Alumni from our Energy Launchpad’s SME innovator challenge calls are thriving in the transition to a net zero energy system.
Innovators supported by the Launchpad since 2018/19 have raised over £65 million in funding – including £50m in private sector investment and £15m in public sector grants – with two-thirds of that raised last financial year.
Accelerating innovation across the energy system is key to achieving net zero by 2050, and SMEs specialising in smart and low carbon energy solutions are at the forefront of that transition.
The Catapult supports innovators to achieve success through the Energy Launchpad platform, helping to propel them step-by-step to commercialisation – both at home and with overseas opportunities.
This includes services such as business model analysis, investment readiness, system integration, real-world consumer insights (for example through our Living Lab) and test and demonstration with performance validation.
Our Launchpad offers three levels of support to innovators – universal, incubator and accelerator – and draws on a range of capabilities, tools and testing labs from the Catapult and partners to accelerate growth and turn innovators into entrepreneurs.
Recent success stories include:
Sero delivers zero-carbon buildings toolkits for developers, operational optimisation for homes and ongoing services to homeowners and tenants to ensure homes are comfortable and cheap to run. Energy Launchpad helped Sero with investment readiness, including advice and support to prepare an investor pack, identification of target investors and curated introductions, helping them to secure £5.5m in private sector investment.
Equiwatt incentivises consumers to save energy at peak times through an app-based rewards scheme, using smart meter data to monitor household energy use and automatically turn-off appliances to reduce demand during peak events. Energy Launchpad helped Equiwatt to prepare for further investment and scale up its customer base. The company subsequently secured an investment of over £300,000 to progress scale up plans.
Ventive has developed a smart, zero carbon home solution with low carbon heating and cooling, energy storage, hot and cold water and ventilation all in one box – the Ventive Home. Energy Launchpad provided support for the commercial development of the product, including market landscaping and business model innovation. Ventive recently announced it will be manufacturing the Home at scale at a new facility in Worcestershire.
Paul Jordan, Energy Launchpad business lead at Energy Systems Catapult, said:
“SME innovators are a key driving force in getting the UK to net zero, and we’re proud of the role we’re able to play in helping many of them on their journey to success. Over the first three years of the Energy Launchpad, we’ve shown the impact SMEs gain from our wide-ranging expertise – whether in business support or technology test and validation. We look forward to continuing, through our support programmes, to help these innovators unlock their potential and contribute to the UK’s decarbonisation progress.”
Turning clean energy innovators into entrepreneurs. Propelling SMEs step-by-step through technical validation towards commercial vindication.
Find out moreFind out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams
Find out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams