business but face many challenges in doing so. We help you to get started! In this playbook, we provide you with:

Advice on how to navigate your journey towards sustainability
The right questions to ask and valuable (re)sources to answer these questions
A comprehensive collection of helpful tools, frameworks, and best practices

2020 Survey on Sustainability in Startups

In early 2020, akzente & TechFounders set out to find out how important sustainability is among startups. A total of 282 European startups across different sectors took part in the survey. Nearly 90 percent of the participating startups had already thought about the role and relevance of sustainability for their business, but most of them found substantial difficulties in implementing it.

Download the full Whitepaper here:

Sustainability in Startups