The founding team of Ark Climate, Michael Fröhlich and Ruth Bosse
© Ark Climate

Ark Climate: Innovative software for climate protection in cities

Ark Climate is a software company from Munich that is developing a modern, collaborative operating system for climate protection in cities. Ruth Bosse explains exactly what this means in this interview. Together with Michael Fröhlich, she is the founder and Managing Director of Ark Climate. The startup was awarded the Digital Innovations Startup Prize and the GovTech Focus Prize at the German government's Digital Summit.

Munich Startup: What does Ark Climate do? What problem do you solve?

Ruth Bosse, founder and CEO of Ark Climate: We build modern software for climate protection in cities. Cities are key players in the climate transition. They alone are responsible for over 100 megatons of CO₂ in Germany and must also drive forward climate protection locally due to regulatory requirements and pressure from the population. Their biggest problem is that they don’t have enough people: The climate protection department in small cities is often just one person, in larger cities it might be five or ten people. But making an entire city climate-neutral is of course a huge task. You have to work with a huge number of stakeholders – and cities simply don’t have enough staff for that. What’s more, climate protection is a completely new task for cities and they lack experience and reliable data in this area. That’s why we often hear questions such as “which measure is actually most effective, what should we focus on?”.

What we do with Ark Climate: We offer a modern software platform that simplifies processes and enables data-based decisions. Climate protection managers are relieved of all central tasks. For example, all information is now available in the software platform and no longer on the desktop, in emails or printed out in folders, or AI reports and communication material can be easily created. On the other hand, the software also brings knowledge to the cities, for example by storing which measure enables how many emission savings.

“Making an entire city climate-neutral is a huge task”

Munich Startup: But that already exists!

Ruth Bosse: Well, of course there is software for administrations. However, it’s usually extremely outdated and doesn’t have the option of integrating new technologies such as AI. It is also rarely cross-departmental. As a result, data has to be constantly transferred from one tool to another. Then there is also the fact that the whole issue of climate is a completely new topic for town halls, and there is actually relatively little software in this area.

Munich Startup: What is your founding story?

Ruth Bosse: I personally have a background in municipal climate protection. I’ve been involved in local politics for 17 years, did my doctorate on political climate protection measures and, before founding Ark Climate, advised cities on climate protection and adaptation at the management consultancy McKinsey, developing the 2022 climate roadmap for the city of Stuttgart, among other things. That’s where my expertise and network in this area come from. On the other hand, my co-founder Michi is a software developer with a strong focus on user-centric, easy-to-use software, which is great for the target group of administrations.

We know that the whole issue of climate protection in cities is complex, both in terms of strategic issues and operational implementation. This is exactly where our software comes in. It brings structure to the processes, provides support in terms of content and thus relieves the burden on climate protection departments.

Currently the biggest challenge: risk aversion

Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?

Ruth Bosse: The biggest challenge for us at the moment is risk aversion in the public sector. We can already see that many city halls are hesitant to work with young companies. In tenders, for example, it is often expected that the turnover from three years ago is stated, or that the company has ten or 20 employees. This will help us in the long term if we gain the trust of the cities and make a name for ourselves. We can already see this now: Once you have won over a customer, they want to work with you again and recommend you to others. But of course that makes market entry more difficult. To tackle this, we often cooperate with established partners such as regional climate protection consultancies or engineering offices.

Munich Startup: How is business going?

Ruth Bosse: We currently have five customers. These are the city of Kassel, the district of Freising here in the Munich area, the district of Calw and the cities of Quedlinburg and Überlingen. We have a combined turnover of around 300,000 euros.

Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?

Ruth Bosse: You can tell that there is a very strong network between universities and the startup ecosystem, for example via UnternehmerTUM or the CDTM, where my co-founder was also a student.

A lot is happening in Munich, especially in the climate sector. There are relatively many deep-tech startups with incredibly exciting products and generally many spin-offs from science.

Ark Climate: Contributing to better policy and more change

Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?

Ruth Bosse: Oh, definitely shooting star! Outdated, user-unfriendly software is not just a problem in municipal climate protection departments, but in the public sector in general. We therefore want to develop modern software for governments that goes beyond climate protection in the long term. This includes, for example, citizen services such as online passport applications or tax and budget management tools for the treasury. Our vision is to build an operating system for governments worldwide. We want to enable politicians and administrative staff to work more effectively, make better decisions and be closer to the citizens. Personally, I also hope to contribute to better politics and more change.

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