Sometimes, surprises lurk in daily data.
Doug Rubin’s startup Northwind Climate is called the consumer category of “climate actors.” They are concerned about climate change and tend to prioritize climate-friendly purchases, an identifier that may have a stereotype of things like buying organic food or prioritizing local businesses.
“It turns out that the climate actor category is actually the most common fast food restaurant consumers,” Rubin told TechCrunch. More importantly, about 30% of climate action are Republicans, he added.
The northerly climate evolved from Rubin’s work in the political world where investigations were essential to understand the shift in public sentiment and identify possible voters. The startup has raised $1.05 million in pre-seed rounds, which specializes in telling TechCrunch, including Angel Investors’ involvement, including Tom Steyer, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Susty Ventures’ Alexander Hoffman.
Northwind climate analysis is not a population pool that may be divided into political, generational, or regional lines, but an investigation response to behavioral cues that can be used to categorize consumers.
In addition to about 15% of climate actors among U.S. consumers, Northwind Climate has identified four other behavioral groups, including “climate distress,” or less attention to climate change, and has less concerns about climate change than Calimate Deers, to Calimate Deniers, who are often media-occupied problems, often retirees.
But, Rubin added: “Even if there is [climate deniers] Buckets, there is some information and a way to work with them. ”
Some analysis of Northwind is done on electric vehicles. For climate actors and “climate trouble,” two categories of consumers are most likely to buy electric cars, and the startup shows that automakers will choose cars. “We are providing options for those who care about reducing pollution, saving gasoline and helping to combat climate change,” one of Northwind’s suggestions reads.
But for climate skeptics and deniers who are unlikely to buy, the focus of the course shifts from choice to freedom: “Americans should be free to drive what they want. We want to make electric cars clean, affordable, and for Americans who want one.”
The startup has built a database of 20,000 respondents in eight surveys, and Rubin said it adds 2,500 respondents a month. Every three months, Northwind also conducts an industry-specific survey to capture deeper insights targeting different customers.
Companies subscribe to the service are priced at $10,000 per quarter and $40,000 per year, with up to four of their own questions each quarter, Rubin says, which is less than what they pay for an annual survey of the year.
Within the platform, customers can access data collected in the north, questions asked, and some basic analyses such as cross-listing. The startup is building chatbots to allow users to query requirements for more specific analysis in normal languages.
Careful consumers may be wary of such a platform, fearing that it may help companies green their business. But Rubin is not worried, saying the survey shows that consumers are smart. “Our data suggests that brands and their reputation for making exaggerated or otherwise untrue claims are at a clear risk,” Rubin said.
Rubin said the Northwest is also developing what he calls a virtual focus group. Essentially, it is a research-trained AI model that analyzes a company’s marketing material (such as TV spots or social media advertising) and provides feedback, just like human focus groups. Rubin said the startup hopes to offer it over the next four to five months, although it will use new data to continuously refine the model.
Rubin firmly believes that the company has always lacked the opportunity to connect with climate-conscious consumers. “If you look at the data and where consumers are – Democrats or independents overall, they do want this, and they will reward companies that are willing to feel smart about it,” he said.
