Calling low-carbon entrepreneurs: deadline for Shell Springboard 2018 just over one week away (6 November 2017)!

Applications for the Shell Springboard programme, Shell International Limited’s enterprise support programme for UK low-carbon businesses, will close on Monday, 6 November 2017.

Successful applicants will be shortlisted for two regional finals in Aberdeen and Cambridge in early 2018. There they will pitch their businesses to a panel of experts and investors from the low-carbon sector. Each event will put forward three finalists, each being awarded equity-free funding of £40,000.

These six regional winners will then go forward to the national final in London, where one business will be crowned the national winner of Shell Springboard and receive additional funding of £110,000. A total funding amount of £350,000 is available to the six finalists.

Since launching in 2005, the programme has awarded £4 million to almost 100 innovative low-carbon enterprises in the UK. Almost 84% of supported companies remain in operation five years after starting-up, in contrast to a national average of about 45%. Previous winners include Deciwatt, whose technology, GravityLight, uses gravity to generate electricity and provides a safe alternative to kerosene lamps for people in developing countries.

Apart from funding, Shell Springboard winners also receive networking and publicity support. For example, Deciwatt is currently being featured in a three-part National Geographic documentary series produced in partnership with Shell. The series explores some of the bright energy ideas that will help power our future.

The deadline for this year’s programme is 6 November at 5pm. To find out more, visit www.shellspringboard.org