UK entrepreneurs with “innovative, commercially viable” ideas on reducing carbon emissions are being called on by Shell in their latest round of the Shell Springboard competition.
This year, Shell Springboard’s tenth anniversary, applicants have until 5pm on Friday 5 December to pitch their idea. Eighteen successful applicants will then have the chance to meet judges at regional finals in Edinburgh and Cambridge, in February and March 2015 respectively.
At each event, 3 regional winners will be presented with £40,000 and a chance to go forward to the national final in London. The overall winning business will then receive a further £110,000, bringing the total winners’ prize fund to £150,000.
Do you fit the bill?
Any UK-registered SMEs are eligible to apply. The rules are simple – your business idea must:
- Reduce carbon emissions
- Be commercially viable
- Demonstrate one or more innovative elements
For further information, see the FAQs on the Springboard website. Previous winners of the competition include bio-bean – a company producing biofuel from waste coffee beans, Ventive – manufacturers of a passive heat recovery system and last year’s winners OakTec, designers of a high-efficiency engine optimised for use with hydrogen or LNG, pictured below.
Once the 5 December deadline has passed, a three-stage assessment process gets underway. In charge of proceedings are Verco, an independent sustainability consultancy with over 20 years’ experience in low-carbon growth. Those businesses who reach the regional finals will be judged by a panel of independent panels with representatives from across the low-carbon sector.
The judges for the final in London have already been announced, and include Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust since 2001, and Prof Samuel Fankhauser, member of the committee on climate change.
Shell Springboard is now in its 10th year, celebrating over £3 million given in prize funds since 2005.
Interested? You should start your application! Judging panels for the regional finals are announced in January 2015. Until then, you can keep up to date on the Springboard website.
- You may like: Speak to an innovation expert at Innovate UK 2014
