Cleantech Venture Day to facilitate a bridge between the cleantech community in the UK and France
December 3, 2019
Cambridge Cleantech is delighted to announce that we are partnering with Choose Paris Region to host the first half of Cleantech Venture Day at the French Embassy on 11 February 2020.
Choose Paris Region is keen to promote business in and around Paris, particularly in the cleantech sector. As Paris is one of the top four cities in Europe concerning investment flow to start-ups, on par with London, its new and vibrant cleantech eco-system gives a real opportunity for investors to grow their innovative portfolio on both sides of the channel.
Martin Garratt, CEO of Cambridge Cleantech, is looking forward to working together with Choose Paris Region: “It is important to build and reinforce a bridge between the UK and France, to not compete against each other but rather work together in the fight for environmental change.”
Cleantech Venture Days have always been built on international collaboration – the first event took place in Finland in 2006 and since 2017 has been running annually in London, organised by Cambridge Cleantech. Innovators and investors from around the world are taking part every year, resulting in more than 220 companies that have pitched their ideas and as much as 600 million euros having been invested as a result of the events. For this year’s event, Cambridge Cleantech is partnering with KPMG, JA Kemp, Hewitsons and more, who are also operating on an international scale.
This new partnership with Choose Paris Region will bring together members of the French investor community and companies that have led successful partnerships across the Channel. We will also have Fred Van Beuningen, Managing Partner, Chrysalix Venture Capital, Rotterdam, delivering a keynote speech on cleantech trends in Europe, and host a pre-event networking evening in the French Embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, London. Read the full agenda here.
Cambridge Cleantech’s previous work in pan-European projects such as the Scale-Up programme, which has helped to connect more than 500 cleantech innovators with large corporates, shows that the best way to make a lasting impact on society and the environment is to work together across borders.
Clean Growth UK, who are one of the sponsors, also agree that intercultural cooperation is key: “We work every day with amazing innovators helping them to develop and commercialise the technologies and services we so urgently need for a net zero economy. Their journeys are often tough so any help they can get to link seamlessly to investors is a valuable boost. We need to do all we can to help our green innovation eco system thrive, especially in the run up to the UK’s hosting of the UN Climate Change summit in 2020.”
Cleantech or climate positive technology, be it in the form of renewable energy, carbon offset technology, or circular economy, has the potential to resolve some of the most pressing challenges we face today. We hope that Cleantech Venture Day will give innovators and investors the opportunity to make a lasting impact in the UK, France, and worldwide.
We have received over a hundred applications from SMEs and will be announcing the 24 selected companies next week.