From left: David Power, Ashley Shak, James O'Connell, Ossian Smyth, Ger Moloney and David Feeney. Image: Dogpatch Labs
The 2050 sustainability programme will give Irish and international start-ups access to Ireland’s wind farms and forests.
Dogpatch Labs has launched a new accelerator that plans to bring climate-focused start-ups and industry together to make Ireland a global leader in sustainability innovation.
The new 2050 Accelerator programme will see Irish and international start-ups in the space come together with experts from industry to pilot projects. Through the programme, start-ups will get access to Ireland’s infrastructure such as wind farms, dairy farms and forestry.
Set to kick off next month, the 2050 Accelerator is a result of a partnership with Kerry Group, ESB and Coillte. It will conclude in a showcase day at Dogpatch Labs to an audience of international VCs, industry stakeholders, partners and the wider sustainability community.
“Start-up innovation will play an important role in achieving our national sustainability targets,” said Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy Ossian Smyth, TD.
“These new key initiatives will help open the door to really practical and impactful activities for start-ups, that in partnership with government and private industry can really help Ireland move forward in this area.”
There will also be a specific stream sponsored by The Grantham Foundation focused to support start-ups developing technologies to help with carbon dioxide removal.
Overall, the programme will expose start-ups to mentors with expertise in a range of areas including carbon accounting, funding and building specialist hardware.
Dogpatch Labs director of innovation David Power said that sustainability is the “most fundamental global challenge of this century” and that innovation will be key to solving the problem.
“As a country, our size and connectedness are our superpower, as we have the ability to bring together, activate and connect a wide range of stakeholders and national assets in a way that would be impossible in a larger country,” he said.
“Making this available to homegrown and international start-ups provides a way for them to make really meaningful progress”.
Through the 2050 programme, the deadline to apply for which is on 20 April, Dogpatch is also trying to create an ecosystem of sustainability innovation, bringing together companies, institutes, government, academia and start-ups in a series of workshops and round tables.
For this, Dogpatch will work with Ireland’s many regional hubs, including Portershed in Galway, the RDI Hub in Kerry, Republic of Work in Cork and GreenTech HQ in Wexford.
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