In the global startup wave of recent years, it has become increasingly clear that a distinct group of startups does not begin with the question, “What can we sell the fastest?”, but with a much bigger one: What is threatening human health, planetary sustainability, and the long-term development capacity of nations?
These startups are often categorized under human & planetary health — innovation models that leverage deep tech to address systemic challenges such as climate change, energy, food systems, healthcare, and inequality, clearly framed within the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
Their fundamental difference lies here: they do not target a small market “pain point,” but rather approach grand challenges — issues which, if left unresolved, will generate social and economic costs far beyond what both markets and governments can bear.
When Climate and Energy Become Public Health and National Security Issues
Climate change is no longer purely an environmental issue. Global health research has demonstrated direct links between climate conditions, disease patterns, labor productivity, and social instability. From this perspective, many deep tech startups approach climate as a planetary health issue — the health of entire living ecosystems.
Within the SOSV Deep Tech 100, a large proportion of startups focus on clean energy, low-carbon materials, energy storage, climate sensors, and emissions measurement systems. Their commonality is not being “green” for communication purposes, but solving cost and scalability bottlenecks in the energy transition through AI, advanced materials, and biotechnology.
When clean energy becomes sufficiently affordable, it is not only an environmental victory — it becomes a nation’s strategic competitive advantage.
Food and Agriculture: From Food Security to a Sustainable Bioeconomy
Food is where humanity’s challenges, climate pressures, and economic realities intersect most visibly. Population growth, declining arable land, agricultural emissions, and food waste are placing enormous strain on global food systems.
Incubation ecosystems such as Planet B.io focus on biotech startups developing cultivated meat, precision fermentation, biofuels, and biochemicals. The goal is not to replace individual products, but to restructure the bioeconomy toward circular, lower-emission systems.
Meanwhile, initiatives under Grand Challenges fund innovations in climate-resilient agriculture, clean water, and nutrition — particularly in the most vulnerable regions.
Here, startups do not merely sell technology. They act as bridges between science, communities, and policy, enabling solutions developed in laboratories to reach the “last mile.”
Healthcare in the Era of “Climate × Health”
One of the most significant shifts in the innovation community is the way healthcare is perceived — no longer separated from environmental conditions. Air pollution, unsafe water, heatwaves, tropical diseases, and climate migration are creating new public health challenges that traditional systems struggle to address.
Many startups and innovation projects supported by Grand Challenges focus on low-cost diagnostics, telehealth, solar-powered clean water systems, and community health data platforms. Technology is only half the story; the other half is deployment models that extend healthcare access to remote, low-income, and vulnerable populations.
This is where startups fill the gap between state capacity and real-world needs.
Inclusive Economies and Inequality: Data Reshaping Access
Another major national and global challenge is economic inequality. Hundreds of millions of micro-enterprises and informal workers remain outside formal financial systems — not because they are inherently high-risk, but because they lack reliable data and trusted infrastructure.
Startups such as Pezesha build digital financial ecosystems for MSMEs through e-KYC, credit scoring, and data analytics, unlocking capital flows for underserved regions. Meanwhile, isgood.ai develops AI platforms that measure social impact, enabling funders and governments to make evidence-based decisions rather than assumption-driven ones.
Multi-stakeholder platforms like LetsEndorse coordinate startups, NGOs, governments, and donors to implement SDGs at the local level.
The common thread is this: data and digital platforms are redistributing access — to capital, services, and development opportunities.
Common Characteristics of Startups Solving Grand Challenges
Across these domains, startups addressing humanity’s and nations’ major challenges share three defining characteristics.
First, they anchor themselves in structured global frameworks such as the SDGs or Grand Challenges, rather than defining problems in isolation.
Second, they rely on deep tech — AI, biotechnology, advanced materials, sensing technologies — while integrating scalable deployment models and innovative financing mechanisms. This enables them to scale impact, not merely revenue.
Third, the boundaries between startups, public policy, and the public sector are increasingly blurred. Many of these models succeed only through public–private partnerships and long-term ecosystem collaboration.
Implications for Vietnam
For Vietnam, challenges such as climate change, food security, healthcare in underserved regions, and inclusive economic growth are not distant global concepts — they are immediate realities.
This creates opportunities for startups not only to “serve a market,” but to become part of national development infrastructure. When entrepreneurship aligns with grand challenges, the question shifts from “Can we raise funding?” to “Do we have the patience and capability to build alongside society for the long term?”
