Subak Australia seeks to double funds to scale climate work

• Subak funds and scales Australian/NZ/APAC data-smart innovators that tackle urgent climate issues.

• Funders are being sought to back the climate ecosystem to accelerate impact and create systemic change.

Australian climate tech accelerator Subak announces its latest funding round. It wants to double its support of data-intensive climate startups in 2023. Subak’s Australian hub is celebrating its first year of successfully funding, scaling, and supporting smart climate startups and researchers across Australia and the region. Subak’s not-for-profit ecosystem shares a common goal - to accelerate climate action through openly sharing data that informs policy, creates systemic change, and drives sustainable behaviour. 

This year’s Australian cohort includes a firm that has built an environmental tracker to encourage emissions reduction, waste minimisation, and better resource management. A number of local government authorities are already using it to become smarter, more sustainable cities.

 Another successful Subak-funded member is building a digital twin of the global food system. Its ability to predict climate-impacted trade flows is catching the attention of both government and industry concerned about biosecurity.

Both members multiply their impact by inputting into Subak’s unique Data Catalogue Dubbed the ‘Google of climate data’, data is verified, cataloged, and shared openly and globally.

Chris Wilson, Executive Director Subak Australia explains: “Subak was set up to build a global ecosystem of organisations and individuals that use data tools to build scaleable climate solutions. We invite not-for-profits to apply for funding. We support not-for-profits because they are primed for impact rather than profit.

“Subak[1] is in fact, the first global not-for-profit accelerator focused on scaling not-for-profit start-ups to fast-track their climate projects. Our Accelerator Phase assists them to develop their businesses, and build their offerings and their outreach skills. The Grow Phase helps them test and scale.

Subak is projected to fund and scale hundreds of data-led climate organisations and projects in the next five years. 

Wilson said: “To continue to expand our Australian cohort, we wholeheartedly invite investors to support us. To join in the Subak Australia story. Our Australian investment ambition is to double our support of data-intensive climate startups next year by expanding our reach to 20 not-for-profits and research fellows.

“This fundraise will build Subak’s next chapter. We are committed to growing our ecosystem and supporting climate solutions at speed.”

Subak Australia proudly funds and supports the following organisations and fellows:

Members:

• Blue Carbon Services (New Zealand) uses giant kelp to draw down and store excessive carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

• The Good Rating (New Zealand) is collating data to inform consumers of the environmental footprint of the supermarket products on the shelves before they buy.

• Uncharted Waters (Australia) harnesses the power of real-time data of critical global trade flows and the most pressing climate risks to water and food security to inform policymakers and society in a timely manner.

• Open Corridor (Australia) has developed a range of tools to inform and support local government authorities and their communities to become smart cities and transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future.

Fellows:

• Celina Agaton (Indonesia) has built a free open-source program to fund and empower local communities to share accurate climate information and develop their own economic security.

• Stuart Brown (Australia) is a postdoctoral ecologist researching the ecological impacts of rapid climate change and the drivers of extinction and biodiversity loss on the world’s coral reefs. His mission is to identify the future threat status of coral reefs and generate datasets to make it easier for researchers and agencies to mitigate potential climate risk and their impact on the reefs.

• Joel Chambers (Australia) is introducing sustainable regenerative techniques at his family’s 16-hectare vineyard to capture and restore as much carbon back into the soil as possible.

• Kathryn Davidson (Australia) is building a comprehensive database of Australian climate policies to inform climate actors and policymakers to drive appropriate action for a net zero future.

• Dominic McAffee (Australia) and his team of Ph.D. students and marine ecologists are gathering data on managing and restoring shellfish reefs in order to use these ecosystems and their seagrasses to both protect the coastlines from the ravages of climate change and maximise their carbon sequestration benefits.

• Clive Pinfold (New Zealand) is generating data on New Zealand’s electrical grid that precisely measures emissions, rather than averaging them, to target maintenance and ensure appropriate load shifting at a highly localised level.

• Darren Ray (Australia) is a senior climatologist modeling paleo-proxy records of climate change to bring together insights from the past to better inform our decision-making for the coming climate change future.

• Andrew Thornhill (Australia) is building a comprehensive dataset of Australian herbarium plant records to add to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, specifying whether each record is native and/or naturalised and so reliable for future protection and, if necessary, recovery.

Image description: A giant whirlpool cloud, coaxed into shape by high-altitude winds, swirls above the sea between Spain and Morocco.