Start-up competition Green Alley Award 2016 kicks off

This year’s Green Alley Award is showing particular interest in building a bridge between Berlin, London and Helsinki. All of these European start-up hubs serve as pioneers in the area of circular economy. This is why Green Alley decided to integrate them as role models in the hope to initiate synergies between these capitals and other cities in Europe. Together with its partners, Germany’s crowdfunding-platform Seedmatch, the British accelerator-programme Bethnal Green Ventures and the European Recycling Platform (ERP) Finland, Green Alley aims to impact Europe’s waste problems, reduce its effect on the environment and create new economic opportunities.

“We would like to encourage young entrepreneurs across Europe to rethink existing patterns of consumerism and waste habits. Last year we have already seen some of the diversity and potential that especially UK start-ups stand for. The British winner Adaptavate was proof for the UKs strong start-up ecosystem and its focus on innovation in renewables and resource efficiency. We hope to see even more entrants from the UK this year”, says Jan Patrick Schulz, CEO, Green Alley Investment.

In 2015, the Green Alley Award already received 100 applications from all over Europe, including ideas from Germany, Israel, Bulgaria, Ireland, and the UK, but also as far away as from South America and Canada. The winner of the final pitch was the British start-up Adaptavate with its product 'Breathaboard', an alternative wall paneling, made out of 75% agricultural bio composite and therefore entirely decomposable. With this year’s focus on Finland as a green economy role model and start-up nation, Green Alley hopes to inspire many more young entrepreneurs all over Europe.

“Resource efficiency is a pressing issue for the UK. We need to find new ways to power society, reduce carbon emissions, deal with waste and adapt to climate change, in a way that will help make communities more resilient. There are some great start-ups in the UK applying technology to solve these issues – such as Winnow, which helps to dramatically cut food waste, or Open Utility, which has created a new market for renewable energy. The Green Alley Award is a great opportunity for UK start-ups to connect with green ideas in Berlin and Helsinki, and to receive the support needed to help them grow and scale across Europe,” says Jessica Stacey, Partner, Bethnal Green Ventures.

Jens-Uwe Sauer, founder and CEO of Seedmatch also shares this excitement: “We have been partners with Green Alley since the very beginning. In the last rounds, young entrepreneurs showed us that the circular economy lies close to their heart. And all of them approach the topic entirely different. That kind of variety of ideas is exactly what we wish to see again. We are looking forward to the third year of the award and many applications from all over Europe.”

The most persuasive applicants will be invited to our pitch in Berlin at the end of October 2016. All finalists will receive valuable advice on how to establish successful business models and how to enter the market through individual workshops with experts of the circular economy. As last year, the chosen start-ups will present their ideas in a live-pitch to a broad audience of industry specialists. The final winner of the Green Alley Award 2016 will be selected by a jury of experts from the start-up and circular economy sector and will receive a prize package of cash and services worth up to €30,000. In addition, the winner will have the opportunity to raise funds through crowdfunding or investments and to participate in an accelerator-programme.