Recovered carbon black producer Black Bear has been selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Technology Pioneers’ alongside 55 other innovators. Black Bear develops technology to recover valuable materials from waste tires.
Each year the World Economic Forum names early to growth-stage companies from around the world as Technology Pioneers. This year, companies from a diverse set of industries have been selected, including developers of AI, IoT, robotics, blockchain and biotechnology.
Focus areas were Agtech, smart cities, cleantech, supply chain, manufacturing, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicle technology and drones. In 2019, 25% of the Technology Pioneers named are headed by females.
“We’re excited to welcome Black Bear to this year’s innovative class of technology pioneers. Black Bear and its fellow pioneers are leaders in using novel technologies to transform their industries. We see great potential for these next-generation companies to shape solutions to global challenges and improve society for years to come,” said Fulvia Montresor, head of Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum.
Black Bear’s CEO, Martijn Lopes Cardozo, commented, “It’s an absolute honor to be acknowledged as a pioneer by the World Economic Forum. It is a confirmation that our technology is unique and that it carries the potential to have a global impact on both environmental and societal levels.
“We’ve tackled the waste tire problem by following principles of the circular economy: we identified a waste stream and figured out how to recover these valuable materials as sustainably as possible. We believe that a worldwide transition to a circular economy is essential in solving the climate crisis. This makes it extra rewarding that we’ve been named a tech pioneer and we are looking forward to contributing to the Forum dialogs.”
The Technology Pioneers were chosen by a committee of more than 59 academics, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate executives. Previously named companies include Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Palantir Technologies, Spotify, TransferWise, Twitter and Wikimedia.
The full list of 2019 Technology Pioneers can be found here.
