{"id":158247,"date":"2025-07-17T10:35:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T03:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thestorythailand.com\/?p=158247"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T03:35:47","slug":"climate-tech-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thestorythailand.com\/en\/climate-tech-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"KBank & Google Cloud propel Asia’s climate tech startups to global sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KASIKORNBANK (KBank), through its venture capital arm Beacon VC, in collaboration with Google Cloud, has announced the successful conclusion of the Earth KATALYST project. This three-month accelerator program was specifically designed to enhance the technological capabilities and business strategies of startups in the fields of climate, environmental, and agricultural technologies across Southeast Asia. Five standout startup teams from the program demonstrated their impressive ability to leverage the Google Earth Engine to create tangible positive impacts on both society and the environment. Their innovations also demonstrated potential in meeting the business sector\u2019s needs by improving management efficiency and promoting sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanapong Na Ranong<\/strong>, Managing Partner, Beacon Venture Capital Company Limited (Beacon VC),\u00a0<\/strong>said as the venture capital arm of KBank, Beacon VC is committed to continuously strengthening Thailand\u2019s startup ecosystem. This is achieved through support in various dimensions, including venture funding, knowledge sharing, advisory services, and access to technological tools. Most recently, Beacon VC has expanded its role to actively support climate tech startups in alignment with KBank\u2019s mission to drive Thailand towards achieving its greenhouse gas reduction targets and creating a sustainable positive impact on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, Beacon VC collaborated with Google Cloud to launch the Earth KATALYST project, a three-month training program designed to enhance the technological capabilities and business strategies of startups in the fields of climate, environmental, and agricultural technologies. The goal is to empower these startups to generate tangible positive impacts on society and the environment. Throughout the program, participating startups received comprehensive support, including mentorship from industry experts, benefits from the Google for Startups Cloud Program, and strategic guidance from global partners such as New Energy Nexus, a global organization that supports clean energy entrepreneurs and startups; Navagis, a company specializing in location intelligence and spatial data analytics; and Third Derivative, a platform that accelerates the growth of climate tech startups. Participants also joined workshops organized by Beacon VC to help them plan fundraising strategies and prepare for expansion into Southeast Asian markets. In addition, they had the opportunity to explore Google Cloud\u2019s latest technologies, including Vertex AI, BigQuery, and Google Earth Engine, which holds more than 50 years of geospatial data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 startup teams showcase their work at EARTH JUMP<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This year, more than 40 teams applied to join the Earth KATALYST project, with 12 teams selected for the course. From these, five standout teams were chosen to present their work at the EARTH JUMP event. Each of these teams received a 20,000 Baht grant along with Cloud Credits from Google. The selected teams included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n