Amazon Devices Climate Tech Accelerator: Apply Now

Eight climate tech innovators just advanced in Amazon's Device Accelerator, bringing breakthrough solutions from next-gen batteries to energy efficiency that could transform millions of consumer electronics worldwide. These companies—AIRCARBON, Amprius Technologies, Inc., Azumo, Elephantech Inc., GRST, Heartland Industries, Jiva Materials Ltd, and Quantum Qool—earned their spots through rigorous evaluation. They're now preparing to pitch Amazon executives in November. The 16-week accelerator teaches participants Amazon's customer-obsessed approach, including the PR-FAQ process used to develop our most successful products. What excites me most is the real-world impact potential. Consumer electronics contribute significantly to global carbon emissions. By integrating these innovations into millions of devices, we're not just reducing Amazon's footprint—we're catalyzing industry-wide change. This is how corporate responsibility meets practical innovation at scale. https://lnkd.in/emm6AeDc

Shipping products fast should be the #1 tech leaders' priority. Why? Shipping products fast should be the #1 tech leaders' priority. Your competition isn't another startup anymore. Facts: The companies winning right now aren't the ones with the best plans. We've shifted our entire development philosophy: 2-week build cycles (max) Assume every AI capability will 10x in 60 days Build for composability, not completeness Ship, test, kill, repeat. The hardest part? Letting go of the beautiful architecture you designed last month. The only sustainable strategy is uncomfortable adaptability. https://lnkd.in/g2q6SiKR

We’re proud to share that Jiva Materials Ltd has been selected as one of eight companies advancing to The Integration Assessment (IA) in the Amazon Devices Climate Tech Accelerator. This milestone underscores the importance of sustainable materials in addressing carbon hotspots in consumer electronics. Soluboard®, our recyclable PCB, is already reducing carbon and recovering resources - and with Amazon’s support, we’re ready to scale this impact across millions of devices worldwide. Congratulations to our fellow cohort members: Newlight Technologies, Inc. (Aircarbon), Amprius Technologies, Inc., Azumo, Elephantech Inc., GRST, Heartland Industries, and Quantum Qool. Together, we are proving that bold ideas can meet real-world impact through initiatives like MIT Solve and The Climate Pledge. 🔗 Full announcement: https://lnkd.in/g295jQZs 🎥 See more in Amazon’s video: https://lnkd.in/e7jnDXbV #ClimateTech #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #AmazonAccelerator #JivaMaterials #Soluboard

At this year’s Climate Tech NYC, the recurring challenge was clear: while ambitions remain high, concrete pathways to environmental goals and commercialization of Climate Tech technologies are still lacking. In the startup discussions, the central theme was the wall between pilot and scale. Criticism toward VCs was also sharp. Two points stood out: 1️⃣ Timing of growth is often misunderstood. DeepTech does not follow the same playbook as IT, yet capital decisions still lean heavily on KPIs. As a result, investment and supply readiness rarely align with the actual timing of growth, pushing founders into premature scaling without the necessary foundation. 2️⃣ Investment sentiment has cooled. With bio momentum slowing and early-stage enthusiasm drying up, the burden is now on founders to provide hard evidence—market validation, cost reduction, ROI, and third-party proof. The irony is that many VCs themselves admit their own limits in judging DeepTech. This fuels the perception of passivity—outsourcing the risk to others. Even though the number of sector-focused investors has increased, their collective impact appears limited, perhaps reflecting the difficulty of aligning expertise with the realities of scaling. My takeaway: as evaluation becomes increasingly KPI-driven, ClimateTech and DeepTech ventures will face even higher hurdles. And even with domain specialists around the table, the ecosystem still struggles to provide the kind of effective, timely support that founders truly need. As someone working on the commercialization of university-originated DeepTech in Japan, I strongly feel these dynamics resonate globally. Building bridges between research, capital, and market timing is more urgent than ever. #climateweeknyc #Deeptech #VC

Last week in Toronto, Elevate 2025 put a spotlight on over 40 startups making waves in AI, biotech, cleantech and more. From AthenaAI and QAFlow to Loop Financial , ZeroDraft AI, vlight, SellStatic , miRoncol Health , BrightIron , Equivesto, Deep Interaction Lab, and others — these are firms pushing boundaries in funding, design, compliance, health, operations, and global scale. I see these names not just as interesting tech ventures, but as symbols of something broader: how far Canada’s ecosystem has come — and how far it still needs to go. Early 2000s: leaner, risk-averse, less connected: At the turn of the millennium, Canada’s economy was still heavily shaped by resource cycles, cautious business investment, and the challenge of “scaling up.” GDP growth from 2000 to 2008 offers a useful benchmark: Canada posted modest gains, but productivity growth lagged significantly (averaging ~1 % annually vs. ~2 % in the U.S.). Business investment outside of extraction was weak; innovation policymaking was narrower in scope. Many founders told stories of navigating opaque grant systems, restrictive procurement rules, and weak regional networks. Mid-2000s to 2008 and the crisis inflection: Up to 2008, Canada’s economy managed to absorb global turbulence better than many peers, but cracks were evident. Growth slowed, and following the 2008 financial shock, Canada’s GDP contracted ~2.9 % in 2009. Researchers have pointed to Canada’s faltering multi-factor productivity, declining investment intensity after 2014, and a structural “growth crisis” that has persisted into the 2020s. Call to action (for policy, investors, and leaders): We need bolder procurement mandates (especially in health, gov, clean tech), stronger incentives for scale-up capital, regional bridging infrastructure, and risk-tolerant policies. The world is full of unmet problems — Canada’s founders are raising their hands. It’s time we help them reach higher.

This Week in San Diego Tech is live! Fred Grier and I dive into the momentum of Startup Week, San Diego’s position in the national biotech conversation, and why Turnout Tech and Once Upon a Farm are two deals to watch. We also talk Qualcomm’s next move and why big tech is quietly doubling down on SD. Listen now: https://lnkd.in/gvEiW3V9

We’re at the stage of our Autumn programme where our founders are digging into one of the hardest and most important parts of building a deep tech company: defining a value proposition that actually lands. In deep tech, that’s not just about what your technology can do, but why someone would pay to use it long before it’s fully mature. It’s the bridge between brilliant science and a real market need. On Tuesday evening, Scott White, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Pragmatic Semiconductor, joined us to share his perspective. Scott’s built one of the UK’s leading deep tech companies, raising hundreds of millions and scaling from lab to large-scale production, so he knows what it takes to turn technology into traction. In this short clip, Miles and Scott talk about why Pragmatic insisted on getting paying customers from day one even when the tech wasn’t ready and how that discipline shaped their path to market.

Everyone is talking about #DeepTech in Europe right now. And yes—we’ve got the brains, the science, the labs, the corporates, even the political tailwind. But let’s be honest… We invent DeepTech. We don’t scale it. The new Bits & Pretzels x McKinsey & Company report basically says what many of us already know: Europe builds prototypes. The US and Asia build businesses. Why? Because we’re missing the builder in the middle—the engine that takes DeepTech from #lab → #market → #industrial scale. Not another #startup accelerator. Not another “innovation theatre” deck. A real build-and-scale machine: #Hardware + #software + #science in one team - Deep corporate integration - Capital models beyond basic service fees - Ability to go from concept to factory floor What if that existed? What if Europe had a place where serious DeepTech actually gets built… here… at speed… with skin in the game? I’ve seen inside corporate venture building. I’ve built hardware ventures. I know the gap. And I know exactly how to close it. Let’s just say: I’m working on it. And if we get this right, #Europe won’t just talk about DeepTech—we’ll own it. #deeptech #venturebuilding #hardware #europeantech #climatetech #industrialinnovation

OKRs might have been born at Intel Corporation, but they were rocket-fueled by Silicon Valley. The key figure in this story is John Doerr, a former Intel employee turned venture capitalist. In 1999, Doerr brought the OKR framework—initially called iMBOs (Intel MBOs)—to the small, 40-person startup, Google. He famously presented the concept to founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin around a ping-pong table. Larry Page later credited OKRs with helping Google achieve "10x growth, many times over." Why? Because OKRs, unlike their predecessors, are typically set on short, agile cycles (quarterly) and are transparent across the entire organization. They force radical focus and alignment, ensuring every team's effort is connected to the company’s most audacious goals. The lesson is clear: Growth requires radical alignment and measurable focus. This focus is precisely where FWD.Achieve excels. Our AI-Enabled SMART OKRs™ Setting takes the pain out of alignment by analyzing market trends and your existing goals to help you architect objectives that are inherently aligned, focused, and designed to get you noticed. Tired of the alignment headache? Stop wasting time manually connecting the dots. Learn more at forwardshare.co/achieve of how you can start building AI-Enabled SMART OKRs™ by joining the first cohort with FORWARD Achieve today. #OKRs #GoalSetting #BusinessStrategy #StartupGrowth #JohnDoerr #GoogleOKRs #AITools #AIStrategy #Productivity #FWDAchieve

🎉 Atmen was chosen among Europe’s top startups in the Rise Europe Startup Landscape 2025! We’re recognized for providing the data infrastructure to certify green industrial products, such as hydrogen, e-fuels, and biomethane. By bringing AI, quantum, and climate tech together, the Rise Europe Startup Landscape highlights how European innovation can drive real progress toward climate neutrality and circularity. The network connects 20 leading innovation hubs across 14 countries, including UnternehmerTUM and ETH Zürich, highlighting the ventures shaping Europe’s next generation of tech leaders. #DeepTech #ClimateTech #RegTech Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ew8WwwF8