Amazon is searching for green start-ups to join its new sustainability accelerator programme.
The tech and commerce behemoth has teamed up with European climate innovation hub, EIT Climate-KIC, to bring to life the Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator.
Green start-ups are sought for the 12-week programme which will support early-stage businesses that are building more sustainable products and want to scale fast.
From today, the new initiative is welcoming applications from green start-ups based across Europe, with Amazon saying the programme is best suited to companies developing products that make easier for people to live more sustainably. It added that participating founders will have ambitions to use eCommerce to fuel their growth.
Chosen start-ups will have to complete a climate impact assessment and develop strategies to optimise the environmentally friendliness of their products. The accelerator will include eco-expert-led virtual workshops, specialised mentorship, a tailored curriculum, access to a network of like-minded founders, and office space in Amazon’s headquarters in Shoreditch, London.
Successful participants will receive a £10,000 equity-free grant, $25,000 worth of AWS Activate Credits, and £5,000 sponsored Amazon Advertising credits to kick-start their growth. The businesses will also feature on the ‘Amazon Launchpad’ storefront and receive free account management for one year.
Amazon said the timing of the initiative is appropriate because its UK and European online stores experienced double the number of transactions for ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ products in January versus the same month in 2021.
Aditi Singh, general manager of Amazon Launchpad in Europe, commented: “We are looking for start-ups with sustainable innovations and bold ambitions to grow and ultimately help their customers around the world make more sustainable choices in the products they buy.”
Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC, added: “One of the essential ingredients for achieving the transformations we need now is to make sure that all new companies are thinking systemically and are fully sustainable and regenerative from the outset.”
Singh will join Aimee Apel, EIT Climate-KIC accelerator lead, Cyrus Wadia, head of sustainable products worldwide at Amazon, and Adiari Vazquez, manager at Amazon’s The Climate Pledge Fund, on an advisory committee which takes responsibility for selecting the green start-ups.
Applications are being accepted via a dedicated landing page for the programme.
Read more about greener retailing practices on Green Retail World
[Image credit: Green Retail World]
