A nearly $1 million ClimateTech accelerator program run by the University of New South Wales is now open for applications, with six startups to receive seed funding and mentorship from industry leaders.
Support for the program, dubbed Climate 10x, is being provided through the federal government’s University Trailblazer Program and CleanTech venture capital firm Virescent Ventures.
Each of the six firms accepted onto the program will receive a $20,000 investment via SAFE notes from UNSW and a further $120,000 SAFE note investment through Virescent, as well as 1:1 support from experienced mentors and peer-to-peer learning.
There is also the potential for selected firms to receive an additional $360,000 from Virescent by the conclusion of the 10-week long program.
Among Virescent Ventures’ portfolio companies is hydrogen electrolyser firm Hysata, soil carbon sequestration firm Loam Bio, and lithium processing firm Novalith. It manages the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s Clean Energy Innovation Fund.
UNSW senior manager of entrepreneurship Gabriella Nunes told InnovationAus.com that “at a high level”, the startups for the program will be those developing “scalable high impact technologies that will really help transition to a renewable economy as quickly as possible”.
“I‘ve been pleasantly surprised to find that, based on the depth of tech and research, there are solutions that are both affordable and much more efficient in terms of emissions reductions,” she said.
Ms Nunes said that the affordability of the tech and emissions reduction impact both help determine whether a company is sufficiently in the “sweet spot we’re trying to hit in terms of” scalability.
To highlight the usefulness of programs like Climate 10x, she said that two of the participants of the 10x SynBio program last year, Psylo and Cauldron, went on to raise $5 million and $10 million respectively shortly after the program had ended.
This might include deep tech solutions that significantly reduce emissions, generate renewable energy, and circular materials, adapt existing infrastructure to facilitate the energy transition.
The intention of the funding says is to help get “startups from zero to 0.1”, according to Ms Nunes.
“Particularly with DeepTech startup, it’s that little bit of money to get them through over that potential valley death or set them up for the first few years,” she said.
Following the conclusion of the program, firms will be able to receive ongoing support through the UNSW Founders’ scaleup services which supports “capital raising, investor introductions, follow-on investment from UNSW, access to co-working space, lab and research facilities, connections to talent and our global networks, ongoing coaching, office hours, workshops, media profiling, promotion and training”.
TRaCE executive director said the accelerator program would provide “a fertile ground and resources for entrepreneurs wanting to develop scalable and commercially viable solutions to address our carbon emitting economy. Climate action has historically troubled our nation, so the Climate 10x program is here to support recently strengthened regional and national political strategies whilst helping Australia transition to an economic and environmentally sustainable society”.
The UNSW investment is made through the Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE), which was set up with $50 million of Commonwealth support under the previous Coalition government in May last year.
TRaCE has attracted $250 million in investment over four years to accelerate R&D and drive commercialisation outcomes.
While Ms Nunes was not able to announce the mentors participating in 10x Climate program, she said UNSW Founders has a mentor database of around 500 in addition to the networks available through Virescent Ventures.
Applications for the program are open until May 29. The program will commence on August 3 and finish with a demo day on October 26.
