Case study: Just transition programme
Funding overview
Organisation name: Start Up Discovery School
Programme name: Just Transition
Funding value: £1.2m
Programme objective: to help London businesses in Camden, Islington and Lambeth move towards an equitable and inclusive net zero economy
UKSPF strand: Supporting Local Business
About the programme
The Just Transition programme is a series of business support interventions that are helping London business in Camden, Islington and Lambeth move towards an equitable and inclusive net zero economy.
The programme incubates new business solutions led by diverse startups to tackle London’s net zero targets and accelerate growth within the circular economy Low Carbon and Environmental Goods sectors.
In action
Just Transition supports entrepreneurs to scale climate tech solutions tackling issues such as energy efficiency in homes through retrofitting, biodiversity and environmental quality, low-emission transportation and the creation of green jobs.
The initiative addresses barriers faced by underrepresented groups in climate tech, such as access to capital, mentorship, and commercial opportunities. By focusing on diverse entrepreneurs, the project aims to ensure an inclusive transition to a net-zero economy.
The project has been developed with feedback from past programme alumni and collaboration with local authorities. The objectives included providing entrepreneurs with industry expertise, commercial partnerships, and funding opportunities to foster diverse and inclusive innovation.
Participating businesses benefit from:
- personalised 1 to1 mentoring sessions with industry experts
- opportunities to collaborate on pilots with local authorities
- a diverse range of startup workshops, covering topics like regulatory governance, finance, accounting, marketing, carbon counting, and more
- membership to co-working spaces located in Camden, Islington, and Lambeth
- the opportunity to showcase their business at a Dragon's Den style event
Testimonials
“The people involved in making the programme happen have been brilliant. From organisers to mentors to some of the workshop hosts, everyone has been extremely friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and inspiring”
- Joseph Folkes, Accelerator Participant
“It's been a diverse, organised and practical programme that I'd recommend to early-stage founders. The grant was easy to access and provided us with capital to explore ideas.”
- Kirsty Kenney, Building Greener Participant
Solving the challenge
The UK startup ecosystem had significant gaps in supporting underrepresented founders. The UKSPF funding is helping to bridge this gap and has enabled a pilot programme that not only supports the growth of these startups but also contributes to a more inclusive and just transition to a net-zero society
Funding is allowing the Start Up Discovery School to help around 100 startup businesses and offers three types of programme for businesses to grow:
- Accelerator - 6 month programme focused on helping to start, scale and grow a climate tech business.
- Incubator - 3 month programme focused on supporting a new business at the idea stage.
- Community pitch – pitching a business at the community pitch event, with the chance to win a cash prize.
Alongside this, roundtable events in Camden, Islington, and Lambeth are taking place to further discussions involving community stakeholders and focus on the major climate challenges facing their respective areas.
To date, 10 early-stage and 16 idea-stage startups have been supported with plans to support a further 65 to 70 startups before March 2025.
Impact on Londoners
Some highlights from the programme include:
- The Kestrix pilot is directly improving Londoners lives, specifically in Islington through the project support. They are accelerating the retrofitting of buildings in the Islington council and have scanned 1,900 homes for heat loss so far.
- The Barefoot Planter is promoting 'grow your own vegetables' by running workshops for Londoners on green skills.
- Clip Energy combines AI with smart sensors to help businesses reduce their energy. Initial findings show a reduction of 1.8 tCO2e per year per business premise.
- Goodmine have diverted 610kg of office furniture from landfill during a single trial, equivalent to 2,561kg CO2 prevented.
- Incubator collectively raised £223,500.
- Accelerator collectively raised £1.98m.
- Supported the creation of 35 good and green jobs.
- ClimateFest hosted with over 100 attendees on Just Transition topics.
- £133,000 raised on Kickstarter by new incubator business.
- Enabled startup to pilot with Islington Council on a housing decarbonisation project.
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