What are we looking for?

Inspiring and intelligent cleantech, deeptech and fintech 

Teams will have a breakthrough idea that has the potential for significant climate impact and commercial growth. We support a broad range of technical solutions that cut across many industries such as (but not limited to): agriculture, fashion, the built environment, transport, energy and greenhouse gas removal (including C0₂ removal) and financial innovation. 

Passion and commitment

We love to support people who are passionate about climate change and  innovation, looking to learn, and 100% committed to achieving their vision. We expect applicants to have a clearly thought-out idea, a good understanding of how their technology or product will work (you don't necessarily need to have a working prototype yet), and ideally at least one founder working on the idea full-time.

We're proud of the innovation community that we're building, and it's really important to us that the startups on The Greenhouse fully engage with us and our programmes - from application and selection, through the programme, to graduation and beyond.

Adaptation and mitigation

We are interested in tech that supports both adaptation to, and mitigation from, the effects of climate change.

Eligibility Criteria

• The startup must be a legal UK entity, or register as a UK entity immediately upon selection
  
  
• You must be a UK-based team, with your headquarters registered in the UK (or be willing to register in the UK upon selection). The Greenhouse is open to UK-registered companies – founders don’t need to be based in London – but would need to be available to travel for regular in-person activities in London during the twelve-month programme. 
  
  
• Each team will ideally have more than one founder.
  
  
• In most cases, we expect companies not to have raised significant commercial investment.
  
  
• You must have the time to fully commit to the programme.
  
  
• The Greenhouse is a hybrid programme, which means some of the activities are held online and some in-person. Participating teams need to be able to attend occasional coaching sessions, workshops and other required activities at our headquarters in White City, at the Imperial campus in South Kensington or at the Royal Institurion in Mayfair.
  
  
• If your team has already participated in an ‘accelerator’, or similar innovation programme, you may still be eligible for The Greenhouse. However, we ask that you think carefully as to whether you will benefit from the educational elements of the programme before applying.

If you are not sure of your eligibility or have questions, please email us at undaunted@imperial.ac.uk. While we may make exceptions to the above, this is rare and will be considered on a case by case basis.

Diversity

At The Greenhouse, we recognise the positive value of diversity in innovation and in society - we strive to uphold equality and aim to challenge discrimination. We welcome and encourage questions and applications from people of all backgrounds. You can come from any university (or none at all) and have any kind of educational or professional background.

We recognise that we have an under-representation of women, Black and other minority ethnic groups, and disabled persons in our startup portfolios, and encourage more applications from people who identify as part of these groups. 

Applications for Cohort 7 have now closed

Got a question? Contact the team

Teams will be assessed on the basis of their application forms and submitted pitch decks, and scored against the following criteria and the quality of their application:

• Climate impact / relevance
• Strength and uniqueness of innovation / IP
• Potential to scale / Likelihood of market success
• Team capability
• Overall suitability for The Greenhouse

We will also assess each application on the basis of how much the team is likely to benefit from our support. This is a key criterion, and where there are a number of similarly-ranked teams, this will be the deciding factor.

The Bootcamp takes place instead of a formal interview. The Bootcamp gives us an opportunity to get to know the teams better than we would in a traditional interview process, whilst providing the teams with an opportunity to learn and network.

The Bootcamp is a 2-day event and is focused on developing your business model, us getting to know the founder team and you presenting to the other shortlisted startups for peer review and  feedback.  We expect the startup founder(s) to attend the Bootcamp in-person.

The final selection of up to 15 startups for The Greenhouse will be made following completion of the Bootcamp.

The Bootcamp for Cohort 7 will be held on 13 and 14 May 2024.

Overview

The selection will be made based on the startup's application form, their interactions and engagement at Bootcamp and the outputs from the Bootcamp process.  Part of the selection process will be an assessment of how much each team is likely to benefit from our support. Where there are a number of similarly ranked teams, this will be the deciding factor.

Offers will be contingent on a fully engaged and committed approach to The Greenhouse, which will need to be maintained throughout the programme in order to remain a participant.

Interviews

While we do not normally conduct interviews as part of the Bootcamp selection process, in certain circumstances we may choose to do so.

Selection Panel

The selection panel is formed by Alyssa Gilbert, Jim Shaikh and Nicole Bachanova from the Undaunted. We generally also involve others from the British cleantech ecosystem.