Clean Cities Spain ClimAccelerator marks 4th year, empowering 100 start-ups with urban climate solutions
The Clean Cities Spain ClimAccelerator, led by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and supported by EIT Climate-KIC, successfully concluded its fourth edition as a relevant programme for European start-ups in the urban climate framework. The Clean Cities Spain ClimAccelerator is one of EIT Climate-KIC’s longest-running acceleration programmes, supporting nearly 100 start-ups from 18 countries since 2020.
Over the course of seven months, 12 start-ups from countries such as Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Lithuania, received specialised training in business, sustainability and impact skills. They also established valuable connections with investors, mentors and experts, and increased their visibility at international events such as South Summit, Valencia Digital Summit and Smart City Expo World Congress. Carbon Fields, Dedalo AI, FLUVIQ, Folgrid, STONE161, Klimashift and Suntropy now join the growing network of alumni.
Demo Day: The meeting point for the sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem
The programme finished with a Demo Day at the Madrid Innovation Lab in November. Here, the cohort introduced their innovative solutions to an audience made up of investors, representatives of the industry and the public sector, as well as sustainability experts.
With around 50 institutions attending, the event kicked off with a keynote address by Catalina Valentino, a world leader in technological entrepreneurship, smart cities and sustainability, recognised by Forbes, the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, among others. During her talk, she focused on the disruptive value of start-ups and their potential to shape the future of cities to face climate challenges.
The majority of the day was dedicated to the start-ups. Following their pitches, more than 100 connections took place between the founders and impact investors, public entities and corporations with a solid strategy towards sustainability.
New edition coming next year
The fifth edition of the Clean Cities Spain ClimAccelerator programme will be launched in 2025. The main goal will be to promote key aspects for the acceleration of the selected start-ups, such as connection with the ecosystem, investment, scalability and internationalisation. During this seven-month programme, these start-ups will receive customised support, attendance to main international events in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, training, as well as access to a network of contacts within the entrepreneurial and sustainable sector.
Start-ups from Europe whose business models are aligned with climate challenges in sectors such as community retrofit, green spaces, renewable energy, urban mobility or information and data are welcome to participate in this new call, which is expected to be launched on 31 January 2025.
This programme has a public-private partnership made up of the City Councils of Madrid and Zaragoza, as well as Ferrovial and the Fundación Zaragoza Ciudad del Conocimiento.