Greensense – StartupSmart
Greensense View is a hosted software service that collates, processes and presents data on the sustainability performance of organisations and buildings.
“By presenting real-time data on resource consumption on the web, we bring sustainability data to life, making energy, water and waste visible, understandable and actionable,” Gerrard says.
Gerrard says he and his co-founders – who come from backgrounds in environmental science, technology and management consulting – developed the concept in conversations over red wine.
“We wanted to start something that made a difference in the world, using the skills we had collectively developed in our careers at that point,” he says.
“By mixing the rise of interest in sustainability concerns and technology, that has created a more visually-driven consumer, we saw an opportunity to provide some innovation between people, and the spaces where they live and work.”
According to Gerrard, there are three areas that present clear opportunities. They are the construction and property sector, the government and education sectors, and the energy and water utility sector.
However, Gerrard points out Greensense was established when climate change and carbon emissions trading were high on the public agenda.
“The uncertain market conditions made it difficult to generate new business. During the same period, the GFC occurred and uncertain market conditions were supplemented by restricted spending on discretionary items, which is often how our products and services were being categorised,” Gerrard says.
“We learnt during this to trust our entrepreneurial attitude and innovative thinking.
“We took calculated risks and have now navigated this period, resulting in a strong foundation that we can continue to build the business from.”
Bruce Jeffreys, founder of car sharing business GoGet and StartupSmart Awards judge says that Greensense was a “clear winner” in the Best Green Start-up award.
“One of the great challenges in introducing more sustainable products and services is bringing together end-users with infrastructure providers and providing clear information they can act on,” he says.
“(Greensense’s) entire product is aimed at changing behaviour through utilising information and data that at the moment is either hidden or not shared. This is an exciting new business with heaps of potential to grow.”