Dogpatch, in partnership with the Irish government and industry, has announced a new sustainability programme ‘2050’, with the ambition of making Ireland a leading global platform in sustainability innovation. Delivered across Ireland, it will focus on two key activities to drive sustainability innovation forward: the 2050 Startup Accelerator and the 2050 Ecosystem.
The 2050 Accelerator will bring industry together with top Irish and international startups, to work on practical pilot projects to help them to rapidly scale their impact, with access to Ireland’s national sustainability infrastructure assets, such as wind farms, dairy farms and forestry.
The 2050 Ecosystem will bring together companies, institutes, government, academia and startups working on innovation in sustainability through a series of talks, workshops and round tables. This new network aims to increase meaningful collaboration and to showcase the best of Irish sustainability innovation.
Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth TD spoke about the ambition for the initiative: “Startup innovation will play an important role in achieving our national sustainability targets, and these new key initiatives will help open the door to really practical and impactful activities for startups, that in partnership with government and private industry can really help Ireland move forward in this area. Ireland is well placed to take advantage of the global opportunity to become a real leader in sustainability innovation in line with the government’s commitments in the Climate Action Plan.”
Commenting on the launch, Dogpatch Director of Innovation David Power said – “Sustainability is the most fundamental global challenge of this century and innovation will be a key factor in working out of this problem. We need to work together and Ireland has something unique to offer. As a country, our size and connectedness are our superpower, as we have the ability to bring together, activate and connect a wide range of stakeholders and national assets in a way that would be impossible in a larger country. Making this available to homegrown and International startups provides a way for them to make really meaningful progress”.
The 2050 Accelerator will kick off in Q2 2023 and is open to Irish and global sustainability-focused startups. 2050 partners, Kerry Group, ESB and Coillte have defined sustainability challenges, and will work with startups to solve these challenges and bring live technology pilots to life. Startups will benefit from access to Ireland’s national sustainability infrastructure, such as wind farms, dairy farms and forestry.
In addition, The Grantham Foundation, a leading international philanthropic organisation dedicated to the protection of the environment, will sponsor a specific stream focused on supporting startups developing Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) solutions.
The programme will bring together world-class mentors who have expertise in subjects as diverse as carbon accounting, funding and building specialist hardware. The Accelerator programme will conclude in a showcase day at Dogpatch Labs, to an audience of international VC’s, industry stakeholders, partners and the wider sustainability community.
In addition, the 2050 Ecosystem will develop Ireland’s indigenous sustainability innovation ecosystem. Working with regional hubs, Portershed (Galway), RDI Hub (Kerry), Republic of Work (Cork), and GreenTech HQ (Wexford), this initiative will focus on increasing collaboration across the entire sustainability ecosystem to connect ideas and key actors, aiming to create a multiplier effect for all in the national network, and create an index of all involved in sustainability innovation in Ireland.
To help create the deep connections between industry, startups, government, academia, investors and others, Dogpatch will also host a series of sustainability focused events and activities, nationwide, with the goal of bringing together this ecosystem to learn and collaborate through a series of talks, roundtables and workshops.
The deadline for applications to the 2050 Accelerator will close on 20th April. For further information or to apply, visit dogpatchlabs.com/2050
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