Tech Nation has announced the 34 climate tech companies who have been accepted into Net Zero 3.0 – the third iteration of the Net Zero growth programme.

Net Zero 3.0 is the first government-backed programme designed to support the most promising climate tech companies to accelerate the UK’s path to net zero.

This year’s successful companies were assessed by over 50 judges across key industries, including climate specialists, investors and senior representatives from companies such as Google for Startups, Sage and BNP Paribas.

Companies were judged based on their scalability and potential to help the UK reach its high-priority net zero goal. The chosen companies are actively decarbonising key sectors, from energy and transport to construction and agriculture.

This year’s Net Zero cohort demonstrates that tackling climate change is a priority across all parts of the UK, as 51% of the cohort are headquartered outside of London, with companies based in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the North and the East of England.

The UK leads the way in Europe for its number of climate tech companies and investment

New data from Tech Nation and Net Zero Insights has revealed there are over 4,400 climate tech startups and scaleups in the UK; 60% more than the number in France (2,793) and 43% more than in Germany (3,100).

The UK is also leading the way for climate tech investment in Europe, with 249 climate tech rounds raising $2.6bn in total in 2021 – a 63% increase on the $1.6bn raised in 2020.

This year looks set to be a record year for climate tech investment, with $2.1bn raised in 2022 so far, compared to $2.6bn for the whole of 2021. The UK climate tech sector’s growth is showing no signs of being affected by the economic downturn.

With its first two iterations of the Net Zero programme, Tech Nation has previously supported the growth of 62 of the UK’s leading climate tech companies.

Together with the Net Zero 3.0 cohort, these companies have collectively raised over £500mn in VC investment.

The majority of Net Zero 3.0 companies are working in the energy sector

As the UK finds itself in the midst of an energy crisis, exactly half (17) of the companies joining Net Zero 3.0 are working to make UK energy consumption both cleaner and more affordable for customers.

Joining this year’s Net Zero 3.0 cohort, Filia brings solar power to urban homes by integrating solar technology into the fabric of blackout/security blinds and garage doors, while Electric Miles has developed algorithms that profile, aggregate and shift energy demand from electric vehicles in real time to balance supply and demand for grid stability, sustainability and energy security, and Equiwatt are focussed on reducing energy bills while supporting the transition to renewables.

Engineering algae to reach net zero

With scientists recently determining algae to be a ‘climate superpower’, due to the fact that microalgae grows 10 times faster than plants on land, and can absorb 10-50 times more CO2, UK climate tech companies are increasingly looking at how they can use algae to help the UK reach its net zero goals.

For the first time, Tech Nation’s Net Zero programme is welcoming three algae engineering companies into the Net Zero 3.0 cohort, which demonstrate the versatility of the plant through the different ways they are using it to drive sustainability.

Kelpi is using algae to create bioplastics that will reinvent packaging by making it fully biodegradable, Phycobloom are engineering algae to create sustainable biofuels, and Phycoworks are utilising synthetic biology and machine learning to produce algae at scale which will significantly increase levels of carbon sequestration.

Sammy Fry, Net Zero Programme Lead at Tech Nation, said: “In order to shift the trajectory of global emissions, climate innovations are required across every key industry, and we are proud to have companies disrupting each critical area on our net zero programme.

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“We are also delighted to see climate tech continuing to reach new heights, in spite of the challenging economic context, outlining the resilience and faith in the sector.

“Through our net zero programme, now in its third year, we are looking forward to continuing to safeguard the growth of climate tech and to provide the support needed to help these companies scale and drive down global emissions.”

Pippa Gawley, Founding Partner at Zero Carbon Capital and Net Zero 3.0 Judge, added: “The Tech Nation Net Zero programme gives valuable support to UK climate tech companies looking for constructive advice, strings-free mentorship and a safe space to share with fellow founders as they face the challenges of growing their companies. I’m excited to work with this year’s awesome line up.”

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