SUSTAINABILITY  /  SME

By FedEx | March 7, 2025

Greg Mittman is the CEO of HySights, a Singapore-based data services company that provides businesses with new energy project ratings and data. An expert in scaling and growth, Greg shares his insights on entrepreneurship in the sustainability sector.

• Founded in 2023, HySights aims to accelerate the energy transition by de-risking investments in low-emission bio- and hydrogen-based fuels. 
• Leveraging proprietary AI tools, the Singapore-based company equips energy stakeholders and decision-makers with critical data to assess new energy investments.
• CEO Greg Mittman builds on decades of commercial expertise to drive investment opportunities and promote cleaner energy adoption globally.

Debates continue to rage about the urgency and contextual need for alternative energy and the transition to ‘greener’ fuels. Demand fluctuates across different economies, with geopolitical factors playing a major role in where new energy sits on business agendas.

But most commentators agree that energy diversification and research into new sources of power – from hydrogen to biofuels and nuclear energy – remain essential. Expansive opportunities are emerging for businesses that can source, broker and connect the world to new energy pipelines.

Investors recognize this too. But in a complex industry, it can be difficult to access information that helps them evaluate reward versus risk. And typically, there’s no standardized market price for low-emission fuels.

That’s where companies like HySights come in, offering a simple, ratings-based approach to help investors, buyers, developers, and financiers assess project viability.

Singapore-based HySights provides unique, proprietary datasets and expert analysis on the growing new energy markets of hydrogen-based fuels and biofuels, including ammonia, methanol, and e-fuels. The Asia Pacific region is at the center of this development, with markets like India and China emerging as leading sources of alternative fuels.

HySights CEO and former lawyer Greg Mittman built his career in telecommunications and digital infrastructure, co-founding MyRepublic, one of Asia's fastest growing telecom providers. 

He’s also a Global Chapter Chair of H2, a premier global leadership network for the digital industry. We asked Greg how SaaS (software as a service) business models can deliver game-changing results in the new energy sector, and how entrepreneurs can leverage data to succeed.

You spent the first four years of your career as a lawyer. How has your legal background influenced your approach to running a business?

Greg Mittman: As a young boy, I dreamed of becoming a trade attorney. Engaging with something as vast and influential as global trade felt monumental to someone from a working-class suburb in Canada. My time as a lawyer was invaluable. It sharpened my ability to think critically, solve complex problems, and navigate ambiguity.

But I found myself advising business leaders moving at 1,000 miles an hour, shaping industries, and changing the world. I realized I wanted to be one of them, in the driver's seat of innovation and change. That’s what ultimately led me to entrepreneurship.

What inspired you to establish HySights, and why did you choose to focus on low-emission fuel ecosystems?

Over a decade ago, I co-founded a next-generation telecom operator in Singapore. I was drawn to an industry that was critical in enabling so many others, but also because it was undergoing radical transformation. The telecom sector had been predictable for decades, and suddenly, everything was up for grabs: the status quo was disrupted, and the rulebook was being rewritten.

Today, the new energy sector, which deals with low-emission molecules like hydrogen-based fuels, is in that same exciting place. It’s experiencing a similar shift, and at an even greater scale. 

The energy industry has immense impact: it spans everything from geopolitics to groundbreaking tech. The old paradigms are being dismantled, with great value waiting to be unearthed as the energy transition creates entirely new markets. Everything is to play for if investors can get it right.

What are your thoughts on the current trends and future outlook of the low-emission fuel market or sustainability sector in Asia?

We're at a critical juncture in the energy transition journey. While great strides have been made in the push to electrify and scale up renewable energy sources like solar and wind, roughly a third of the global economy cannot be electrified – not in a practical or economic way. 

These hard-to-abate industries need low-emission fuels to decarbonize. But right now, low-emission fuel projects are not getting enough attention or investment.

Today, there are nearly $1 trillion worth of proposed new energy projects, yet only 2% to 4% have secured financing. 

The challenge isn’t a lack of capital – banks and investors claim they have billions ready to deploy – but an information gap. Developers are building groundbreaking projects, but investors struggle to identify the right opportunities. It’s a disconnect we hear time and time again.

HySights is focused on bridging this gap. We see the low-emission fuel markets at a crucial inflection point, especially in Asia and Europe. Innovation and regulatory clarity are set to drive commercialization at scale. The coming years will usher in a golden age for these fuels, putting them on a trajectory toward long-term commercial viability. 

What is the one thing you would tell businesses looking to transition to more sustainable practices, especially in the energy sector?

The transition to low-carbon energy isn’t just about sustainability. It’s an economic strategy, and it needs to make business sense. Businesses should view low-emission molecules not as a regulatory burden but as a long-term competitive advantage, an astute investment in the future.

As the market matures, we’ll see cost reductions, supply chain efficiencies, and stronger policy incentives, all of which will drive significant returns. Companies that embrace this transition and adopt a comprehensive strategy addressing profitability, economic viability, and geopolitical advantages will be best positioned to capitalize on the green premium and future market opportunities.

What is one belief you hold that other business leaders might disagree with you on?

Some argue that the resurgence of fossil fuels, particularly in the US, will slow the transition to new energy. I believe the opposite is happening. The global pace of innovation in low-emission fuels is accelerating, and China is leading the charge. There’s even a real possibility that China reaches peak oil demand as early as 2025.

China has a track record of scaling up new technologies at an unprecedented rate. Just as it transformed the solar industry, driving costs down and adoption up, I see China playing a similar role in new energy developments and efficiencies.

You have over 20 years of experience scaling businesses in Asia. What do you wish your younger self had known earlier? 

If I could grab my younger self by the shoulders, I'd tell him one thing: start sooner. The sooner you take the leap into entrepreneurship, the more time you’ll have to learn, adapt, and build something meaningful. The world is full of opportunities: it’s about having the courage to go after them.

Describe the greatest business failure that you treasure the most. 

Too many to count! Building a business is never a straight line to success. You set ambitious goals, aim high, and sometimes fall short. But every setback is an opportunity to recalibrate and uncover new possibilities.

Failure is only a failure if you don’t learn from it. Some of the biggest lessons and most valuable pivots come from things that didn’t go as planned. Maybe it’s an overused cliche, but it’s true. 

What are your sustainability goals for the next five years?

At HySights, we embrace Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) because real progress starts with ambitious thinking. Our goal is to dramatically improve the success rate of funding for new energy projects from today’s 4% to at least 20%. We do that by providing the critical data and insights that investment decision-makers need.

It’s not just a number. That shift means billions in investment for new energy, accelerated progress in hard-to-abate industries like we haven’t seen before, and profound changes in the energy landscape.

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Our Confessions of a CEO column quizzes Asia Pacific leaders on business insights that aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from. To discover more entrepreneurship stories like Greg’s, subscribe to our monthly newsletter and stay tuned for the next edition.