Start-ups can save 1.1 gigatonnes Co2: ‘like taking 250 million cars off the road’

A new report by the European Institute of Innovation and Energy EIT InnoEnergy reveals that its portfolio of 250+ innovative start-ups and scale-ups has the potential to save 1.1 gigatonnes of CO₂ and € 9.1 billion in annual energy costs by the end of the decade, spearheading the way to decarbonisation.

Despite COVID-19, the carefully selected high-growth sustainable energy technology portfolio has seen rapid expansion. Spurred by increasing societal pressure around the energy transition, along with the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package, demand for solutions to tackle the mounting climate challenge has grown rapidly.

Read the full press release here.

Elena Bou, Co-founder and Innovation Director at EIT InnoEnergy, said: “This is an incredible feat for our portfolio. By potentially saving this level of CO₂ emissions we are essentially taking nearly 250 million cars off the road. It is through our global mindset to tackling climate change that we have been able to make such an impact. Despite being early-stage companies, together we’ve already created 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. Imagine what we can do together as they mature; the possibilities are endless.”

The report assesses ongoing impact by evaluating and classifying EIT InnoEnergy investments according to the contribution towards different impact goals. The impact measurement approach for the purpose of this report is twofold: firstly, the contribution of all the portfolio companies to SDG and the secondly, the quantification of impact metrics (economic/social/ environmental) aggregated from all companies in our portfolio. The timeframe considered in the calculations is 2030 for environmental related impact indicators, while for economic and social impact dimensions, realised impact has been calculated. The figures presented in the report are based on the data provided by the companies in our portfolio.

Largest sustainable energy portfolio

Since inception, EIT InnoEnergy has screened more than 5,000 start-ups and has launched more than 300 products to market. Now, 85 percent of those companies are exporting globally – taking Europe’s buoyant sustainable energy innovations worldwide to make an impact on climate change on an international level. As a result, EIT InnoEnergy now has the largest sustainable energy portfolio of any impact investor of its kind globally. Driven by growth across renewables, smart cities and mobility, the portfolio is expected to generate over 600 TWh of power from clean energy sources by 2030.

EIT InnoEnergy currently supports ground-breaking start-ups such as Hymeth, Naoden, Cascade Drives, Alpinov X, Wattsun, NawaTechnologies, SciBreak, SunRoof, NabraWind, CorPower, BetterSpace, Vilisto, Duckt and Llewo. The multi-dimensional ecosystem brings together over 500 global stakeholders who contribute to a more sustainable world fostering the Energy Transition.

Read also: EIT InnoEnergy pumps millions into start-ups: ‘Major blow has yet to come’