Students Develop Ground-Breaking New Cleantech Business Plans

Finals of Europe’s largest climate change Summer School demonstrate the future of climate change mitigation and adaptation is in safe hands.

• Students from 40+ countries and representing more than 71 disciplines developed ground-breaking new cleantech business plans
• Winning business ideas spanned from food waste innovation to green IT projects
• External contributors involved in the programme included Senior Lecturer for Entrepreneurship at MIT, Bayer AG and Schiphol Airport Group

This week Europe’s largest climate change education programme reached its conclusion, with students competing to pitch their cleantech business ideas. Organised by Europe’s leading climate change innovation initiative, Climate-KIC, the 10 week long ‘Journey’ programme has been the most successful to date. More than 300 students took part in the course, from over 40 different countries, working together to over 40 new business ideas aimed at reducing the global carbon footprint.

The Summer School spanned over 18 locations across Europe and focused on educating students on climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as providing practical entrepreneurship skills and experience. Within five weeks of intensive workshops and ideation sessions, the students, in teams of five, had to create compelling cleantech business plans offering solutions to real-world climate related issues.

This culminated in three separate finals, in Bologna, Wroclaw and Wageningen, where students pitched their detailed business ideas to a judging panel consisting of leading venture capitalists, start-up entrepreneurs and scientists. Having reviewed more than 50 individual business plans, the expert jury saw a wide range of original ideas covering applications from food waste innovation to green IT projects, ecological packaging and textile recycling. Some of the specific business plans included:

• RE:sources: IT platform for urban symbiosis, connecting industrial material flows across Europe to promote the widespread recycling of industrial waste into raw materials
• Flex I a I box: Reducing energy consumption of fridges by putting products into a flexible box
• Majesticks: Producing coffee stirrers made of organic sugar
• OORJA: transforming rice husk into a sustainable locally produced eco-fertilizer in India
• AdYourBike: Programme to incentivise people to use bikes in low emission cities through rewards funded by advertising
• Modulife: Modular washing machines to reduce waste and planned obsolescence
• GreenDome: Greenhouse enabling the use of non-conventional water resources, such as saltwater and polluted water through solar powered distillation.

One of three winning business plans is Caffeink, a pioneering idea for developing ecological printing ink from waste coffee grounds. The Caffeink team, consisting of five students from business and environmental sciences, identified that extracting ink pigments out of spent coffee grounds is a unique method to create a valuable product that is currently produced in an unsustainable way. Demonstrating a high level of scientific research and entrepreneurial imagination, the team determined that just three cups of coffee are required to produce pigments for a standard ballpoint pen.

Julia Tasse, a member of the Caffeink team, reflects on her experience at the summer school: “Winning the pitch competition is a fantastic end to a truly life-changing education programme. Not only have I had the once in a lifetime chance to work with and learn from people coming from all kinds of different educational backgrounds, but equally important were the practical lessons with the business coaches that helped me to broaden my entrepreneurial horizon and show me how I can apply my passion for green ideas into a viable commercial plan.“

Tabor Smeets, member of the expert jury of The Journey finals in Bologna and Manager Corporate Finance at Schiphol Airport Group gave students advice on how to develop a winning business plan. Reflecting on his role as a mentor during the Summer School he commented: “I was very inspired by the sheer enthusiasm and creativity the students brought to the table when it came to developing original ideas. It was important that the students got an early appreciation of the fact that becoming successful in business entails more than creating a great product or service though, it’s about seeing and understanding the bigger picture.

“Part of my current work at Schiphol Airport Group involves an investment fund taking equity stakes in start-ups, so my advise to entrepreneurs is to focus on both your product and your target market. It’s also crucial to be flexible with your strategy - if you notice the market is seeking something different, be ready to make the required adjustments. But above all, just do it.”

Wim Cofino, Seconded National Expert with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology – EIT said: “ The Climate-KIC Journey offers a unique opportunity for students to immerse themselves in entrepreneurship whilst contributing to the EIT’s mission of finding sustainable solutions to global challenges and fostering a new generation of entrepreneurs and change agents.”

Beyond their Summer School journey Climate-KIC offers further support to help young talent bring their climate-related business ideas to market, including the Accelerator programme which supports entrepreneurs create investable start-ups.

Successful Climate-KIC alumni include ElectricFeel, a start-up founded by Summer School participant Moritz Meenen. Following his participation in the 2012 Summer School, Meenen took his ideas to the Accelerator programme that helped him to bring a revolutionary software platform to market, connecting E-bikes with urban charging infrastructure, converting them into an intelligent transport system. With five pilot projects underway in Switzerland and Germany, ElectricFeel is looking to raise a first round of external investment by the end of 2014.

Ebrahim Mohamed, Director of Education commented: “Education and entrepreneurship have a central role to play in the global efforts to mitigate and adapt to the changing climate. It is Climate-KIC’s mission to create a generation of climate innovators and entrepreneurs dedicated to tackling this global challenge. Our programmes are designed to forge a supportive multidisciplinary network for students, creating a rapidly growing community of alumni to continue to share ideas and make new connections now and in the future. After the success of this year’s Summer School we look forward to helping our latest alumni get the most out of the Climate-KIC partner network and bring their innovative ideas to fruition.”