Later this week, I’ll be participating in a panel on “The Natural Revolution” at SOCAP13, the Social Capital Markets Conference. It brings to mind the opening to Chapter 3, about this new wave of invention.
By building products and businesses that can maintain themselves without degrading any resources or generating waste, sustainability is biomimetic at its core. In both government and industry, the economic benefits of sustainable products and alternative energy are proving their worth. Clean tech is less than ten years old as a recognized market sector, but it is the fastest growing venture capital investment market. During the midst of the Great Recession in 2010, venture capital investment in clean tech was still $7.8 billion and in biotech was $5.4 billion. While currently seen to be a subset of both these sectors, research suggests that venture capital investment into biomimicry as its own category could eclipse clean tech and biotech in the years to come. Some argue that this new industry could outpace other huge sectors to rapidly become a $100 billion market. I know of biomimetic technologies just in the fields of refrigeration, construction, and water desalination that, alone, hold that potential.
The key is that we must develop a likewise new set of capitalization models to support this development: patient capital that recognizes the fact that many of these new technologies take time to commercialize—but the rewards are well worth it.
If you’re going to SOCAP, I’ll be there on Friday. Be sure to say hello …
