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Hi readers,
When I first spoke with Tien Nguyen of Earth Venture Capital, we talked about places he had been to, including the Swiss Alps. Among other things, Ngyuen noted how the birds and animals in the mountains had relocated because the region was getting warmer.
I was writing this amid an extraordinarily hot February in India, where some cities are already experiencing heat waves. It reminded me of a story I had worked on long ago involving a man from South India who had written a letter to the US Department of Homeland Security about erratic weather conditions following the theft of his village’s sacred idols. Eventually, these idols had ended up in the US as part of a smuggling racket.
The letter writer requested the safe return of the idols, saying that the village and its people had been cursed ever since the theft. He added that “due to the wrath of the gods, the rains are not coming on time, and the land has turned barren.”
I don’t think the rest of the world had their deities stolen too, but almost everyone has a story that ties in with the trickling effects of climate change. An unusually warm month is just a tiny piece of the big picture.
Given the speed at which things are changing, solutions to tackle climate change that were previously considered good enough just don’t make the cut anymore. “We need big, bold solutions,” says Nguyen. While these solutions can be born anywhere, they can be perfected in countries at the forefront of climate change, like Vietnam.
Here’s how Earth VC plans to back global startups and what it’s looking for.
— Nikita, journalist at Tech in Asia
Top stories this week
Image credit: Timmy Loen
1️. Room for venture capital in Vietnam: Impact fund Earth VC
Instead of playing it safe in a downturn, Earth VC is on the lookout for big, bold ideas from across the globe to fight climate change.
2. Mapping Indonesia’s key healthtech players
Healthtech funding deals in Indonesia doubled in 2021 and 2022 from six years earlier due to strong user growth. But can the firms monetize this?
3. Grab’s latest lineup of top executives
We’ve revised the Grab org chart to show the latest reshuffle and departures of top executives, who must steer the super app through market uncertainties.
4. Paytm looks to turn things around with focus on cash flow
Fresh opportunities and a growing loan portfolio could boost the topline of the payments firm, which recently turned operationally profitable.
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