London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a clean tech incubator aimed at sparking a new startup cluster in the UK capital focused on helping to foster the development of low-carbon and clean-tech products which are aimed at tackling the causes and effects of climate change.
Among the issues the mayor wants London-based businesses to contribute ideas and ingenuity towards improving include air pollution, housing and the future of transport.
London’s air quality has been generating bad headlines for years — and tackling pollution is an area Khan has pledged to prioritize as mayor.
The shameful state of London’s toxic air today has triggered a ‘very high’ air pollution alert under my new air quality warning system. pic.twitter.com/cjHmNaAsnB
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) January 23, 2017
“The potential for cutting-edge technology to tackle a host of social, economic and environmental challenges is immeasurable. From air pollution and climate change to housing and transport, new technologies and data science will be at the heart of the long-term solutions to urban challenges,” said Khan in a statement today.
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The £1.6M incubator, which is being called Better Futures and is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, will support 100 London-based clean tech small businesses, including with leadership and management support, access to co-working space and business support in areas such as marketing, supply chain and product development.
Some of the startups will also be offered research collaboration — with Imperial College London being one of the partner organizations for the initiative, via its Centre for Cleantech Innovation, which aims to support the development of a new economy based on low-carbon and resilient businesses.
Sustainable business incubator, Sustainable Bridges, is another partner of the project.
It’s not yet clear when the incubator will begin accepting applications from startups, nor over what time period the money will be portioned out to successful applicants. We’ve reached out with questions and will update this post with any response.
Startups interested in applying for the Better Futures incubator can register their interest here.
As well as seeking to spark clean tech startup activity directly, the Better Futures project will also target enterprises with support for 50 to develop innovations that have the potential to save green-house gas emissions, and support for 25 enterprises to design, develop and introduce new products to the firm — with up to 10 “new innovations” set to be trialled as part of the program.
