Climate tech startups from across the UK and parts of Europe are being encouraged to join an initiative designed to make it easier for them to access capital and scale up.
Known as the Climate Tech Supercluster, its aim is to bring green tech startup founders, investors and other stakeholders together so they can share their knowledge and network connections to help bring products and services to market quicker.
The venture has been set up by analyst firm Liminal, with the support of Cambridge Clean Tech and Oxfordshire Greentech, which are both organisations that are concerned with providing localised support to green tech SMEs and startups.
With this in mind, the group said the initial focus of the Climate Tech Supercluster would be on uniting the members of the green tech community based around the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial in the UK, as well as those with ties to the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, and Ecole Polytechnique in France.
It claims 3,000 green tech startups and scaleups worth more than $1tn have already signed up to participate in the Climate Tech Supercluster.
Roland Harwood, co-founder of the Climate Tech Supercluster, said activity and investment levels in the green and low-carbon tech sector are accelerating fast, but the funding landscape can be difficult for newcomers to navigate.
“[This is] why we are urgently calling to grow our collective capacity by launching the world’s first Climate Tech Supercluster,” said Harwood.
“R&D-focused geographic clusters facilitate talent, capital, process, data and IP flow between organisations, with players interacting for mutual benefit. By working together, the sum of climate tech action can be much greater than the parts” Roland Harwood, Climate Tech Supercluster
“R&D-focused geographic clusters facilitate talent, capital, process, data and IP flow between organisations, with players interacting for mutual benefit. By working together, the sum of climate tech action can be much greater than the parts.”
The supercluster has also secured the support of industry partners, including utility provider EDF Energy, which is also helping to fund the first phase of the project.
Laimonas Noreika, co-founder of agriculture tech-focused startup investment firm HeavyFinance, said the emergence of the Climate Tech Supercluster was extremely timely.
“European-wide collaboration between organisations can play a significant role in championing the fight toward net zero, providing a plethora of opportunities to spearhead awareness and increase access to R&D with greater support and guidance,” said Noreika.
“This is key during times of economic uncertainty, and as the climate tech space is developing so rapidly. The group will be able to empower and lead climate tech businesses of all sizes, and ultimately act as a leading voice to encourage other industries to leverage carbon reduction policies.”