Scale up your Circular innovations
Circular Economy Day
On 9 December 2022 the Circular ClimAccelerator hosted a Circular Economy Day in Berlin.
An event plenty of opportunities not only for our start-ups and investors, but also for all whole circular economy ecosystem in Berlin.
The Circular Economy Day was dedicated to the circular community, including innovators, researchers, politicians, corporate companies and investors.
Did you miss the in-person event?
Watch the recording and learn about the circular innovations landscape.
We focus on circular innovations!
Our Circular ClimAccelerator Programme accelerates advanced start-up teams with innovative solutions fostering the circular economy.
The Circular ClimAccelerator offers grants for start-ups combined with a tailor-made accelerator programme with circular focus and climate impact. We connect start-ups with the largest climate-focused community in the world powered by EIT Climate-KIC ClimAccelerator as well as investors, partner cities, corporates and ecosystem partners.
The programme will be run virtually, free of charge, and in English.
We are looking for innovations that integrate circularity approaches and footprint indicators: (e.g. water usage, land use, biodiversity loss, chemical pollution, energy demand, CO2 emissions, among others), to reduce the pressure on the Earth’s biophysical limits and promote a circular socio-economic transformation.
Thematic Areas
Beyond these thematic pillars we are welcoming additional circular innovations in any other relevant area for circualr transformation within cities and the built environment.
Changing the linear production system through technologies that are aligned with circular practices, such as modularity, upgradability and prolonged use are currently helping industries to benefit from new services associated with the value retention of product components and materials.
Programme highlights
- Grant funding of up to €18.000 (subject to accepting SAFE note terms)
- Training and coaching sessions with a circular focus as well as Climate Impact Training powered by EIT Climate-KIC
- Comprehensive overview of investment opportunities via EIT CKIC Investor Marketplace
- Connecting start-ups with circular experts
- Pitching and collaboration opportunities with investors, corporates and cities partners
- Peer-to-peer learning and access to our alumni community
Business Model
Development
- 15 to 25 teams will be supported
- Grant: up to € 3.000 per team
- Duration: 4 – 8 weeks
Validation &
Traction
- 10 to 15 teams will be selected to advance to this stage
- Grant: up to € 15.000 per team
- Duration: 6 – 12 weeks
Investment
Readiness
- 10 to 15 teams will be invited to Stage 3
- No grants
- Duration: 10 weeks
Timeline
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Open call
Open call2 Month duration: usually in March and/or June
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Closing date
Announcement of selected teams2 Months after the 'open call'
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Programme Start
Announcement of selected teams2 Weeks after the 'closing date': usually in May and/or September
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Stage 1
Stage 12 Months or more duration
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Stage 2
Stage 26 - 12 Weeks duration
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Demo Day
Demo Day Graduation of Start-ups: Mid December
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Stage 3
Stage 310 Weeks or more duration
Eligible Criteria
Business stage: start-up teams with advanced business models, MVP / prototype and companies registered in Europe, ideally those that are revenue generating (or close to becoming so).
Registration status: companies that are already registered is preferable, or at least in the process of registration. We can only support business’ registered in Europe*. The legal entity cannot be older than 5 years.
*Companies from the UK, Switzerland and other countries associated to Horizon Europe, may participate in the programme. However they will not receive grant funding as they are not signed up to the Horizon Europe programme.
Programme fit: your business needs: targeted capacity building, networking, and financial assistance to succeed.
Team: start-up teams that have a minimum of 2 founders, which together hold at least 75% of the equity and are committed to working full-time on their venture.
Market scalability: your business solution has the potential for scalability and monetisation.
Circularity and climate change: your solution is closing a loop in one of our main programme focus areas and goes beyond circularity, by considering other footprint indicators, such as: water usage, land use, biodiversity loss and chemical pollution, among other externalities. It should have the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
Start-ups Testimonials
Learn more about the programme in our Info Session and hear about the experience from: Colette van Jaarsveld, founder of Arcology; Phanos Hadjikyriakou, founder of 2050 Material; and our corporate partner Ed Murphy, Director of GreenTech HQ Global Innovation Hub.
Our Start-up Portfolio
Our Partner Organisations
Cities and Ecosystem Partners
