Six UK startups join Amazon Sustainability Accelerator to grow their business with innovation and reach a new generation of environmentally conscious customers
Successful projects selected from over 1,000 applications
Startups can benefit from expert guidance, financial support, and computing power from AWS as part of the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator.
A startup developing innovative and more sustainable consumer products is set to boost its business after being handpicked to participate in the latest Amazon Sustainability Accelerator. Eight companies across Europe, including six in the UK, will benefit from a 10-week bespoke program featuring expert-led workshops, specialized mentorship and a customized curriculum, as well as 12,000 You will receive a Euro stock grant and $10,000 in AWS. Activate credits.
Since its launch in 2022, the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator has supported over 40 startups in the UK and Europe, providing over €1 million in grants and credits, and helping these companies increase their sales by an average of 700% and helped raise over 18.7 euros. 1 million so far.
Six UK-based startups are participating in an accelerator to design products to combat some of the world’s toughest sustainability issues, including circular food production, fast fashion and menstrual waste.
Asan (UK): Asan is on a mission to end period poverty and tampon waste with its innovative reusable menstrual cup. Designed at Harvard University’s Institute for Innovation and rated the #1 easy-to-remove menstrual cup by The Standard, this easy-to-use ring design helps prevent thousands of pads and tampons from ending up in landfills each year. Possibly.
Morrow (UK): Morrow’s ‘beanless’ coffee is made from more sustainable, local and upcycled ingredients such as fruit seeds, peels and ancient grains. Through advanced flavor chemistry and bioconversion, Morrow recreates traditional coffee flavors and aromas, providing a cost-effective and greener solution to the challenges posed by traditional coffee production. . This includes addressing the looming supply crisis, with up to 50% of the land currently used for coffee cultivation predicted to become unsuitable by 2050 due to the effects of climate change.1 .
MYOM (Make Your Own Milk) (UK): Oat milk company MYOM minimizes packaging waste and transport emissions by selling an oat premix that becomes milk when mixed with water. MYOM offers a more sustainable alternative to traditional oat milk, nut milk, and soy milk, which are typically shipped in cartons containing 90% moisture. MYOM is delivered letterboxed in a convenient recyclable pouch. This avoids both excess packaging and the increased carbon footprint associated with additional materials and weight. MYOM is the first oat milk in the UK to win the ‘Outstanding and Delicious’ Great Taste Award.
Paint Zero (UK): Paint Zero has developed an innovative plant-based paint that uses no fossil fuels. With a palette of 75 colors, Paint Zero turns into a vibrant, non-toxic paint in 90 seconds when mixed with tap water. This new paint avoids 100% of the petrochemical fluids and plastics used in standard paints, eliminating toxicity and reducing transportation emissions and costs.
ReBorn (UK): Based in Wiltshire, ReBorn turns industrial waste into useful, stylish and recyclable household products. Founded in September 2023 in partnership with Brunel University, the company has already saved more than 10 tonnes of waste from landfills, reduced carbon emissions by 100 tonnes as a by-product of the materials it uses, and is helping the world’s It claims to be accelerating sustainability in the household goods industry2.
ZIG+STAR (UK): ZIG+STAR is an innovative children’s shoe business that aims to solve the challenges of rapidly growing feet with a collection of scalable and durable unisex children’s shoes. Good-to-Grow’s removable midsoles give shoes and boots an extra six months of wear, and the range of sustainably designed sandals allows for maximum adjustability for growing feet. In our mission to reduce waste, we also offer an incentivized trade-in scheme, where you can send your old shoes back for free donation or recycling in exchange for a discount on our products.
Enjoying this article? Sign up for our free newsletter.
Justin Marler, Director of Sustainability at Amazon, said: “The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator is a springboard for people scaling more sustainable product businesses, giving founders the skills, connections, and confidence to achieve their full growth potential. We are excited to welcome startup founders this year who are introducing alternatives.”
“We are excited to learn from the experts at Amazon, Europe’s leading climate innovation agency, EU’s EIT Climate-KIC, and our fellow founders about building scalable, impact-driven e-commerce and great food businesses. We’re committed to great taste and reduced waste by significantly reducing the need for excessive packaging and refrigeration during transportation.” MYOM Founder Mike・Mr. Curtis states. “The Accelerator will help us reach new customers and bring delicious, healthy and convenient oat milk to the nation and the world.”
Ira Guha, Founder and CEO of Asan, said: We’ve already had incredible success selling on Amazon, so we couldn’t be more excited to have the official support of the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator. With Amazon’s help, we want to lift millions of girls out of period poverty and end plastic waste from tampons and pads. ”
“I was thrilled to learn that ZIG+STAR has been selected for Amazon’s Sustainability Accelerator.As an entrepreneur, you have to be ready to learn every day, and this program will help you understand your climate impact more deeply. It provides a great opportunity to dig deeper, connect with like-minded companies and explore new routes to market,” said Ali McAreavey, Founder and CEO of ZIG+. Star.
The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator is a 10-week program designed in partnership with EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s leading climate change innovation institute, and Growth Studio, an innovation strategy consultant, to help startups create more sustainable physical and We help you develop consumer products. Is it planned for market launch or has it been recently released? Startups can meet and collaborate with experts from Amazon’s Sustainability team, attend workshops, receive mentorship, and participate in a customized program designed to help founders meet the challenges of scaling a sustainable business. You can benefit from the curriculum. Amazon and EIT Climate-KIC will also guide startups through climate impact assessments to learn how to self-assess the climate impact of their operations and develop strategies to improve their environmental footprint.
“We are excited to continue our work with the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator and help startups not only scale their businesses, but also drive meaningful change for our planet. We believe that innovation is the key to tackling global challenges, and through practical guidance, we aim to help founders transform bold ideas into impactful, sustainable businesses.” said Rayan Jawad, co-founder of Growth. studio.
“At EIT Climate-KIC, we are excited to help more entrepreneurs maximize their climate impact.Equip emerging startups with the tools to measure their climate mitigation potential. By supporting the ability to think systematically, we can drive an important cultural shift in business thinking.” Dr. Kirsten Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer, EIT Climate-KIC.
Want great articles from across the retail industry straight to your inbox? Click here to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
