Impact Shakers

Opportunities for Impact Startups 🌱 1) Stage Two is the pan-European competition for the best startups spinning out of leading universities. If you are a startup with at least one female founder and have not raised more than € 500.000 in equity capital or € 1,500.00 in grants prior to Stage Two, you can apply for a wildcard spot! Three startups will be chosen to present a 2-minute pitch on stage on September 19 in Bochum. A jury will decide on the same day who will move on to the Stage Two competition in Berlin on October 31. Deadline: 25 Aug 2) The 12-month BioInnovation Institute Venture Lab program is designed to support start-up companies with business acceleration, scientific, and team development, and provides a founder-friendly convertible loan of EUR 500,000 (approximately 4M DKK) plus access to labs and offices at the BII in Copenhagen. In becoming a part of the Venture Lab program, the early-stage companies also get an exclusive opportunity to apply for EUR 1.3M in follow-up funding through BII's Venture House program. Deadline: 28 Aug 3) The Yield Lab is the most active early-stage investor in sustainable agrifoodtech globally. Together with leading dairy companies, they are inviting startups globally, who have innovative technologies that can contribute to a solution for the sector’s challenges to participate in the Global Dairy Challenge. Finalists will be invited to the Dairy Industry Leadership Summit in Amsterdam on Oct 8, where the winning candidates will secure a €100,000 investment from The Yield Lab. Deadline: 31 Aug 4) Nurasa is launching a sugar reduction innovation challenge - the Sweet Swap Challenge — looking for sugar reduction tech companies globally, and cool, up-and-coming Food & Drink brands across Asia. Prizes include $50K innovation funding from Nurasa, an LOI from Givaudan, a free 1-month listing at Little Farms, and an Investor networking event. Deadline: 31 Aug 5) Our portfolio company and last year's Slush 100 winner, Faircado raised a total of €3m in funding after the competition. If you are a startup founded in or after 2021, who raised less than €2m in equity funding, based in Europe or North America, apply to follow their steps! The top 20 candidates will get hands-on sparring sessions with company founders and mentoring from experts within the startup ecosystem. The winner will secure €1,000,000 investment from Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst. Deadline: 6 Sept #opportunities #awards #grants #socialimpact #startupaward

This week's “Impact Startups to Watch” are revolutionizing Urban Mobility by providing innovative solutions that make cities more sustainable and efficient. From optimizing battery performance in electric vehicles to offering all-inclusive EV charging solutions for hotels and building shared e-cargo bike platform, these startups are driving significant change in the transportation sector. By advancing clean mobility technologies, they are helping to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and make urban areas more livable for everyone. Let’s shine a spotlight on some incredible European startups making our cities greener: ivilion accelerates the transition to electric mobility by providing high-performance structural cooling solutions that optimize battery performance. The Earth Miles. app is a loyalty program that rewards users for using sustainable transportation options in their city. Remea is an end-to-end e-mobility service provider that helps hotels increase property value by offering reliable and efficient all-inclusive EV charging solutions. Bruntor develops electric 4-wheel kick-scooters with cargo compartments for last-mile deliveries and other supply services. BAQME is a shared e-cargo bike platform that provides on-demand access to electric cargo bikes, without people having to buy or lease and cope with ownership inconveniences. #impactentrepreneurship #urbanmobility #sustainablecities #cleanmobility

Opportunities for Impact Startups 🏆 The European Prize for Women Innovators is open to all #women founders and co-founders from across the EU and countries associated with Horizon Europe. The winner is awarded €100,000, and two runners-up are awarded €70,000 and €50,000 respectively. Deadline: 25 Sept The UnLtd Awards for social entrepreneurs & social ventures combine funding and support to help your social venture get started or grow. As an Award Winner you will have access to the advice, guidance and expertise needed to build on the foundations of your social venture and grow your #impact. Up to £18,000 funding available. Deadline: 30 Sept Lineage is inviting forward-thinking students and startups from across the world to help address the complexities of the #food supply chain, explore new perspectives, and propose innovative solutions that can reshape how we feed the world. The teams who present the best ideas at each regional event will receive a cash prize. Additionally, one overall winner will be selected to participate in an #incubator program organized by Lineage to further scale or develop the proposed solution. Deadline: 30 Sept 4YFN is the event partner of MWC Barcelona, the world’s largest connectivity event. They are looking for best-in-class companies that excel at breaking conventional boundaries with the power of innovation, in the following 5 categories: Digital Health, Fintech, Green-tech, Mobile Frontiers, Digital Horizons. The winner gets €20,000, finalists €2,500, and Top 20 startups €1,500 cash prize. Deadline: 1 Oct BEyond Belgium is a 12-month tailor-made, equity-free programme accelerator programme that provides Belgian scale-ups with personalised mentorship, workshops led by industry experts, and access to a community. Deadline: 15 Oct #opportunities #awards #grants #socialimpact #startupaward

This week's "Impact Startups to Watch" are tackling the critical issue of textile waste by developing recycling technologies. Textile recycling is essential for combating climate change because it reduces the massive waste generated by the fashion industry, decreases the need for virgin materials, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. By innovating in this area, these startups are driving the industry towards a more sustainable and circular economy. Let’s highlight some of the most interesting innovations in this space: FibreLab is a hyper-localised textile recycling service that helps fashion businesses find creative and sustainable solutions to textile waste from the manufacturing process in an easily accessible and affordable way. Eslando Circular Fashion is a circular fashion tech company on a mission to accelerate textile recycling. They connect fashion brands with textile recyclers and engage environmentally conscious consumers worldwide. Textile Change is developing a technology that turns textile waste into raw material for fiber production. NewRetex A/S has developed Denmark's first fully automated sorting system for textiles. By sorting the textiles in colors, materials, and compositions using AI technology they ensure that far more textile waste is recycled in the future in an intelligent and automated setup. BioFashionTech's patent-pending technology accelerates the decomposition of fiber polymers into new monomers, enabling textile waste utilization for biofuel, biogas, and perfume production. #impactentrepreneurship #climatetech #textilerecycling #sustainablefashion

Opportunities for Impact Startups 🌱 1) Are you an entrepreneur scaling technology to enhance the climate resilience of frontline communities? The Twilio.org Climate Tech Prize is investing $1 million from the Twilio.org Impact Fund in actionable technology solutions, addressing both immediate and enduring challenges faced by communities susceptible to climate-induced migration and displacement. 5 winners will be selected to receive a cash prize of $200,000 each. Deadline: 14 Aug 2) Spencer Foundation's Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program supports education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships with project budgets up to $400,000 and durations of up to three years. Deadline: 13 Sept. 3) iF DESIGN Social Impact Prize calls for projects working towards achieving one or more of the UN SDGs with a €100,000 prize pool to be shared by the winners. Deadline: 13 Sept. 4) Climate Change AI announced the 2024 edition of their Innovation Grants program. They will fund year-long projects at the intersection of climate change and machine learning for up to USD 150K per project, for a total of up to USD 1.4M. Deadline: 15 Sept. 5) The Bluelion Incubator's Tech for Impact Award is looking for Europe-based startups making innovative use of technologies to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals to get a chance to benefit from a unique opportunity to increase international awareness, pitch in front of impact investors, and establish a positive reputation in the impact ecosystem. Each Award grants the winner with 10’000 Swiss francs. Deadline: 17 Sept. #opportunities #awards #grants #socialimpact #startupaward

This week's "Impact Startups to Watch" are focused on Waste Heat Recovery and Waste Heat to Power solutions. These processes involve capturing and reusing heat that is a byproduct of industrial activities, converting it into usable energy. By doing so, these companies are helping industries reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, leading to more sustainable and cost-effective operations. Here are the startups making a significant impact in this field: Heatrix - replacing fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries by converting renewable electricity into storable, high-temperature process heat. Planeto - accelerating the energy transition by digitalising the design of sustainable district heating and cooling (DHC) networks in buildings and cities. UniSCool - aims to revolutionize the cooling of current electronic systems through a new patented and highly innovative liquid cooling system that allows increased thermal performance with a significant reduction in energy consumption. SoHHytec - provides onsite renewable fuel (hydrogen), electricity and heat production and storage system which is cost-effective, cleaner and greener. Cellcius - Heat Battery technology stores energy in the form of heat. Safe, loss-free, inexpensive and sustainable. #impactentrepreneurship #climatetech #renewableenergy #wasteheat

Opportunities for Impact Companies: 1) The Santander X UK Awards is Santander’s annual entrepreneurship competition for emerging businesses. It is open to startups and founders in universities to win £25k equity-free funding. Deadline: 5 Sept 2) The EIT Urban Mobility is providing funding to companies in mobility ventures to accelerate their journey, continue critical innovation and ultimately transform the European urban mobility landscape. Financial support of up to 500K EUR is available for eligible companies. Deadline: 6 Sept 3) The Social Innovation Prize from Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, organised by Unicorn Factory Lisboa aims to discover and support innovative and impactful solutions that can be applied practically in the city of Lisbon with €120,000 per Category. Deadline: 8 Sept 4) The Carbon13 Venture Launchpad accelerates founders working on solutions to the climate emergency. This 20-week programme is about highly bespoke, one-on-one support to make your startup investable and investment-ready, and to maximise its potential for emissions reduction and climate impact. You’ll also pitch for an investment from Carbon13 of £200,000. Deadline: 10 Sept (latest, applications are evaluated on a rolling basis) 5) Circular Flanders is launching a call for projects to support innovative projects in ecodesign. This call is primarily aimed at designers to stimulate them in applying ecodesign in the development of new products, processes, services and business models. Grants up to €100.000. Deadline: 13 Sept #opportunities #accelerators #grants #impactstartups #startupaward

This week’s “Impact Startups to Watch” are focused on Men’s Health & Well-being - a landscape undergoing a transformative shift. With growing awareness of unique male health challenges and a rapidly expanding market, innovative startups are emerging to cater to this demographic, which is still underserved in the broader healthcare market. These companies are redefining health & well-being by offering accessible, personalised, and stigma-free solutions. Let's spotlight five companies making waves in this niche: Hope for Men is a pioneering online therapy platform dedicated to supporting male survivors of sexual trauma. Jack Fertility has developed a groundbreaking postable test kit, offering lab-grade semen analysis results from the privacy and comfort of home. Mettle is a science-backed mental fitness app for men, to aid happier, healthier and more successful lives, for the good of all. NOUMEN is a stress-relieving self-care brand and platform that helps men achieve physical and emotional wellness. Regimen provides digital therapy for men’s most intimate health issues starting with ED (Erectile Dysfunction). #impactentrepreneurship #menshealth

Opportunities for Impact Businesses 📯 1) The WFP Innovation Accelerator's WFP Innovation Challenges are open for applications and in search of game-changing innovations that deliver relief, foster, resilience and end hunger. Current priorities are 1) Emergency Preparedness and Response, 2) Supply Chain and Delivery, 3) Nutrition and School Meals, 4) Food Systems and Smallholder Farmers, 5) Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods, and 6) Social Protection. Selected organisations will receive support and up to US$100,000 equity-free funding to test the venture’s scalability potential. Deadline: July 30 (some are rolling all year long) 2) Social Shifters Global Innovation Challenge is designed to support young people (18-30 years), from anywhere in the world, who want to take action on the social and environmental issues that impact them and their community. The programme is designed for young people with an idea or project at a very early stage, however, they welcome social entrepreneurs and businesses at a more advanced stage of their startup journey. Grant funding awards of up to $10,000. Deadline: 31 July 3) Brainforest invites nature solutions entrepreneurs and startups to join their Nature Solution Venture Program. They seek innovative, nature and biodiversity-positive startups, especially those connected to forests, focusing on AI for biodiversity, soil regeneration, coastal ecosystems, and Web3. Benefits include dedicated coaching, mentorship, network access, and up to $150,000 in financial support. Deadline: 23 Aug 4) Virgin StartUp's investment readiness programme, #Empower100 is open for applications for London-based founders. Deadline: 29 Aug 5) Purpose Earth is a grant and mentorship program empowering leaders and their transformative solutions to our global challenges. They support purpose-driven projects that are finding creative solutions within the areas of environmental protection, community activation and cultural collaboration. Grant funding is up to $10,000 per recipient. Deadline: 31 Aug #opportunities #calls #deadlines

This week's 'Impact Startups to Watch' are focused on developing #femtech solutions, specifically for #pregnancy and #postpartum care. Giving birth is a demanding experience, both physically and mentally, and many mothers need additional support during the period following the birth of their child. These apps and services adopt a holistic approach to supporting postpartum mothers. LEIA Health is on a mission to redefine postpartum health through a combination of science, AI and the lived experience of motherhood. Momsanity App is an app that supports mothers in dealing with postpartum depression (PPD). CARÁ Health provides an all-inclusive health and wellness platform tailored to nurture and empower women throughout their maternity experience. Postpartum Plan is revolutionising postpartum care for parents, corporates and our society. Through online membership, employee benefit offerings, corporate training and partnerships, they bring together all the experts that new parents should have access to: from mindset to movement, recovery to recipes. Parentally is the go-to platform for new and future parents looking for extra care and support at any stage of their parenthood journey, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and parenthood. #impactentrepreneurship #femtech