20+ Startups & Companies Advancing Global Megatrends in 2025 & Beyond

Megatrends are powerful forces reshaping our world’s physical, cultural, and economic landscapes. These trends, from demographic shifts to technological advancements, steer global development and create opportunities for enterprises and communities. For instance, Apple’s initiative to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and Pfizer’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts to enhance healthcare accessibility are responses to these trends.

Businesses and entrepreneurs must recognize and leverage these global trends to secure a competitive advantage and sustain long-term success. These trends drive technological innovations and shape regulatory frameworks while influencing consumer behavior and market demands. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and collaborate with emerging companies and startups that are proactively addressing these megatrends. Partnering with these innovators enables you to boost your innovation efforts and build resilience against future threats.

This article was last updated in August 2024.

Executive Summary

• Where this Data is from: The companies featured in this report were identified using the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, which provides real-time access to 4.7M+ enriched company profiles for startups, scaleups, and tech companies globally.
• 20+ Startups & Companies by Megatrends:
  • Tackling Climate Change
    • Aircapture – On-Site Direct Air Capture
    • RecyCoal – Biochar-based Yield-Increasing Fertilizer
  • Demographic Shifts
    • FimbleFits – Remote Patient Monitoring
    • HOMErs – Affordable Sustainable Housing
  • Rapid Urbanization
    • Makalu Optics – Autonomous Vehicle LiDAR
    • Serranova – Modular Urban Garden
  • The Energy Transition
    • Wooden Solar – Concentrated Solar Power
    • Volstora – Cell-to-System Energy Storage
  • Future of Mobility
    • SteerLight – 3D Traffic Perception
    • Iodo – Route Optimization
  • Hyper-Connectivity
    • Binary Tech – Scalable Massive IoT
    • Proptivity – Indoor 5G Infrastructure
  • Rise of Technology & Industry 5.0
    • Manukai – Automatic Toolpath Generation
    • HB Smart Factory – Smart Factory Planning
  • Shift in Global Economic Power
    • Atatfa – Blockchain-based Cross Border Payments
    • Cladfy – Last-Mile Lending Infrastructure
  • Innovating to Zero
    • BIOM – Biodegradable Materials
    • ENG8 Energy – Catalyzed Fusion
  • Health and Wellness Evolution
    • Atride – Personalized Healthcare
    • Tailwind Biotech – AI-powered Synthetic Biology
  • Social Instability
    • MADCash – Micro-Funding for Women Entrepreneurs
    • SKYCORP Technologies – Surveillance-focused Hydrogen Drone
  • Fracturing World
    • Entvin – Diversified Supply Chains
    • Emergent Connext – Rural Digital Connectivity

How We Researched and Where this Data is from

• Leveraged the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, an AI- and Big Data-powered innovation intelligence platform covering 4.7M+ emerging companies and over 20K+ technologies and trends worldwide.
• Analyzed our 3100+ industry reports on innovations to gather relevant insights and create a master megatrends map.
• Cross-checked this information with external sources for enhanced accuracy.

Download Our Master Megatrends Map

For a deeper dive on this topic, check out our comprehensive guide on global megatrends.

20+ Startups & Companies by Megatrend

Tackling Climate Change

A critical mission leveraging innovations in renewable energy, carbon capture, and circular economies. Key initiatives, like the European Green Deal, are driving the future towards a climate-positive era.

Aircapture – On-Site Direct Air Capture

• Unique Selling Point: Aircapture offers modular direct air capture units for manufacturing sites. This creates a direct supply of clean carbon dioxide for manufacturers.
• Benefits: The scalable solution enables a hyper-local and de-risked CO2 supply chain while reducing the environmental footprint for manufacturers.
• Founded: 2019
• Location: USA

RecyCoal – Biochar-based Yield-Increasing Fertilizer

• Unique Selling Point: RecyCoal’s biochar-based yield-increasing fertilizer improves soil fertility, structure, and water retention capacity.
• Benefits: Enables farmers to transition into regenerative farming and reduce carbon emissions.
• Founded: 2023
• Location: Germany

Demographic Shifts

Significant changes, including aging populations and urbanization, are transforming economies. The Asia Pacific’s burgeoning silver economy and growing focus on upskilling are notable trends.

FimbleFits – Remote Patient Monitoring

• Unique Selling Point: FimbleFits develops a smartphone app that allows patients to input their glucose levels, which are monitored by doctors. The startup also offers an AI-powered chatbot that provides personalized lifestyle recommendations for patients.
• Benefits: The AI bot and self-reported data allow rheumatologists to track pain levels while improving patient engagement.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: India

HOMErs – Affordable Sustainable Housing

• Unique Selling Point: HOMErs builds prefabricated modular houses. The startup delivers homes in containers and the houses feature only a 4 to 6 hours assembly period. It also offers a fully autonomous option with off-grid power and on-demand water supply.
• Benefits: Governments and other institutions leverage HOMErs’ houses for social and refugee housing.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: Ukraine

Rapid Urbanization

The necessity for green infrastructure and advanced construction techniques underscores the drive towards smart, sustainable cities. Initiatives like India’s Smart Cities Mission highlight this trend.

Makalu Optics – Autonomous Vehicle LiDAR

• Unique Selling Point: Makalu Optics provides a low-cost, long-range 4D LiDAR system for autonomous vehicles. It features a flexible field of view (FoV), an eye-safe laser, and no moving parts.
• Benefits: Mobility companies integrate the company’s technology to accelerate the time to market for their autonomous vehicles and ensure road safety.
• Founded: 2019
• Location: Israel

Serranova – Modular Urban Garden

• Unique Selling Point: Serranova grows vegetables and herbs in its closed-environment modular urban gardens. Additionally, the company utilizes photoluminescent powders to stimulate photosynthesis and filters to purify the air from polluting particles, bacteria, and pathogenic organisms. The urban gardens also feature a fully automated irrigation system and a smartphone app for remote control.
• Benefits: The company enables urban businesses to implement modern urban gardens with a reduced footprint for hyper-local food production.
• Founded: 2019
• Location: Italy

The Energy Transition

Moving towards renewable sources – policies like the Paris Agreement and the European Union’s Fit for 55 Package are key accelerators.

Wooden Solar – Concentrated Solar Power

• Unique Selling Point: Wooden Solar’s concentrated solar power-based technology converts heat into electricity using a steam engine. It leverages a bulk heat source as its primary energy store and lasts longer than lithium-based batteries.
• Benefits: Provides off-grid and rural communities access to affordable, reliable clean, renewable energy. The company also utilizes a simple production process to make manufacturing scalable for communities.
• Founded: 2021
• Location: Singapore

Volstora – Cell-to-System Energy Storage

• Unique Selling Point: Volstora offers energy on demand through its containerized, high-density lithium titanium storage. The company’s software provides real-time monitoring and automation for peak shaving and energy trading.
• Benefits: Allows energy companies and local communities to mitigate grid congestion, leverage fast charging, and reduce carbon emissions.
• Founded: 2020
• Location: Netherlands

Future of Mobility

Innovations in electric and autonomous vehicles, alongside shared mobility, is revolutionizing transport. The EU’s Green Mobility Initiative and China’s NEV Policy, for instance, are pivotal.

SteerLight – 3D Traffic Perception

• Unique Selling Point: SteerLight manufactures frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW)-integrated LiDAR. The company’s on-chip silicon photonics LiDAR features a 1550 nm laser, non-mechanical beam-steering, FMCW coherent detection, and embedded intelligence.
• Benefits: The solution delivers precise, latency-free data on obstacle position and speed for vehicles and is deployable in transport infrastructure alongside cameras to locate humans. These efforts make urban mobility safer and more efficient.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: France

Iodo – Route Optimization

• Unique Selling Point: Iodo develops an intelligent route optimization solution for urban logistics. It allows businesses to leverage real-time, dynamic optimization, AI-driven real-world learning, and automated workflows to tailor and track deliveries.
• Benefits: Enables companies to optimize last-mile deliveries and save fuel by consolidating loads into fewer vehicles and quickly responding to unfavorable weather conditions.
• Founded: 2023
• Location: UK

Hyper-Connectivity

Advances in 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI are facilitating unprecedented levels of connectivity and efficiency. Projects like South Korea’s 5G expansion and Amsterdam’s Smart City initiative exemplify this trend.

Binary Tech – Scalable Massive IoT

• Unique Selling Point: Binary Tech builds scalable massive IoT technology for asset monitoring. It combines power-saving firmware, high-performance antennas, and a proprietary geolocation engine. The company’s cloud platform features AI and machine learning for further data analysis.
• Benefits: Food and beverage processors use the solution to monitor inventory while pharma researchers leverage it for active sample monitoring. The company’s technology has applications in other industries as well.
• Founded: 2019
• Location: Australia

Proptivity – Indoor 5G Infrastructure

• Unique Selling Point: Proptivity offers indoor 5G infrastructure for property owners and mobile network operators. Its technology features up to 1500 Mbps speed, low energy consumption, network monitoring, and fault handling.
• Benefits: Enables real estate companies and telecom operators to increase indoor connectivity and provide support for 5G laptops and routers, robots, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: Sweden

Rise of Technology & Industry 5.0

The shift towards human-centered manufacturing is redefining production. The EU’s Industry 5.0 Strategy and Japan’s Society 5.0 Initiative are leading the way.

Manukai – Automatic Toolpath Generation

• Unique Selling Point: Manukai develops a copilot for metal machining. It converts computer-aided designing (CAD) models into machine instructions. The copilot also supports geometry validation, machining feature recognition, and automatic toolpath generation.
• Benefits: Enables manufacturers to increase operational efficiency and streamline production, reducing costs.
• Founded: 2023
• Location: Switzerland

HB Smart Factory – Smart Factory Planning

• Unique Selling Point: HB Smart Factory’s smart factory planning software simplifies production line planning for mass production. It allows floor managers to define resources, like machines, materials, and warehouses, to automate planning.
• Benefits: Allows managers to optimize overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) monitoring by reducing bottlenecks and production costs.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: Canada

Shift in Global Economic Power

Emerging markets are reshaping the economic landscape. Initiatives like China’s Belt and Road and the African Continental Free Trade Area play significant roles.

Atatfa – Blockchain-based Cross Border Payments

• Unique Selling Point: Atatfa builds blockchain infrastructure for cross-border payments. The startup also offers a multi-party computation wallet with high security and privacy standards.
• Benefits: Customers send payments quickly while increasing transparency and protecting against attacks and fraud using this solution.
• Founded: 2023
• Location: Ghana

Cladfy – Last-Mile Lending Infrastructure

• Unique Selling Point: Cladfy offers an AI-powered last-mile lending platform. This smart loan management and statements analysis software features tools for client onboarding, credit profiling, and more. With the credit profiling tool, companies estimate loan ability and affordability as well as calculate demographic and deposit scores.
• Benefits: Enables microlenders to connect with affordable, financing partners and leverage transaction categorization, customer segmentation, personalized recommendations, and more.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: Kenya

Innovating to Zero

Aiming for zero net emissions and waste, this trend emphasizes sustainable practices across industries. San Francisco’s Zero Waste City and Apple’s Net-Zero Commitments are examples of this megatrend.

BIOM – Biodegradable Materials

• Unique Selling Point: BIOM manufactures biodegradable biomaterials. The company utilizes fermentation to convert agri-food waste into its materials. For this, BIOM leverages a proprietary, vegan, and nutrient-rich culture media, Ficogenic Broth, sourced from microalgae.
• Benefits: Ficogenic Broth benefits bacteria and yeast-producing industries by increasing production while the company’s materials replace fossil fuel-based materials across sectors to advance the circular economy.
• Founded: 2019
• Location: Spain

ENG8 Energy – Catalyzed Fusion

• Unique Selling Point: ENG8 Energy builds EnergiCell, a catalyzed fusion energy system. It separates water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen ions, which are pulled into condensed plasmoids. Further, nuclear attraction causes the cell to release electricity and light.
• Benefits: EnergiCell decentralizes energy generation, decarbonizes the economy, and reduces energy prices while featuring emission-free operations.
• Founded: 2020
• Location: Gibraltar

Health and Wellness Evolution

The shift towards proactive healthcare and wellness, supported by wearable devices and telehealth, is transforming perspectives on well-being.

Atride – Personalized Healthcare

• Unique Selling Point: Atride makes a smart shirt for remote patient monitoring. It combines embedded textiles, microelectronic sensors, nanomaterial coatings, AI, and machine learning. Using these technologies, the shirt monitors various health parameters.
• Benefits: Allows healthcare professionals to gain real-time insights into patient conditions for better disease management while offering athletes precise physiological performance analytics.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: Greece

Tailwind Biotech – AI-powered Synthetic Biology

• Unique Selling Point: Tailwind Biotech leverages AI to design DNA sequences. Its platform allows biomanufacturing companies to input non-confidential information on bioproduction organisms. Based on this information, it suggests DNA sequences to model.
• Benefits: Enables biomanufacturers to leverage AI-driven accuracy for outperforming native DNA in terms of gene expression. This speeds up production and increases predictability.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: Denmark

Social Instability

Addressing the complexities of geopolitical volatility, initiatives like the UN’s peacekeeping operations and the P5+1 negotiations with Iran are crucial.

MADCash – Micro-Funding for Women Entrepreneurs

• Unique Selling Point: MADCash offers micro-funding for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) without interest. The company also provides structured entrepreneurship development and financial literacy training.
• Benefits: Provides female-run businesses with access to funding institutions and enables them to rebuild credit standing.
• Founded: 2020
• Location: Malaysia

SKYCORP Technologies – Surveillance-focused Hydrogen Drone

• Unique Selling Point: SKYCORP Technologies builds a hydrogen-powered drone for emergency response, surveillance, search and rescue, disaster response, and more. It also features longer flight times and reduced life cycle emissions.
• Benefits: Enables government institutions to accelerate emergency response efforts during natural catastrophes and pandemics.
• Founded: 2023
• Location: Estonia

Fracturing World

The increasing global divides call for initiatives promoting unity and collaboration, like the Internet Governance Forum.

Entvin – Diversified Supply Chains

• Unique Selling Point: Entvin offers a generative AI-based workflow automation solution for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, especially for clinical trials and regulatory compliance. The company’s database allows businesses to discover new suppliers and obtain consolidated supplier information.
• Benefits: Enables businesses to diversify supplier networks, increase supply chain resilience, and reduce operating expenses.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: USA

Emergent Connext – Rural Digital Connectivity

• Unique Selling Point: Emergent Connext builds rural digital connectivity for agriculture. The company leverages LoRaWAN-based IoT to offer mission-critical connectivity. Its IoT sensors also feature low-power operations, are secure, and have a broader coverage.
• Benefits: Allows farmers and agriculture companies to automate irrigation systems as well as improve soil and livestock health monitoring.
• Founded: 2022
• Location: USA

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