14 March 2024 – CISL’s Canopy named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s leading startup hubs following a survey run by Statista.
Out of over 2000 hubs surveyed the Canopy has been selected as 1 of 125 leading startup hubs in a Financial Times Report. Of these hubs, 24 were in the UK with 17 based in London.
The survey involved reaching out to the startups supported through our accelerators as well as members of the Canopy community and workspace to examine the support provided in several different areas, including:
- Mentoring and Training
- Infrastructure
- Legal Assistance
- Funding Opportunities
- Networking Opportunities
- Business development advice
- Post-exit support
Over 350 startups have participated in accelerator programmes or had support provided as part of the Canopy community and accelerator programmes since 2020.
The Canopy is a community of impact-driven startups, entrepreneurs, major corporates and investors putting sustainability at the heart of their business models, and advancing solutions to achieve net zero, protect and restore nature, and build inclusive and resilient societies.
On the announcement, CISL’s Chief Innovation Officer James Cole said:
“We are proud that Canopy has been named one of Europe’s leading startup hubs just four years after we began running accelerator programmes and less than two years after opening the Canopy workspace in central Cambridge. This has been the work of many people. The Cambridge-based community, international programmes, and partnerships we’ve been able to develop in that time is testament to the unmet need for high ambition innovation partnerships between corporates and startups that seek to tackle real world challenges from climate change and nature depletion to child labour.”
A spokesperson from the Financial Times commented:
"Recognition in this special report stands as a very public acknowledgement of your reputation and status. After months of research, involving public calls for participation, the launching of surveys among alumni and peers, as well as considerable desk research – the 125 best companies for accelerator and incubator programmes (out of several thousand) in Europe were identified – and it was through this process that Canopy (Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership) distinguished itself."
The startups supported by Canopy work in a range of sectors, all innovating to accelerate action for a sustainable economy. We have seen many startups go on to succeed and thrive following participation in our accelerator programmes, such as Low Carbon Materials, who were last year’s Earthshot prize finalists. Canopy's first workspace-based member, Monumo, a deeptech engineering company focused on creating the world’s best electric motors - has raised £10.5m in seed funding. HACE, which developed the first child labour monitoring service which has raised £450,000 pre seed funding. Two of our startup founders have been awarded purple plaques from Innovate UK, which recognise exceptional women leading sustainability innovation.
Canopy accelerator cohorts have been designed around sectors and impact themes such as Accelerator to Net Zero, Circular Disruptors, Innovators in Sustainable Fashion, Innovators for the Built Environment, and Women Leading Sustainability Innovation – and seek to build bridges and partnerships between high impact startups and ambitious corporates looking to harness sustainability innovation. CISL's Canopy also works with major companies to design bespoke open innovation programmes that tap into start-up led innovations to support corporate sustainability innovation and transformation.
In 2023 together with the BSI we launched a groundbreaking ‘accelerate and pilot’ programme to deliver trust in sustainability. The BSI Sustainable Innovation Lab is hosted in the Canopy where we support a cohort of startups working with BSI to co-develop digital solutions that can deliver trust and best practice for the world’s biggest sustainability challenges.
Also in 2023 Canopy partnered with Imperial College Undaunted and UNICEF Innovation to source and support 30 climate innovators under the age of 30 and showcase them at COP 28; and hosted three cohorts of Spanish cleantech scaleups for a UK immersion programme, working with Cambridge Cleantech and Oxfordshire Green tech.
Later this Spring CISL will launch a living lab for sustainability innovation in the built environment to provide an open innovation sandbox for corporates, startups and academia to collaborate and pilot and validate new solutions to sustainability challenges using the Entopia Building – itself an exemplar sustainable retrofit, which houses CISL and the Canopy.