Cambridge Cleantech welcomes start-ups from Spain for inaugural UK immersion programme

Cambridge Cleantech has launched its inaugural UK immersion programme, Desafía London, to help Spain’s most innovative cleantech start-ups to scale, secure investment, and expand to new global markets.

Desafía is a public initiative, sponsored by ICEX and Red.es, the Spanish government’s agencies for internationalising businesses and for executing and deploying Spain’s digital agenda. It has achieved this in a series of immersion programmes already successfully rolled out in San Francisco, Berlin and Tel Aviv – and now, Desafia London has brought together Cambridge Cleantech alongside delivery partners Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and Oxfordshire Greentech.

Sam Goodall, CEO of Cambridge Cleantech, said: “The Golden Triangle super-cluster of Cambridge, Oxford, and London is only matched by the Bay Area in the US in terms of scale as a global innovation and investment ecosystem.

“We’re beyond excited to have won the bid to host the first-ever Desafia London.”

Start-ups participating in the Desafia immersion programmes have so far raised more than $230m in funding and have created over 3,000 jobs.

Successful innovators on the UK programme include:

Woodswallow: Creates custom-embedded hardware and software for the energy, electric mobility & telecommunications sectors

Wt Energy: Converts biomass and non-recyclable waste into clean energy

Defcon8: Reduces water and energy consumption via their Smart Water Flow Monitor

Miogas: Is democratising access to fuel by creating biogas plants for restaurants, farms, schools and other waste producers.

Stemy Energy: Uses AI to manage energy resources by bringing consumers together in electricity markets as if they were a power plant.

H2Site: Produces onsite and renewable hydrogen for small and medium-sized companies focusing on land and maritime mobility.

Spanish start-ups will also have the opportunity to pitch to the UK and international investment community in London through Cambridge Cleantech and CISL’s investor networks.

James Cole, chief innovation officer, CISL, said: “CISL has unrivalled experience in designing and delivering startup acceleration programmes for global reach and impact.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Cambridge Cleantech to run Desafía’s inaugural UK immersion programme for Spanish cleantech startups.”

CISL is based at the award-winning Entopia Building in the centre of Cambridge.

Álvaro Nadal, head of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in London, said: “In Spain, we already have more than 750 startups specialising in cleantech that are part of a growing ecosystem.

“Our commitment to the internationalisation of the sector is reflected in projects such as Desafia London, an executive training and immersion program that brings together London’s digital, financial, and creative muscle with Oxford and Cambridge, the UK’s two main innovation and technology clusters.

“The expertise of Cambridge Cleantech, Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Oxfordshire Greentech will provide a formidable growth platform for participating Spanish startups.”

For more information on Desafia London here.