Earthshot Prize & Imperial partner for climate innovation network

The Earthshot Prize has announced a new global network to accelerate climate innovation, created in collaboration with White City Innovation District’s Undaunted@Imperial – a successful partnership between Imperial College London and The Royal Institution, and home to the UK’s longest-running specialist climate accelerator.  

The brand-new accelerator programme – launched with 17 initial members – aims to help rapidly scale-up 10,000 eco-innovations by early-stage climate entrepreneurs this decade. The goal is to support the most promising climate start-ups in their mission to address the world’s most urgent environmental challenges, fostering collaboration between accelerators, incubators and other organisations driving climate innovation around the world.

The 17 initial members operate across five continents, including in all four Earthshot Prize host cities to date (London, Boston, Singapore and Cape Town). The 17 launch members are ASBhive at the Asia School of Business, Breakthrough Energy, Canopy at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Climate Collective, Climate Ventures, Hatch Blue, Impact Hub Accra, Kinjani, Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, Leading Cities, The Mills Fabrica, Ninety One, Sustainable Ventures, Tech Nation, Third Derivative, TUM Venture Labs and Undaunted. 

Aimed specifically at young game-changers, innovators and entrepreneurs, the new Global Innovation Network provides start-ups with an end-to-end global support ecosystem – delivering access to expert advice, technical resources, investment, customers and new markets. 

At Imperial, we know that innovation is needed to achieve a sustainable, zero pollution future.
Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London

In 2022, Notpla, a start-up founded by Imperial graduates Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia, was awarded £1 million in the Prince of Wales’ Earthshot Prize for its seaweed-based biodegradable alternative to plastic – the first UK team to win a prize in the competition. During their time at Imperial, the founders received support from Imperial’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, including Imperial Enterprise Lab, the Centre for Climate Change Innovation and Imperial White City Incubator.   

a sustainable future 

Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, commented: “At Imperial, we know that innovation is needed to achieve a sustainable, zero pollution future. We need scientists, entrepreneurs, businesses, policymakers and the public to come together to make a difference on a global scale – an ambition set out in our Science for Humanity strategy. We’re excited that Undaunted@Imperial is partnering with The Earthshot Prize to support the most promising cleantech businesses, including our own Notpla who were the first UK winners of The Earthshot Prize in 2022.” 

Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Innovation at Imperial Grantham Institute and Director of Undaunted@Imperial, added: “It’s brilliant to see that the number organisations dedicated to supporting green innovators globally is flourishing – we are seeing the emergence of a thriving world-wide web of action to create a sustainable and just future. This kind of tailor-made support for green founders is vital in our efforts to tackle the world’s climate and environmental challenges in intelligent ways, at pace, at scale, and taking all of the world’s citizens with us on this journey.”

Undaunted@Imperial is the hub for the UK’s climate innovation community which, to date, has supported over 190 start-ups who, in turn, have raised a total of over $1billion of funding since 2012.  

Gilbert continued: “What’s missing is a way to harness the power of these hubs across countries and continents. We need to work together to more equitably distribute opportunities and resources and to channel the vital expertise and infrastructure, funders and markets that these accelerators offer towards the right founders at the right time, to maximise our collective impact. The new network brings together world-leaders in climate innovation support to make this happen. Join us!” 

Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) said: “Collaboration and partnerships are at the heart of what we do at Imperial; critical to making new discoveries and seeking innovations that drive the transition to net zero. Environmental challenges need to be tackled on a global scale, and we look forward to working with The Earthshot Prize and organisations across the world to make the ideas of the world’s most promising climate innovators a reality.”   

Hannah Jones, CEO of The Earthshot Prize said: “By connecting these organisations across the globe, we can create an ecosystem that catalyses groundbreaking climate innovations and helps us turbocharge the solutions we need to save the planet. The Network will also provide a lasting legacy to cities hosting The Earthshot Prize.”  

SUSTAINABLE IMPERIAL

One of the cornerstones of Imperial’s Science for Humanity strategy is Sustainable Imperial – an institution-wide strategy addressing the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Sustainable Imperial aims to nurture graduates who understand and advocate for climate science, support Imperial researchers to investigate this global crisis, and lead by example across the university’s campuses. Explore Imperial’s Sustainability Strategy 2021-2026 online.

EARTHSHOT CHALLENGES: 2030

Launched in 2020 and developed in collaboration with leading environmental experts, The Earthshot Prize’s five ambitious challenges for 2030 are to Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix our Climate.

Every year this decade, His Royal Highness Prince William and a distinguished Prize Council will award £1 million Earthshot Prizes to five winners, one per Earthshot.

MEET THE 2024 EARTHSHOT PRIZE FINALISTS

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