Meet the Speakers: Ben Redwood
Dr Ben Redwood, CEO of Mutu
Session: Day 1 | Measuring What Matters: Tools for Purpose & Planet
Kim
I'm here with Dr Ben Redwood, CEO of Mutu, to talk about his session at The Value of Purpose. Ben, what inspired you to focus on measuring environmental impact in your entrepreneurial journey?
Ben
Kia ora Kim. I've been in the tech sector for about 12 years, working at startups around the world. When I came home to Aotearoa with two young boys, I was motivated to do something purpose-driven that would have positive impact in the sustainability space. Most of my career had been spent making money for others, so I wanted to do something my boys would be proud of when they're older - something they'd see as aspirational. That's the emotional side. On the business side, I saw a huge opportunity within sustainability, particularly in construction where we operate. We help give the sector tools to meet demands that clients, government and regulation are putting on them. There was a gap in the market to have real impact while building a successful business.
Kim
For those who don't know Mutu, can you give us the elevator pitch?
Ben
We work with about 50 contractors across New Zealand in the construction space, helping them with resource efficiency. In construction, there's often poor visibility about what each project has in terms of materials or equipment. This leads to unnecessary procurement because people can't see what others have. Items often get sent to landfill unnecessarily, even though they still have value. Our software makes it easy to list surplus items from projects and connect you with others in your organisation who can use those materials. We then provide sustainability data, which is crucial as clients now demand evidence that waste has been minimised and carbon reduced.
Kim
There must be a financial element to this - waste is money. How does your technology articulate the value of these efficiencies?
Ben
One core area of sustainability focuses on procurement. If you think about the waste hierarchy triangle, at the top is designing out waste - being smarter in procurement. The next step down is reuse, which is where Mutu sits. The most sustainable procurement is not procuring at all. We show businesses how much money they're saving by reusing items compared to buying new. When coupled with our sustainability data around waste diverted from landfill and carbon emissions, it creates a strong narrative that you can be sustainable while saving money. There's often a perception these have to be mutually exclusive, but we're showing you can do both.
Kim
Are organisations that can communicate these metrics getting more support for investment? Is data the key?
Ben
In construction, it's heavily client-driven. Contractors often need specific sustainability reporting and certifications to qualify for jobs. We're members of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council, and can contribute credits towards large infrastructure projects across Australasia. Most contractors use that as their reporting metric for sustainable outcomes. Similarly with Green Star projects - we position ourselves strategically with these associations to help contractors meet their requirements.
Kim
You're speaking at The Value of Purpose in the 'Measuring What Matters' session. Can you give us a sneak peek?
Ben
We're going to present an amazing case study with one of our organisations, showing unprecedented speed of adoption and results. Using our software to make transactions visible and measurable creates an incredible flywheel of impact. We've got a video from a client discussing how Mutu connects to the value of values - something we're excited to debut at the conference.
Kim
Have you looked at the extracurricular experiences?
Ben
Rotorua is such a beautiful place to explore. I'm looking forward to the activities outside the conference - something more intimate than traditional networking. It's quite a unique conference where everyone has aligned values. I'm looking forward to sitting down and solving the world's problems with the other attendees.
Kim
Thank you for your time, Ben. We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Ben
My pleasure, Kim. Can't wait.
