Humble Sustainability, a Philippines-based climate tech startup, has secured a significant pre-Series A funding round led by Gobi Partners, with participation from ADB Ventures, the Asian Development Bank’s venture arm, and the National Development Company. The investment will fuel Humble’s expansion across Southeast Asia and the development of its proprietary Climate Dashboard platform.
Founded in 2022, Humble aims to address the growing electronic waste problem in the region by providing a platform for businesses to securely recycle and refurbish their used IT equipment. The company’s B2B trading platform helps corporations meet their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals while reducing their carbon footprint.
“We’re thrilled to have the support of ADB Ventures, Gobi Partners, and the National Development Company,” said Josef Werker, CEO and Co-founder of Humble Sustainability. “This investment will enable us to scale our operations and accelerate our mission to create a more sustainable future.”
The Climate Dashboard, a key component of Humble’s future strategy, will provide businesses with real-time data on their environmental impact. By tracking metrics like greenhouse gas emissions and waste diverted from landfills, companies can set more informed sustainability goals and take targeted action.
“We believe that the Climate Dashboard is a game-changer for businesses looking to reduce their environmental footprint,” said Werker. “By providing them with the data they need to make informed decisions, we can help drive a more sustainable economy.”
With this new funding, Humble plans to expand its operations beyond the Philippines and into other Southeast Asian markets, such as Indonesia and Thailand. By expanding into Southeast Asia, Humble aims to capture a significant portion of the $13 billion market opportunity and become a dominant force in the recommerce of electronic assets.
The company also intends to launch a B2C model in 2025, allowing consumers to buy and sell second-hand items directly.
“Humble’s innovative approach to e-waste management aligns perfectly with ADB Ventures’ focus on sustainable development,” said Thitirat Sittakaradej of ADB Ventures. “We are excited to support the company’s growth and contribute to a more circular economy in Southeast Asia.”
In an exclusive interview with The Independent Investor, Josef Werker discussed the company’s growth strategy, competitive advantage, and the challenges it faces in the rapidly evolving climate tech industry.
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Humble has positioned itself as a leader in Climate Tech in the Philippines. Could you elaborate on the specific strategies and innovations that have contributed to this position?
The number 1 secret sauce is not so secret – relationships. I’ve spent 11 happy years in the Philippines and built a network that we’re now fully utilizing.
We are fortunate to have built strong relationships with strategic investors, associations, government, corporates and other startups that has started bearing fruit. We help businesses create, track and achieve a meaningful ESG initiative, while solving a headache in the process, how to sustainably and 100% securely replace their IT equipment. We help businesses extract high value from their IT equipment, which they can recover as cash, or redirect to further social impact activities.
Given the challenges of fundraising in today’s economic climate, how has Humble managed to secure support from government entities, ADB, and VCs like Gobi Partners? What has been the key to building these strong partnerships?
Raising during this time was obviously a massive challenge. I would summarize it like this:
- Build real relationships with the people behind the investments first
- Don’t give up at ’no’. I’ve been talking to ADB for 3 years, they said no twice before I got a yes
- Get introductions from credible people, don’t reach out cold unless you have to
- Just keep going; it only takes one yes to turn the whole round from a disaster to an extremely strong raise
You mentioned reimagining the circular economy. Can you share specific examples of how Humble’s products or services are contributing to a more sustainable future?
We prevent e-waste ending up in the landfill by recycling/refurbishing e-waste. We also provide top quality refurbished IT equipment so that businesses don’t need to buy brand new. Finally, we help clients track their climate metrics for their sustainability reporting and ESG initiatives
Balancing profit and impact can be challenging. How does Humble ensure that its business goals align with its social and environmental mission?
Time and time again I see wonderful social enterprises struggling to get past steps 1 or 2 because of their model and their focus on impact alone. At the early stages especially, we saw the need to focus on building a highly scalable and profitable business first.
Reality is that even the impact funds prioritize growth and profitability, impact is often the final check in the box, which makes sense, they need a return, otherwise it would be a grant.
If we’re not profitable, we can’t raise investment and grow. If we can’t grow, then our impact will only ever be small. Therefore, the more profitable we are, the greater impact we can create!
What are the biggest challenges you face in scaling your business?
Working with large corporations and government departments can take time, so our sales cycle is the biggest challenge.
How do you plan to maintain your competitive edge in the rapidly evolving Climate Tech industry?
There are four key factors that I give Humble a competitive advantage.
- Technology – we developed a world class platform to access Humble’s service
- Vertical expansion – working with our clients in deeper and adjacent ways in line with their ESG initiatives
- Nurture high quality and real relationships – build a moat around our partnerships
- Outstanding service