In the first Session of the Brighteye Edtech Startup Festival 2024 we looked into Green Skills opportunities in Edtech - Sharing some of the research we have explored in this space and people who support us in the learning.
Speakers:
Ben Wirz Founding Partner @ Brighteye
Jean-Christophe Girondin Founder & CEO @ Agroleague
Gunnar Windsand Sem Co-Founder @ Proptly
You will find a write-up of the session below, and the recording can be watched here:
The write-up:
One of Brighteye’s main areas of interest is the market for workers with green skills. Our research indicates that Edtech in this area has a bright future based on 4 key drivers:
There is a serious lack of employees with sustainability skills. As sustainability climbs up the list of business priorities, marketeers are facing increasing pressure to paint their companies in a climate-friendly light while avoiding greenwashing. This creates an obvious need for workers specialised in sustainable activities, though the novelty of this demand means there is still a generalised lack of awareness as to what sustainable roles exist, what skills are required to fill them, and where even to access these opportunities.
The demand for green skills is on the rise. A report from LinkedIn found that the number of job postings requiring green skills grew at a median of 15.2% between February 2022 and February 2023, despite an overall drop in job postings in this same period. We consider this increasing demand to result from firms within sustainable development sectors, such as renewable energy providers, as well as other companies attempting to demonstrate their sustainability progress.
There are serious inefficiencies in the skilled worker-vacancy matching system. There is a lack of data surrounding where shortages are, what roles are in demand, and what skills are required to fill them. While some green skills may be transferrable from other sectors, the lack of transparency in the current green jobs market makes this obsolete. Creating a more efficient job-matching system is key to the renewable energy transition.
A desire for employees and consumers to live more sustainably. A 2022 IBM survey showed that employees are 67% more likely to apply to environmentally sustainable companies, and 68% more likely to accept jobs from them. Similarly, 78% of US consumers care about living sustainably, according to a recent study by NielsenIQ. These preferences offer firms an incentive to take note of their environmental impact to ensure they attract the best talent, creating a need for green skills.
This strong demand for sustainability skills in workers, coupled with a serious lack of supply, points to a need for Edtech in the sector. Edtech’s contribution can consist in providing employees with the opportunity to upskill in green topics, or in creating a more efficient marketplace in which employers can find the green workers they require.
Given these factors, Brighteye firmly believes in the market for green skills-focused Edtech and welcomes any opportunity to invest in exciting startups within the sector.
With these drivers in mind, our second part of the session dove into a Q&A with two founders of innovative startups in the sustainable skills field. Ben Wirz, one of our Brighteye Founding Partners, led the conversation with Jean-Christophe Girondin of AgroLeague and Gunnar Windsand Sem of Proptly.
Some of the key takeaways from this conversation:
AgroLeague
What is their story?
Jean-Christophe came up with the idea having spent time working with French farmers and learning about their daily struggles, both practical and financial. He developed AgroLeague as a means to improving and simplifying their day-to-day lives. AgroLeague is a platform which connects farmers with agronomists, helps them diagnose their farming issues, and gives them access to expertise making their practices more sustainable while also maximising profitability. The company partners with companies to gauge the ecological impact of stock purchased through the data collected on the platform, and underperforming farmers are given training to reach their sustainability and performance goals.
Challenges along the way
Jean-Christophe emphasised the difficulty he faced in engaging farmers with a digital product, particularly as digital tools are still mostly foreign to agriculture as a sector. Now, when pitching his product, he avoids using too many digital buzzwords to avoid attracting suspicion from farmers. Conversion rates have also been a struggle, and AgroLeague is working to change this.
ROI and Impact
Jean-Christophe was proud to share that some farmers using AgroLeague have reported yearly incomes of up to €50,000. Having used the platform, farmers tend to view their businesses from a more pragmatic point of view and tend to be less emotional about their profession. This serves them well financially. From a climate perspective, AgroLeague’s impact is harder to measure. However, the enthusiasm showed by partner companies hoping to improve their environmental impact is a fantastic sign.
The role of AI
Jean-Christophe highlighted the role AI can play in agronomy given, as with any science, the field is largely data-driven. Therefore, both agricultural scientists and farmers could potentially benefit from its use. While AI is not yet implemented in the platform, it will likely be used to serve both as a tool for farmers, and for the company to analyse data surrounding sustainability which it can share with partner firms.
Proptly
What is their story?
Gunnar developed Proptly having witnessed the challenges faced by companies such as Tesla, Bosch and Siemens in finding installers with the required skills to install their products. This issue was an important hurdle to overcome in the green energy transition. Proptly is a platform which connects suppliers with installers, allowing seamless and scalable installation of cutting-edge products, including EV chargers and heat pumps amongst other systems. On top of helping companies access the skilled labour they require, the platform provides installers with more work opportunities and incentives to learn about newer products, all while simplifying communication between customers, installers and suppliers.
Challenges along the way
Proptly has been difficult to run given the large number of verticals which it serves, including EV charging stations, heat pumps, and other similar renewable hardware. The sheer size of the platform can sometimes make operations challenges, especially as a company with a limited team.
ROI and Impact
Installers using Proptly report marketing budgets which are 40% lower than their competitors on average, yet they also report making twice the sales. The use of the digital platform lowers the cost of expanding into new markets for businesses looking to scale up. While traditionally it made sense to hire local employees to tap into new regions/countries, Proptly allows this step to take place digitally.
The role of AI
Gunnar shared potential use cases for LLMs, including a predictive tool to simplify communication between installers and end-users at all phases of installations. These could also be used to more effectively process pricing data, helping original equipment manufacturers to optimise their pricing models. AI models might also contribute towards training installers looking to upskill and gain access to more job opportunities.
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