Bord na Móna will invest €5m over the next three years in Accelerate Green, its accelerator programme for green innovation companies.
The semi-state company has also announced the eight companies that will take part in the second edition of Accelerate Green. Between them, they employ over 70 people and generate turnover of more than €5m.
The participating companies are NanobOx, Hibra Design, HaPPE Earth, Hub360, Superfy, Trinity Green Energy, EC Charging and CW Applied Technology.
Approximately 15% of the new funding from Bord na Móna will be invested in targeting new companies to apply to Accelerate Green, with a particular emphasis on identifying Midlands-based companies.
"Of the 17 companies who have already come through Accelerate Green, we have established a working partnership with six companies and facilitated ten to scale up, secure more funding, diversify their business and provide more climate focussed roles in the Midlands," said Tom Donnellan, CEO of Bord na Móna.
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"This new cohort of companies just beginning the programme represent the critical pipeline of potential new enterprises operating in the sustainability space or looking to transition to become a climate solutions company, a journey we have been on ourselves since 2018."
Julie Sinnamon, member of the Climate Change Advisory Council said: “I have been really inspired and impressed by the calibre of companies participating in this year’s Accelerate Green Programme.
"Great entrepreneurial and innovative businesses need the support of programmes such as Accelerate Green to make sure that they can scale up and thrive. It is their success that will drive Ireland forward to achieve the transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy.”
Accelerate Green will be located at Bord na Móna's office complex in Boora, Co Offaly, which has been developed in conjunction with Irish innovation advisory firm Resolve Partners and ERINN Innovation.
"Graduation from Bord na Móna’s Accelerate Green will open doors for further growth as it has for their predecessors. We have exciting innovations with this round of participants and this accelerator will help them deliver measurable impact and support sustainable economic development," said Alan Costello from Resolve Partners.
The participating companies include NanobOx, a novel water treatment technology and winner of this year’s Big Ideas competition for tech start-ups run by Enterprise Ireland.
There's also Hibra Design, an automotive design engineering firm that reengineers speciality vehicles by replacing the diesel powertrain with a bespoke, sustainable alternative such as a battery or hydrogen fuel cell powertrain.
HaPPE has designed a fully compostable, medical grade apron using bioplastics that can disappear in eight weeks to help increase the recycling of healthcare waste for its current global rate of 10%.
Other companies in the accelerator include Hub360, a software programme for optimising logistics and delivery for purposes of reducing carbon emissions, and Superfry, which delivers sustainable smart resource management solutions for sustainability, waste, recycling, operations, workforce and fleet management.
There's also carbon dioxide capture specialists Trinity Green Energy, smart EV charing system developer EC Charging, and Shannon-based dynamic electronic business CW Applied Technology.
Bord na Móna estimates that 90% of its investment last year was in environmentally sustainable areas such as renewable energy, land use change and the circular economy.
In 2020, the company launched its €126m Peatland Climate Action Scheme to create a store of 100m tonnes of carbon in perpetuity. It also raised €1.6bn to fund a series of climate-focused projects across its 200,000-acre landholding.
Photo: (l-r) Julie Sinnamon, Tom Donnellan, and Mary O’Riordan co-founder of HaPPE Earth. (Pic: Marc O'Sullivan)
