Scotland's top climate start-ups head to global final

Three ECCI-supported climate start-ups are on their way to the grand final of ClimateLaunchpad - the world’s biggest green ideas competition.

Scotland hopefuls Reshape Technology, Go Green Expert and Loch Electronics will compete in the worldwide Grand Final in Amsterdam on 14-15 November, pitching against teams from 50 countries worldwide for prize money of up to €10,000 and a place on the renowned Climate-KIC Accelerator start-up development programme.

The three start-ups are all supported by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI) - host of the 2018 ClimateLaunchpad Global Grand Final and the leading low carbon hub for Scotland and beyond. Based in the capital city of one of the world’s most climate-ambitious countries, ECCI supports innovative cleantech start-ups and delivers game-changing projects for a thriving zero carbon future.

The plucky finalists beat off stiff competiton from eight budding Scottish climate entrepreneurs who took part in the ClimateLaunchpad boot camp - an intensive programme of mentoring and training to help them turn their green idea into world-beating solutions. Loch Electronics came a close third place in the national final and made it into the grand final via the wild card competition.

Scotland's grand finalists are hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2018 success story Lorenzo Conti, who pitched against 135 cleantech start-ups to win third place for his company Crover - bagging € 2,500 and becoming the top performing Scottish team in the competition ever.

Scotland's top trio

Reshape Technology - 1st place

Edinburgh based Anthony Magrath is the founder of Reshape Technology, a start-up developing a product that enables individuals to measure, budget and reduce their personal carbon footprint.

GoGreenNow - 2nd place

GoGreenNow is a brand new green star rating system for consumer products and services, allowing consumers to make more informed carbon choices.

Loch Electronics Limited - 3rd place

Edinburgh based Francisco Carreno of Loch Electronics is the brains behind Capsule, the world’s first personal dishwasher. It doesn’t need plumbing installation and fits in small kitchens, saving energy, water and money.

Anthony Magrath, founder of Reshape Technology said: "We're thrilled to reach the Grand Final of ClimateLaunchpad. We had a product idea to transform how people measure and reduce their impact on climate change, but needed a way of jump-starting the business.

"ECCI is helping us articulate the value we bring to customers, prepare for investment and reshape a business idea into a company capable of global impact."

Clare Wharmby, Innovation Manager at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation said: "It's been a journey of discovery for the eight companies who have taken part. After winning their place, all eight companies were put through their paces at the Bootcamp, working out what their founder’s dream was and how to translate that dream into a business model.

Congratulations to the three winners and a massive well done to everyone who has taken part. We need more low carbon innovation that can be scaled up to help solve the climate crisis, so we are thrilled to see the progress of all companies that have come this far!"

ClimateLaunchpad is one of the programmes delivered by ECCI in partnership with Climate-KIC, Europe’s largest climate entrepreneurship programme. ECCI is the official Scottish partner of Climate-KIC, Europe’s largest climate innovation initiative.

Keep up with the action in this year's ClimateLaunchpad

Can't make it to the 2019 ClimateLaunchpad Global Grand Final in Amsterdam? Not to worry - Keynotes, sessions, & the Global Grand Final itself will be accessible via the ClimateLaunchpad livestream.