Climate Tech Recap 👉 The latest innovations from Chile
From nanobubble technology to a plastic reuse model, a look at innovative climate tech from Chile that can be implemented in Miami.
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Read the Tech Talent Gap Analysis by Miami Tech Works which looks at our tech talent pipeline, recent job growth, and more.
Increased heat. Water management challenges. Agriculture impacts. Coastal erosion. Extreme weather events.
These are just some of Miami's climate challenges, as evidenced by last week’s storm, which inundated some areas for days. Most areas of Chile also face these same challenges, as we learned in our last Climate Tech Meetup, which featured five Chilean companies tackling these issues and more across various industries.
“We truly believe that what we need is to be working together as a community in order to feel these changes,” said Claudia Serrer Urrutia, our region’s Trade Commissioner for ProChile, during the 11th meetup in collaboration with Miami-Dade County.
“One of the most important sectors or assets is the talent we have to develop these kinds of solutions for these global challenges,” she added before introducing the five companies in climate tech.
THE COMPANIES WE MET AND WHAT WE LEARNED
We met Manuel Vial Comber, Chief Technology Officer of Kran Nanobubble, which uses extremely small gas bubbles to help companies improve their water efficiency and sustainability (rehabilitate contaminated environments, treat wastewater, purify food, etc.). He explained how after years of research, clients willing to test the unknown, and hundreds of trials on an industrial scale, they “got it right.”
“This was one of the first large-scale deployments of nanotechnology worldwide that was successful,” he said. For example, they were able to increase the amount of water being produced in a reverse osmosis plant of Coca-Cola (which reuses cleaned, treated water) in Santiago by 11%. Comber also clarified that they are not selling nanobubbles, but a service.
LOW O2 uses water aeration technology such as microbubble screens to protect farmed fish and other areas from pollutants such as algal blooms. The patented technology has been implemented in over 300 projects worldwide in less than two decades.
Many industries directly impact oceans but “we are not used to looking at what’s happening underwater,” said LOW O2 Co-Founder and CEO Luis Sepúlveda on industries such as oil and gas platforms or offshore wind farms that often struggle to balance efficiency with sustainability. LOW O2 created an air bubble curtain that can do both – provide an isolated underwater marine area while industrial activities continue. The technology has been implemented in over 150 projects across six countries.
Preserving water is essential for our future, making water management a requirement for the industrial, water supply, and mining sectors. We Techs says it is committed to being an “ally” in this preservation through its advanced analytics technology to help monitor, control, and remotely analyze the management of water and industrial fluids for companies.
At the moment the technology is managing water issues, such as water scarcity, in regions with copper and lithium mining which require a lot of water, explained CEO Jorge Poblete. They have also implemented the technology in Peru, which faces similar water challenges as Chile as well as strict environmental regulations. Poblete added that they are expanding into other markets as well. “So they [other countries] can use the platform for different situations related to water and energy.”
To transform the mass consumption industry, Mercado Circular has vending machines that allow consumers to refill containers with personal hygiene products and more. The company serves as a consulting and engineering service for the circular economy in the mass consumption industry that redesigns the product value chain to generate savings and minimize (plastic) waste.
Over 300 million metric tons of plastic are generated each year globally, but only six percent are truly recycled, explained Carolina Carrera, Chief Commercial Officer of Mercado Circular. The rest will likely end up in landfills or our oceans. “If you don’t care for the environmental reasons, you should care for the economic ones,” she noted of the penalties and taxes for companies in the U.S. as responsibility policies expand.
Created by Yale University experts, ESG Compass is an artificial intelligence-powered platform that analyzes ESG data from stakeholders, enabling a business ecosystem to anticipate risks and identify sustainability opportunities accurately.
The environmental, social, and governance stats (ESG) supplied to lenders and investors are self-reported by the companies. “So there’s a gap,” explained Rod Castro, Co-Founder and CEO. “What we are doing is saying we want validators.” ESG Compas captures data directly from stakeholders.
WHY FOCUS ON CLIMATE TECH FROM CHILE
The companies shared how they are developing and implementing innovative technologies – from nanotechnology-based water remediation solutions to microbubble screens, and circular economy solutions to reduce plastic waste – to address the climate challenges they face in Chile, one of the leading tech hubs in Latin America and among the most innovative countries in the world. Today, 140 Chilean tech companies are operating in the U.S. with nearly 40 of them based across Florida – from Miami to Tampa.
The Opportunity Miami x Miami-Dade County event was the first activity in a two-day agenda to connect the companies with and learn from the local climate tech ecosystem. Miami could incorporate some of the innovative ideas that are taking root in Chile to begin tackling issues related to water quality and waste.
MIAMI TECH TALENT ANALYSIS
As part of a look at our local tech talent, Miami Tech Works scanned the region for a look at job growth and indicators for success. The Tech Talent Gap Analysis can be found here, along with the report’s recommendations for building and sustaining tech talent.
Miami Tech Works is a $10 million initiative from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Good Jobs Challenge to address gaps in tech talent. By 2025, Miami Tech Works aims to train over 1,000 residents and ensure at least 500 secure high-quality tech jobs. The effort is led by Miami Dade College. You can learn more about it from our conversation with Director Terri-Ann Brown from April 2023.
PITCH US
If you have a company or entrepreneur to suggest or an idea to share that relates to building Miami’s future, email us at next@opportunity.miami. We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on our social media channels. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can subscribe by clicking here. And if you are new to Opportunity Miami, you can learn about our mission and work here.
Hope to hear from you.
– Suzette