Startups with ideas for a circular economy are being encouraged to join the Circular Economy Accelerator programme, which will meet this winter in Circular Valley® – located in the Rhine Ruhr area of Germany, a region being positioned as an emerging hotspot for innovation in technologies that facilitate recycling and reuse.
As the organisers explain:
“Giga-Impact” is the focus of the next batch of the Circular Economy Accelerator. Giga-Impact refers to material flows that are not measured in kilograms or individual tons, but which pose a problem for our planet on a scale of billions of tons (gigatons). This not only includes CO2, construction waste or wastewater, but also other substances that enter the environment uncontrolled in small quantities and have giga impacts there, such as microplastics. Startups developing solutions to these large problems can apply for the Circular Valley® Accelerator Program by 11:59 p.m. on October 7th.
Successful applicants will form the fourth batch of startups this winter. So far, more than 60 startups from around the world have been to the Rhine-Ruhr region to participate in the program. Together with top-class coaches and speakers they further developed their business models and their communication skills and met numerous representatives from industry, science and politics who have become sponsors, partners and investors.
The fourth batch of the Accelerator program starts in December and runs until February. During this period, the startups will join multiple on-site intensive work sessions to further develop their business models. They will also have opportunities to get to know the business landscape and the Rhine-Ruhr region’s protagonists. The Circular Economy Accelerator differs from most other funding programs in one important respect: While other programs are usually oriented locally or regionally, Circular Valley® is clearly internationally oriented. The startups come from Germany and Europe as well as from all other continents. They meet each other in a familiar environment and help each other thanks to the many different perspectives that come together in the Rhine-Ruhr region.
Applicants must meet three requirements:
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- you are concerned with past, present or future emissions with a giga impact.
- you have a new technology, approach or business model.
- and you are a startup or an existing company looking to expand rapidly.
The Circular Valley® team supports interested applicants until October 7th. Regular Q&A sessions can be booked here.
For more information on the new application phase of the Circular Economy Accelerator, read the interview with project coordinator Dr. Kirsten Grübel and click here.
If you have any questions regarding the application, please reach out via application@circular-valley.org.
