Scaling up on innovation across Europe
After an initial successful pilot in 2021, the EIT Climate-KIC supported Circular Cities ClimAccelerator is more promising than ever.
Twenty-eight of the most innovative start-ups operating in the circular economy have just entered Stage 1 of the 2022 incubation programme. A further two start-ups from non-Horizon Europe nations were given dispensation to participate in Stage 1 due to the compelling nature of their circular solutions.
In 2021, this Circular Cities ClimAccelerator has incubated incredible solutions, like Fernhay, which minimizes traffic congestion and pollution while promoting operational efficiency, Concular, which is closing the material loops in the construction sector by making the reuse of construction materials easy, efficient and measurable and Positive Carbon, a fully automated food waste monitoring that helps hotels and food businesses cut their food waste by 50%.
Learn more about our first batch of start-ups here.
In this second edition, over 60 eligible start-ups applied to participate on this ClimAccelerator which focuses on innovative circular solutions for cities.
The selected start-ups come from 21 different cities and 13 countries in Europe, bringing a diverse perspective on how the circular economy could positively impact cities and corporate entities.
With innovative solutions covering key areas, such as mobility, construction and the built environment, textile, food, logistics, among others, the start-ups will attend Stage 1 of the Circular Cities ClimAccelerator up until mid-June and receive tailored training and knowledge about business fundamentals to transform their solutions into viable business models.
The landscape of circular solutions
in 2022
Each start-up presented a different approach to the challenges posed by circular innovation.
Circularity in food systems is one of the trending areas of this edition with Fhlud, Bay Leaf Vegan Foods, Niskus Biotec, GreenBytes and Loop Farms offering specific solutions for tackling food waste and reducing the climate impact of agriculture and food production systems.
Similarly, Arcology System, 4D Mater PC, Hub Controls, Tocco, Transcircular and 2050 materials are endeavouring to make cities more sustainable in the energy, construction, supply chain and materials sectors.
Recycling and reusing are also considered crucial areas for the circular economy with Frieco, Reusable Technologies, TrödelSpende, Munasafn RVK Tool Library, Cooper’s refillery, Circleback, ReFunk, 2GoCup and Danu Robotics presenting potential scalable innovations for these purposes.
Being one of the most pressing thematic areas for cities, SIWEGO, Batconnect, MUV, The ZeroNet and EVtech4U have applied to the Circular Cities ClimAccelerator with the aim of scaling their business ideas in the mobility and logistics industry.
Last but not least, kindby and DYCLE entered Stage 1 of the accelerator programme with circular textile business solutions, while Horizon is hoping to scale its solution as it pertains to social engagement around circularity.
“As a city partner, we get to share the challenges facing Dublin as a European capital city as we work to accelerate our transition to a green and digital economy.
We look forward to working with the other city partners and the start-ups, who aim to reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and regenerate resources for the betterment of the lives of our citizens and our urban environment.
A transition towards a circular economy in Dublin also holds great promise for achieving a balanced and sustainable economic recovery”
Mary Mac Sweeney
Senior Executive Officer and Deputy Head of Enterprise & Economic Development at Dublin City Council
A collaborative journey between start-ups
and cities
Conceived as a public-private initiative comprising EIT Climate-KIC, Luvent Consulting, Tangent, Trinity College Dublin and Technical University of Denmark, the Circular Cities ClimAccelerator has now on-boarded the following city partners: Berlin City and Dublin City Council with the support of ecosystem partners in Vienna and Brasov.
The programme is looking forward to bringing more cities on board across Europe, which seek to advance and promote their circular transitions. If you are interested in becoming a partner city, learn more here.
A collaborative two-track journey between start-ups and cities’ stakeholders will ensure continuous and concrete development of circular solutions, tailored to the actual cities and market’s needs. The cities-to-cities track will be a learning journey with case studies and best practices about successful collaborations between start-ups and cities while the cities-to-start-ups track aims to unlock effective partnerships between cities and circular solutions.
The 2022 Circular Cities ClimAccelerator is also proud to strengthen the collaboration with UPS and welcome new partnerships with Veolia, PrimeCrowd and CRH as corporate partners. If you are interested in partnering with the programme, contact us at info@circular-cities.com.
Join our LinkedIn programme site, here and our website. if you want to follow up more about our programme journey and start-up teams.
Author: Sarah Dozza
Editing: Eliana Silva and Breandán Goss
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Contacts
info@circular-cities.com
© 2021 Luvent Consulting GmbH / Trinity College Dublin /
Technical University of Denmark
