Three low carbon start-ups granted £40,000 to scale their business

BioCarbon Engineering, Anakata and Eight19 were chosen to receive funding

Innovation

Three low carbon start-ups have each been granted £40,000 in an innovation prize to help scale their business.

The Shell Springboard semi-final in Manchester saw Oxford businesses BioCarbon Engineering and Anakata, as well as Cambridge’s Eight19, chosen to receive funding on the grounds of their carbon saving potential, commercial viability and scale of their innovation.

BioCarbon Engineering uses drones to plant trees in order to enable industrial-scale reforestation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while Eight19’s Photon Multiplier Film aims to improve solar efficiency by splitting high-energy incoming photons into two lower-energy photons, reducing losses and generating more power.

Anakata was granted its prize for its novel aerodynamic technologies and techniques to improve rotor blade performance, with potential applications for wind farms.

The three start-ups will now head to the national final in July, where one overall winner will be able to increase their prize to £150,000.

Gareth Thistleton, Shell’s Head of UK Social Investment, said: “Shifting the UK to a low carbon economy presents an enormous challenge; one that is much bigger than any single company or solution.

“This is why, alongside the steps we are taking within our own business, Shell is committed to supporting low carbon entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys.”

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