New Clean Tech acceleration program seeks solutions to improve sustainability in cities

The Program as a living lab

The Clean Future participants will have access to a ten-week program consisting of several modules aimed at accelerating the development of their projects. In the last stage of the program, the startups will have the opportunity to present the solutions developed to a jury panel, composed of recognized experts, determining the winner of each category, as well as the overall winner of the Program. Five thousand euros will be awarded to the winner of each category, and the global winner will receive an additional amount of another five thousand euros.

During the ten weeks of the program, the selected startups will benefit from mentoring sessions with partners and experts in the program categories, entrepreneurs and investors, as well as receive support to validate their project in the market accompanied by experts. In addition to access to Startup Lisboa’s community, they will also have access to a wide community united by the same values of sustainability, reinforced by the diversity of workshops with expert speakers in sustainability and business.

The winners will also have the chance to win cash prizes totalling 20 thousand euros, and will also have the opportunity to continue developing their projects, which may be supported by the different partners of the Programme.

"Technological innovation is an essential factor for sustainable development. The Clean Future acceleration program, under the scope of the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab, seeks sustainable projects and solutions whose mission is to address current environmental challenges. Unicorn Factory Lisboa with Startup Lisboa will help the startups selected for the Program to develop and scale their business models", comments Gil Azevedo, executive director of Startup Lisboa and Unicorn Factory Lisboa.

"Being that through the correct application of existing technologies we can cut up to 96% of cities' carbon emissions; it is a priority to reward those who bet on innovation with a focus on accelerating the transition to a greener, digital and inclusive future," explains Miguel Eiras Antunes, partner at Deloitte, global leader of the smart cities and urban transformation practice.

For João Bento, CTT's CEO, "this partnership fits CTT's strategy in two relevant components: innovation and sustainability. Firstly, the participation in this program is in line with the company's vision to support the development of the start-up ecosystem, whether through strategic partnerships, like the one we have now established, or through our own programme of interaction with the ecosystem. This initiative is even more relevant because it is focused on sustainability, one of CTT's fundamental pillars and one of the areas where we have focused and innovated the most."

The Clean Future Acceleration Program is one of the nine operations of Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab, a living lab co-funded by EEA Grants under the "Environment, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy" Program. This initiative is focused on the development of new technologies and services to boost sustainability in cities, being Hub Criativo do Beato (HCB) its experimentation space in the city of Lisbon, with the purpose of transforming it into a smart campus and thus contribute with good practices to mitigate the impact of climate change, and where it is expected that the resulting solutions demonstrate their potential for replication in cities.

Applications are open until April 23rd on the program's official website: : www.cleanfuture.pt