Commercializing British climate technology

Commercialization is the single most important piece for climate technologies to scale and get adopted. A few weeks ago Joel Cesare and Owen Barrett got to chat on their powerful podcast Less Talk More Action. What a full circle moment to chat with a current and ex client in the same room! We talked about why and how putting the customer/ partner for these solutions in the center of climate work is so important. Few takeaways: 1/ Focus beyond technology Successful climate solutions don’t just solve environmental problems. They address business needs, user experience, and market fit. If you only focus on tech, you’ll miss the bigger picture and adoption will stall. 2/ Use Design as your secret weapon Good design bridges complexity and market acceptance. It makes technology simple, usable, and approachable. Without it, even the best tech struggles to gain traction. 3/ Messaging matters way more than you think Too much climate doom causes fatigue and reduces urgency. For any form of conversion, relevancy to you’re audience’s needs is first and foremost. Tie climate benefits to business value like cost savings and efficiency to keep people engaged. 4/ Network and create content Use LinkedIn, events, Slack channels, and word of mouth to connect with clients and collaborators. Organic content generates real leads and builds trust. 5/ Be flexible between worlds Government projects and startups operate VERY differently. Understanding their unique challenges is key to driving adoption and commercialization. 6/ Stay true to your mission Choose projects and clients carefully. Authenticity and real impact matter more than flashy hype. 7/ Keep the hope alive The climate tech community is resilient and collaborative. People want to help and share knowledge to solve these challenges together. P.S. What’s one challenge you’ve seen holding climate tech back?

🚨 UK Founders: You’re Overlooking This Source of Strategic Capital When UK startups talk about raising a seed round or series A, it’s the same shortlist: 📈 VCs, family offices, angels, maybe a grant. Corporate VCs bring more than money: ✅ Route to scale ✅ Sector validation ✅ Global commercial access ✅ Optionality for M&A or partnership Many CVCs are ready to deploy serious capital if you speak their language. Some of the UK’s most strategic corporate investors today include: 🔋 Energy & Climate Tech • BP Ventures – $500m+ deployed into net zero, hydrogen, and mobility • Shell Ventures – Global, but very active in UK energy transition • Octopus Ventures – Climate tech, deeptech, fintech • National Grid Partners – Investing in grid modernisation, energy AI, cybersecurity 🏦 Finance & Insurtech • Legal & General Capital – Long-term strategic bets in housing, climate and infrastructure • Aviva Ventures – Focused on insurtech, AI, digital health • Barclays Ventures / Rise – Backs fintechs and partners through accelerator programmes • HSBC Ventures – Quietly active in fintech and global trade innovation 🛍️ Retail & Consumer • Unilever Ventures – Backing personal care, beauty, and wellness brands • Ocado Ventures – Investing in robotics, AI, and logistics • Tesco Labs – Pilot and innovation arm (less formal CVC, but worth engaging) 📡 Tech & Telco • BT Group Ventures – Exploring frontier tech for digital transformation • Vodafone Ventures – Historically active, with current focus on IoT, 5G, enterprise 💊 Life Sciences & Health • SR One – Originally GSK’s CVC arm, now global but active in UK biotech • AstraZeneca BioVentureHub – Collaborative innovation at the UK’s biotech frontier • IP Group / Imperial Innovations – Powering spinouts from Oxford, Imperial, UCL, and others ⚙️ Industrial / DeepTech • Rolls-Royce Ventures – Investing in sustainable aerospace and emerging tech • Arup Ventures – Smart cities, sustainability, construction • BAE Systems Applied Intelligence – Cybersecurity, AI, and defence-related innovation Final Thought 💥 If you’re raising a seed or Series A and not talking to these players, you may be leaving strategic firepower on the table. CVCs aren’t slow — they’re selective. But when they move, they move with force. Let’s connect if you’re building something that deserves a strategic backer.

This is the most useful report I’ve read this year on carbon removals in the UK. It doesn’t just describe the tech - it maps the financing bottlenecks, policy gaps, and market frictions with rare clarity. A few takeaways that stood out: → We’re finally seeing momentum on CCfDs and CO₂ storage access — especially for DACCS and BECCS. → But distributed, shovel-ready solutions like biochar and enhanced rock weathering are still being treated like an afterthought. → Permitting, land-use, and feedstock rules are holding back projects that are otherwise investable. → And demand - the thing that underwrites all of this - is still too fragile. Without many more corporates signing long term offtakes voluntarily or ETS integration, it’s hard to see how private capital flows at the scale we need. The UK could be a serious hub for carbon removals - but only if we move from pilot projects to portfolio support. Strong work from Georgia Berry Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE Green Finance Institute and ERM. Worth your time. 📖 Report here: https://lnkd.in/efUVFi3R

The newest episode of "The Green Blueprint" is out. I loved this conversation between Lara Pierpoint and Douglas Chan. It offers a candid look at the challenges and opportunities of scaling direct-air capture. As the industry moves from demonstration to commercial deployment, a few key insights from Climeworks stand out: Strategic site selection: The intersection of clean power and storage geology proves critical for DAC economics. Iceland's case study demonstrates how access to carbon-free energy and suitable storage formations can dramatically impact project viability. Manufacturing & design evolution: The industry is learning valuable lessons about modularity and mass production. The progression from custom-built units to standardized, repeatable designs highlights a crucial shift toward manufacturability -- a key factor for cost reduction and scale-up potential. Project Finance: DAC projects are pioneering new financing approaches by: - Securing offtake contracts during construction - Blending public funding with private capital - Testing various project finance structures as facilities reach commercial scale Market reality check: Challenges center on demand creation. While voluntary markets provide early momentum, the industry recognizes that compliance markets and policy support will likely be crucial for achieving gigaton scale. This suggests the need for parallel tracks of market development. Scaling considerations: The path from thousands to millions of tons of annual capacity raises important questions: - How to optimize between plant size and geographic distribution - The role of modular design in risk management - Balance between standardization and site-specific optimization I couldn't recommend this podcast more! It's such a helpful breakdown of how companies are navigating the path to commercialization for a wide range of climate technologies. Subscribe!

Looks like the UK is now looking to attract the amazing companies hungry to commercialize their technologies. “WE WILL BUILD THE FUTURE IN BRITAIN” PM LAUNCHES MAJOR BOOST FOR UK CLEAN ENERGY INDUSTRY • Prime Minister brings forward an initial £300 million investment ahead of Spending Review through Great British Energy to win global offshore wind investment for the UK. • Fund will boost domestic jobs, mobilise additional private investment, and secure manufacturing facilities for critical clean energy supply chains like floating offshore platforms. • Prime Minister and Energy Secretary to announce pro-investment plans at major international summit bringing together governments and industry from around the world to drive collective energy security. Communities across the country will benefit from new investment in domestic clean energy supply chains – driving economic growth and supporting thousands of jobs through the Plan for Change. Workers and businesses in the UK’s industrial heartlands will benefit from an initial £300 million of funding through Great British Energy to invest in supply chains for domestic offshore wind. It is expected that the investment will directly and indirectly mobilise billions in additional private investment - helping de-risk clean energy projects and supporting thousands of jobs and revitalising the UK’s industrial heartlands. The public investment complements the £43 billion of private investment pledged for clean energy projects since July. Britain’s engineers, technicians, and welders are being backed by this fast-tracked funding, brought forward by the Prime Minister ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which will allow Great British Energy, the country’s publicly-owned clean energy company, to invest in new supply chains for offshore wind manufacturing components such as floating offshore platforms and cables. This builds on the government’s landmark investment in domestic supply chains through initiatives such as the Clean Industry Bonus and the National Wealth Fund. As part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy, which will turbocharge growth in the UK’s key sectors including clean energy, the new investment in domestic offshore wind is part of the Prime Minister’s drive to ensure that the clean energy future is “built in Britain”. The funding will ensure that the nation builds resilient domestic supply chains for components which are essential to delivering clean power by 2030. It comes after the Prime Minister said that a new era of global insecurity means that the government must go further and faster in reshaping the economy through the Plan for Change, and that this requires a new muscular industrial policy that supports British industry to forge ahead. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "Delivering the Plan for Change means winning the race for the clean energy jobs of the future, which will drive growth and help us reach clean power by 2030.”

We’re proud to share a conversation that marks more than insight it marks a shift. We spoke with Dr Emre Eren KORKMAZ , founder of the Oxford Centre for Technology and Development, about one of the biggest bottlenecks in climate tech: Brilliant inventions are not reaching the market not because they lack value, but because commercialization support is broken. This conversation and the partnership behind it is important because it bridges two essential worlds: - Social Science & Academia (OCTD) - Purpose-Driven Marketing & Ecosystem Strategy (WE7 AI) Together, we mapped out a realistic and regenerative blueprint for climate tech startups especially those spun out from universities and mission-led founders in emerging markets. 📘 In this article, you'll find: - A step-by-step commercialization pathway - Why VCs shouldn't be the first stop - The role of regenerative marketing in turning invention into impact - How to create aligned pilots that lead to long-term growth 🌱 Real clients before VCs 🌱 Pilots before pitches 🌱 Purpose-first before profit Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eKaQTG5Y Full conversation: https://lnkd.in/egHqHzzV Dr Emre Eren KORKMAZ thank you for this visionary collaboration. We’re honored to align on what truly matters. Let’s bridge social science, conscious business, and marketing regeneratively. #ClimateTech  #RegenerativeMarketing #ConsciousBusiness  #ImpactInnovation  #DecarbonizeMarketing   #ESG   #SystemChange  #TechForGood