Application process open for Europe-wide cleantech ideas competition.
1,000 applications are being sought from 23 countries across Europe for the Climate-KIC ClimateLaunchpad competition. The UK application process, programme and national competition are being delivered by Innovation Birmingham.
The competition is for entrepreneurs and students to put forward their cleantech business ideas. The 10 successful applicants from the UK will be invited to take part in a two-day business bootcamp, a series of workshops, and then put forward to the national competition to narrow the field down to three finalists. The three UK finalists will be invited to the Netherlands in September 2015 for the ClimateLaunchpad European final, where the eventual winner and two runners up will receive cash prizes totalling €17,500.
ClimateLaunchpad is Europe’s largest cleantech business idea competition. The UK is one of 23 countries taking part, along with Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The top eight finalists in the Europe-wide competition will be given a place on Climate-KIC’s flagship Accelerator programme, which offers grants of up to €20,000 to the most promising start-ups, in order to enable them to bring their low carbon products/services to market in an accelerated timescale.
Catherine Shelley, Innovation Birmingham’s Development and Delivery Officer for Climate-KIC said: “There are so many great opportunities for entrepreneurs and students alike to combat climate change. The ClimateLaunchpad competition is about gathering the best ideas and helping to turn them into sustainable, commercially viable businesses. This is a high profile competition which gives invaluable exposure to those wanting to start a new business.”
ClimateLaunchpad and the Low Carbon Accelerator are two of the four main programmes being delivered by Innovation Birmingham’s Climate-KIC team. A total of €2 million has been allocated to the West Midlands this year by Europe’s largest public-private partnership focused on tackling climate change. The Climate Knowledge Innovation Community project receives funding from the European Commission through the European Institute for Innovation and Technology.
To enquire about, or submit an application form for ClimateLaunchpad, please contact Catherine Shelley: CatherineS@innovationbham.com or see http://climatelaunchpad.org/.