In this newsletter, women-led startups are gaining investment from the crowd; our project lead Frans Nauta tells you about Startup Accelerators; and Texas hosts a competition for eco-friendly innovations.
September 5 is the last day to save €50
Register today to get your ticket to the EU Final with a 33% discount. Just enter the code CLP2016EARLY to claim your € 50 off.
Our soul mates live in Texas SXSW
Eco Startup Showcase (Texas, USA) is a fast-paced pitch competition featuring top impact companies from around the world. They just presented their 2016 finalists. The Showcase is a launching pad for the latest innovations that “positively impact society and the environment.” Now, doesn’t that ring a bell?
As we are getting ready to present our very own line-up of finalists, we just wanna say Go Texas!.
Everything you always wanted to know about Startup Accelerators but were afraid to ask
Y Combinator was the first back in 2005. Since then Startup Accelerators have grown into an industry of their own with now hundreds of startup accelerators around the globe. It’s a safe bet they’re here to stay.
We’re getting more clarity on how to run them. But there’s also still a lot of unanswered questions. Questions like: What is the most effective curriculum? How do you set up an application process and how do you select startups? How to engage investors? What is the most promising business model? And so on. In coming months Frans Nauta (Project Lead ClimateLaunchpad) will address these questions and come up with answers. Read more.
Crowds love cleantech (and women)
In an EDF blogpost we read that a Morgan Stanley survey showed a rise in sustainable investing. The biggest growth is found among individuals who invest through crowdfunding. 71 percent of surveyed individuals are interested in sustainable investing and 65 percent says they will invest more in sustainable industries in the next few years.
The article concludes that there are multiple positive forces that boost early-stage cleantech investments.
On a side note we found another interesting fact: women outperform men when it comes to crowdfunding. This article on Harvard Business Review states that women are 13% more likely to succeed in raising money on Kickstarter.
We can only say yay! to both trends.
Current competition news
All national finals will be wrapped up by mid September. After that finalists only have a few short weeks to prep themselves for the nerve-racking European Final in Tallinn, Estonia on October 7-8.
Tags: European Finals