Innovate UK, the Urban Future Lab, and Greentown Labs bring innovative clean energy and climatetech startups to the U.S.

The Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon and Greentown Labs collaborate to help climate technology businesses from the UK find a foothold in the U.S.

Business Announcement

NYU TANDON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

BROOKLYN, New York, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023 – Beginning in January, the Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, in partnership with Greentown Labs, will provide a soft landing pad in the U.S. for the third cohort of Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme: Clean Growth edition, which is designed to cultivate and support the launch of innovative climatetech companies with a strong potential to scale internationally to new markets. 

The program annually provides eight U.K.-based businesses with the opportunity to explore the potential of the U.S. market and access to world-class mentors. This third cohort will consist of businesses in electric vehicle (EV) charging, urban logistics, distributed energy, and other technologies focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or addressing the effects of global warming.

Startups from both cohorts one and two have expanded operations into the United States. These cutting-edge companies leveraged the Global Incubator Programme’s strong mentorship opportunities, connections to potential customers, and tactical, focused cohort curriculum to build a presence in the New York and national markets.

This year’s selected companies are:

• Dodona Analytics – an EV charging startup that helps companies in the e-mobility industry make informed decisions to identify where to deploy EV charging infrastructure and operate that infrastructure efficiently with its AI-powered software platform.
• Electric Miles – a B2B2C SaaS platform for SMART EV charge management, with both Android and iOS apps. Electric Miles’ software suite delivers "the right charge, at the right time and the right costs" with an awareness of driver plans and adherence to market regulations. Electric Miles’ algorithms favor renewable energy and work with the grid to balance supply and demand for grid stability and energy security.
• Grid Smarter Cities – a platform to help enable a connected urban ecosystem to effect positive change for urban spaces in the UK and around the world. Grid's main product is Kerb. Kerb manages city curb space at a hyper-local level, enabling advanced bookable loading slots that give drivers more delivery certainty while reducing idling pollution.
• H2GO Power – an award-winning startup specializing in safe, efficient, and smart hydrogen storage. Its hardware and software solutions are dedicated to providing clean and reliable power from renewable sources, combining technology and expertise towards a net-zero future.
• ISB Global – ISB Global develops and implements software, Waste & Recycling One (WR1), that integrates, automates, and simplifies to drive greater operational efficiency and profitability for organizations that operate in the waste, recycling, clean energy, and environmental sector. ISB is committed to making a significant difference globally in how the world deals with waste and recyclable materials.
• Smart Power Networks (SMPnet) – a UK-based technology company offering an advanced suite of smart solutions to support efficient energy transition and flexible control of energy systems. SMPnet helps clients (utilities, energy service companies, and asset owners) deliver effective, sustainable, and profitable asset management essential to energy integration and development of future energy distribution. Using SMPnet’s patented Omega technology, clients can monitor, optimize, and control multiple network assets in real time and ensure secure and resilient operation. 
• Sylvera – the leading carbon intelligence company. Companies with net-zero targets rely on Sylvera’s carbon credit ratings to ensure that the offsets they invest in are legitimate and impactful. Sylvera’s team of experts leverages proprietary data and machine learning (ML) technology to produce the most comprehensive and accessible insights on carbon projects, allowing its customers to act confidently in the voluntary carbon markets and ensure they deliver on their climate commitments.
• Teknobuilt – its innovative digital platform connects and guides whole project delivery to boost productivity and real-time visibility with machine learning. Its PACE OS platform enables unified progress tracking, faster payments, carbon tracking, and comprehensive safety management. Teknobuilt brings to clients a measurably safe and accountable data-integrated control tower that creates a responsive and faster work process with no disruptions to business as usual. 

This transnational program is specifically designed to support early-stage climate-focused technologies from the UK to accelerate the path of market entry in the United States, paving the way for groundbreaking clean energy companies to attract local funding, partnerships, and customers. 

Programs like this are critical to grow the clean economy and spur international collaboration in addressing climate change, all while encouraging local job creation in New York City. The selected businesses will be working with mentors and advisors over a six-month period, in preparation of establishing a formal presence in the region. 

The program will conclude in June 2023 with a high-profile showcase of UK-based energy innovation in NYC designed to highlight the companies involved and focus the attention of local industry leaders, key customers, and investors. This event also provides a special opportunity to announce partnerships, highlight the regional ecosystem, and stimulate interest from entrepreneurs to engage in future programs. 

With over a decade of experience supporting cleantech startups, the Urban Future Lab (UFL) scales market-ready solutions to climate challenges. It aligns with Tandon’s Sustainable Engineering Initiative, which shares UFL’s mission of tackling climate change. The Urban Future Lab’s track record includes a portfolio of 69 startups in its ACRE incubator that have raised over $1.3 billion in capital since joining the program. UFL is also home to several multi-year, sector-specific accelerators designed to catalyze the climatetech ecosystem in New York. 

Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, offers more than 200 startups the resources, knowledge, connections, community, and equipment they need to thrive. With locations in Somerville, Mass. and Houston, Texas, Greentown Labs brings together startups, corporates, investors, policymakers, and many others with a focus on scaling climate solutions.

“We are thrilled to welcome the third cohort of our Innovate UK Global Incubator Program to New York,” said Pat Sapinsley, managing director of Cleantech initiatives at the Urban Future Lab. “This program fosters international collaboration, drives innovation, and helps grow solutions that will reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels and mitigate the deleterious effects of climate change. With landmark federal climate legislation passed last year, the tailwinds in the climate technology space are many, and the companies in this cohort focus squarely on key legislative priorities. They will help build on the exciting momentum in this country and in New York State to create a thriving, equitable, and prosperous green economy." 

“We are excited to collaborate with the Urban Future Lab and Innovate UK on this important program,” said Kevin T. Taylor, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Greentown Labs. “Addressing climate change is a worldwide challenge, one that requires international collaborations like those being fostered by the Global Incubator Programme. Greentown looks forward to supporting this year's exceptional cohort and seeing its startups bring their solutions to the U.S. market.”

“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with the Urban Future Lab and are excited by the new partnership with Greentown Labs to further enhance the programme and provide increased opportunity for UK organisations selected as part of Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme,” said Jon Hazell, Partnership Manager - North America and Global Incubator at Innovate UK. 

 

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK is the UK’s national innovation agency. We support business-led innovation in all sectors, technologies and UK regions. We help businesses grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive, and easy to navigate. For further information, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk

 

About the Urban Future Lab

The Urban Future Lab (UFL) at NYU Tandon School of Engineering is New York City’s premier innovation hub for smart cities, the smart grid, and clean energy.  As an integral part of Tandon’s Sustainable Engineering Initiative and NYU Tandon Future Labs network, the UFL is home to programs focused on policy, education, and market solutions for the green economy. Due to generous funding from our sponsors, UFL provides unmatched access to industry stakeholders, strategic advice, marketing and branding support, investor networks, and a community of like-minded founders. Our portfolio includes industry-leading startups in the areas of renewable energy, smart buildings, transportation and resource-efficiency. The Urban Future Lab is leading the way to a more sustainable world by connecting people, capital, and purpose to advance market-ready solutions to address climate change. For more information about UFL, visit ufl.nyc and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. For more information about NYU Tandon, visit engineering.nyu.edu.

 

About Greentown Labs

Greentown Labs is a community of climate action pioneers working to design a more sustainable world. As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, Greentown Labs brings together startups, corporates, investors, policymakers, and many others with a focus on scaling climate solutions. Driven by the mission of providing startups the resources, knowledge, connections, and equipment they need to thrive, Greentown Labs offers lab space, shared office space, a machine shop, an electronics lab, software and business resources, and a large network of corporate customers, investors, and more. With incubators in Somerville, Mass. and Houston, Texas, Greentown Labs is home to more than 200 startups and has supported more than 500 since the incubator’s founding in 2011. These startups have collectively created more than 9,000 jobs and have raised more than $4 billion in funding. For more information, please visit www.greentownlabs.com or Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.