This paper, part of a longer series, explores one of four business segments, or quadrants, that we use to pinpoint attractive trends and companies across traditionally broad-based impact investment themes.
Building new roads
When there is no road to get to your destination, sometimes a new mode of transportation is needed altogether. This is where companies developing or using disruptive technology can fit into private markets portfolios and make a big impact. We see these companies as firms building new types of technology-powered businesses and those creating entirely new business categories.
It's not just providing a better way of doing things; it's providing a new and completely different way of doing things (and often what previously couldn't be done at all). These companies typically benefit from offering differentiated, never-before-seen products and services.
Shining a light on new addressable markets
Ubicquia is a smart grid company that fits in this impact quadrant. The firm offers a bundled way to deliver energy, lighting and safety efficiencies through intelligent infrastructure monitoring. How? It creates new ways to monitor existing infrastructure through innovative technology solutions and service-provider partnerships.
For example, there are tens of thousands of light poles across any given city. Ubicquia can enable each light pole to collect local data through sensors and monitor that data with AI to assess which lights need to be dimmed and when it is optimal to do so. This technological enhancement creates energy and lighting efficiency opportunities and provides a birds-eye view of light pole usage throughout the city.
Another type of disruptive technology that we've seen uses sensors to collect temperature data and respond to heat waves in real time, creating a new market for on-demand energy distribution. In this case, data from smart sensors helps utilities providers meet their non-financial renewable energy goals as well as storage and transmission needs.
Empowering disruptive technology with private capital
These new technologies can help drive better, more impactful results across renewable energy and other impact-oriented businesses. Likewise, providing private capital to disruptive technology companies can accelerate their business growth and help deliver more relevant solutions to today's modern needs.
Continue reading about the four business segments that we use to pinpoint attractive trends and companies across traditionally broad-based impact investment themes linked below.