We have the answers to global warming, drought and world famine, they are amongst us but we are not sharing that knowledge. International Mergers & Acquisitions MD, Steve Retford, despairs at the lack of takers for innovative green technology.
We are still working our way out of a global pandemic and yet we have some good news out of what has been a very bad situation. The pandemic has shown us that if we work together, we can move mountains. We have produced numerous vaccinations that would have normally taken decades to produce. Why? Because we worked together; we shared our knowledge to create good – something human nature only seems to do when it is almost too late.
The next global catastrophe looming is that of global warming. For decades, there have been doubters, individuals and even nations that do not think global warming is their issue. It is everyone’s issue.
We have the technology available, there are literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of designs for sustainable technology and patents lodged to protect that intellectual knowledge.
Risk-adverse attitude letting us down
The issue is there are so many grants available to develop technology but almost none to commercialise the product and take it to market. Eventually the technology and knowledge is lost because large institutions and finance houses are unwilling to take the risk.
For example, I have a client with some unbelievable technology that he has developed over the past two decades that harnesses energy from waves. The same technology can also be used to harness energy every time a car goes over a bump in the road. It can even be used in conjunction with wind turbines to produce even greater levels of sustainable energy.
The issue is, how to get this technology into the marketplace? The answer is you don’t. Millions are spent on the research and development of new technologies, designing and refining but that’s when it stops. Generally, nobody is interested in listening when it comes to getting new technology commercialised in the marketplace. Why you ask?
Private equity firms and venture capitalists only want to invest in a “sure bet”. Banks and financial institutions? Forget it. It is definitely a non-starter as they tend to be so risk-adverse. How about our peers in industry? They must be interested in our technology? Nope. Why is that? Because everyone’s egos are bigger than life itself and they all think their product is the best.
How about contacting Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezoz, Bill Gates, James Dyson, etcetera … those that have individual wealth beyond comprehension. Tried that, and unfortunately, I don’t have a direct line of contact, so my messages probably never got through to them and if they have, I have never had a single response back.
Waving goodbye to technological advances
I am frustrated as I have a client who is a good man (who wants to retire), who’s philanthropic nature is willing to almost give away his proven patented technology that he has developed over nearly two decades for the wellbeing of mankind, and no-one is willing to listen.
Please can you share this article with your network in the hope that someone spots the value in this opportunity to make a difference.
