Corporate Innovation
Building partnerships to advance climate tech
Looking to accelerate your organisation’s Net Zero journey? Our Corporate Innovation team brings together leading businesses looking for sustainability solutions with climate tech startups ready to scale. We offer expert guidance, access to thousands of startups across our ecosystem, and proven engagement models to help you build impactful partnerships for a lasting competitive edge.
Access to our climate tech startup community
50+
Startups in the investment portfolio
800+
Startups directly supported
2,800
Startups connected in wider ecosystem
Partnership Engagement Approaches
Advancing climate tech requires commitment and collaboration from multiple stakeholders. At Sustainable Ventures, we bring together corporations with our global startup community to unlock opportunity - finding the best landing points for both to grow impactful, high-value relationships. Engagement approaches typically follow one of 3 models:
Accelerate
Connect with our startup community and contribute to scaling climate tech whilst sourcing innovative solutions for your business.
Catalyse
Venture into new ways of working with climate tech startups. Unlock new innovation capabilities and spark new, market-ready solutions.
Pioneer
Redefine markets through multi-stakeholder collaboration around complex, systemic sustainability challenges.
Why work with us?
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Our team is full of experienced innovators and entrepreneurs, bringing 12+ years of sector-specific knowledge in commercially scaling sustainability solutions
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We’re building one of the world’s most impactful climate tech ecosystems - having supported supported hundreds of startups and built deep connections with investor, innovation and academic networks.
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Our mission is built on achieving both financial success and meaningful impact. This principle underpins our approach to partnerships, ensuring corporate-startup collaborations create win-win opportunities for all stakeholders.
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Our Fellows programme connects experienced business leaders with pioneering climate-tech founders, fostering knowledge sharing, bridging talent gaps, and preparing founders for scalable growth.
Meet the team:
Simon Brown
With over 25 years’ experience in advising and directing startups and corporates, Simon is an expert and thought leader on Sustainability, Supply Chain Resilience and Strategic Innovation. An entrepreneur who has spun out numerous successful businesses, Simon also mentors startups on their scaling journey.
Joseph Seal-Driver
Joseph has 15+ years’ experience scaling tech businesses. Having founded an electric ride-hailing platform and led an EV charging operator, his experience now accelerates the growth of startups in the sustainability and climate space.
Emily Barrett
With a background in systems change, sustainability and innovation, Emily works with corporates and climate tech startups to define new business models for collaboration. Expertise working with corporates across financial services, the built environment, food and consumer goods and the energy sector.
Andrew Wordsworth
Andrew has been directly involved in securing over £250m in equity commitments into portfolio ventures. Prior to this, he held roles at Esso, Bain & Co and was Managing Director of Carbon Trust Enterprises Limited.
FAQs
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Get in touch with our Corporate Innovation team. We will set up a call to understand your scope, ambition and priorities in more detail.
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Yes, but it isn’t a requirement. We are always happy to introduce you to our investment team but many of our corporate partnerships do not involve direct investments into the startups.
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Not at all. We recognise that each corporation is at a different stage of their sustainability transition, so work to identify the most impactful, feasible starting point to begin a partnership. This evolves over time based on your needs, ambition and priorities.
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Please complete this short nomination form here and we will be in touch.
