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Early stage climate entrepreneurship in the UK

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/early-stage-climate-entrepreneurship-uk-sanjoy-sanyal/

Early stage entrepreneurship, in all types of businesses, is very risky. However, if entrepreneurship and innovation have to succeed in turning the fortunes of the human species around, entrepreneurs have to have better chances of success.

Two important actors in the early stage climate entrepreneurship ecosystem are trying to improve the odds of entrepreneurs in their own ways. Both are specialised players. Incubators across the world often incubate all types of businesses. Not Carbon 13, the venture builder for the carbon emergency, whose job is to build businesses that take out “10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the world”, as Chris Coleridge, founder Carbon13 says in his podcast with me. Angel groups across the world are often male, retired and hobbyists. Not Green Angel Syndicate, a group of specialist angel investors who are younger, more diverse and deeply understand climate businesses they invest in.

Focus matters. Carbon13 is tackling one key reason why businesses fail: founding teams often do not bring the range of skills and experiences to convert an idea or a product to a business. The Green Angel Syndicate only invests in businesses their members have experience in and at least one of their members takes on a Board seat. This helps fledging companies spot problems early, as Nick Lyth, founder Green Angel Syndicate recounts a story in his podcast.

Both are run by entrepreneurs. Chris Coleridge was an entrepreneur and now teaches entrepreneurship at the Cambridge Judge Business School. Nick Lyth, who also studied at Cambridge was had his own marketing consultancy practice and founded the Green Angel Syndicate when he became frustrated with the inability of large public programmes being unable to commercialise “applied  research”. Both have Cambridge connections. Coleridge teaches at the Judge and Lyth was a student here.

Other climate entrepreneurs should emulate them. A lot of innovation is taking somebody else’s idea and trying it on one’s own. The Green Angel Syndicate is the only early specialist angel group in the UK and probably in the world. They turn away hundreds of companies. This should be an opportunity for other people with some spare cash and serious about business solutions to climate change to come together and pick up some deals. Carbon13 is mainly for UK businesses and post Covid have started receiving international applications. Incubators – which are aplenty across the world - could learn some of the differentiation techniques they expect their entrepreneurs to follow.

There is of course much more to learn about early stage climate entrepreneurship in the UK. The Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment at the Imperial College London have been running innovation activities for a decade. Carbon Trust, which works with organisations across  sustainability, assurance and labelling, Net Zero targets has a dedicated innovation practice. And then there is Innovate UK, the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. Follow me on LinkedIn or subscribe to the New Ventures podcasts on Anchor, Apple, Google, Spotify or Medium to know more as I learn about this world.

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