The world’s biggest challenges are also the world’s biggest business opportunities, Thimo Valentin Schmitt-Lord tells the Times of Malta.
When speaking about innovation, the first connection is almost always with an organisation’s monetary profitability. Yet innovation goes beyond that and can be used to create opportunities while helping meet the world’s biggest challenges.
Thimo Valentin Schmitt-Lord, executive director and head of Bayer Foundations, scouts and supports food and health innovators all over the globe and helps them to create more desirable futures.
“I believe that the world’s biggest challenges are also the world’s biggest business opportunities,” he said.
“Therefore, I see no contradiction between commercial value and the impact potential of an innovation. Humanity is facing many challenges, particularly when it comes to health or nutrition. For instance, there are two billion people on the planet have no health insurance and therefore have no access to health care whatsoever. This brings many collateral damages to societies – a major hindrance to prosperity and progress.”
Two billion people on the planet are starving and at the same time 30 per cent of all food is wasted
Food safety and supply are also unsolved challenges
“Two billion people on the planet are starving and at the same time 30 per cent of all food is wasted,” he said. “This is an insane waste of resources. With all the technology available today we can bring this to an end. We are capable of ending hunger – we should stop wasting our resources and we should start focusing our efforts on powerful solutions for the rising billions in need.”
For common goals to be reached, people need to come together, even from different fields.
“Common goals are the most powerful co-creating forces – today, we have not enough common goals across the globe. Connecting sustainable development goals to commercial targets will help us to focus our forces on the pressing challenges of mankind.”
In recent comments to the media, Mr Schmitt-Lord said that his favourite quote is ‘If you want to be a billionaire, you have to solve a billion people’s problems’. How does he find this inspiring?
“Many start-ups are eager to become the next moon-shot – but commercial success without a mission seems not fulfilling enough. Is there anything more inspiring than a successful business based on a solution for the rising billions in need?”
Thimo Valentin Schmitt-Lord is an impact investor, head foundations and donations and CEO at Bayer Foundations. He spoke at the Malta Innovation Summit, showcasing health and food pioneers who have created disruptive solutions affecting over three billion people’s lives, while focusing on the potential next big things in health and food.
www.maltainnovationsummit.com