Undaunted blog
Are solutions to the climate crisis hiding in plain sight?
Unearthing ground-breaking solutions for climate adaptation and resilience
Undaunted’s Climate Solutions Catalyst (CSC) aims to accelerate the journey from academic discovery to climate innovation. Its first cohort has supported three research teams working in the field of green catalysis. As the CSC seeks to assemble its second cohort, Christopher Waite and Nicole Alhadeff from the team outline why they are turning their powerful search tool towards climate adaptation and resilience.
Unearthing the soul of climate innovation: introducing ALMa
Dr César Quilodrán-Casas, Advanced Research Fellow in Machine Learning, is part of Undaunted’s Climate Solutions Catalyst team. The CSC is building a novel tool with the power to unearth untapped academic research that has huge potential to tackle climate change if it can be supported to commercialise. In this blog, César deep dives into the team’s tool, ALMa, exploring what the CSC has been up to in the project’s first year and what’s on the horizon.
From the lab to zero emissions – how can we accelerate climate innovations out of academia?
Dr Christopher Waite and colleagues leading Undaunted’s Climate Solutions Catalyst (CSC) programme reflect on the need to proactively search UK research for new climate solutions and, in doing so, how they are opening up a new route into climate innovation for academics.
Climate Solutions Up-Close
Taking a hands-on approach to insect farming
Working with the foundations of net zero cement
A whole new category of sparkle
Keeping in touch with our food’s freshness
Keeping an eye on safer, more sustainable cycling
Software services to unlock sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa
Getting under the skin of EV charging
Urban Electric’s retractable EV charging technology is enabling more people to be part of the electrification journey. Undaunted’s reporter, Franca Davenport, found out more about the technology.
Getting to the roots of healthy soil
Innovating across business and regulation for net zero energy
Simple energy savings from smart hot water tanks
Isometric Outcomes’ Mission: Dehumidification & Heat Recovery
Isometric Outcomes specialises in bathroom dehumidification and heat recovery. We spoke with its founder, Alain Alban, to learn about his motivations for working in the cleantech space and bringing this climate solution to the built environment sector.
Comfort Meets Climate: Cosysense’s Mission to Reduce AC Emissions
As per the International Energy Agency, by 2050, air conditioning services (A/Cs) are set to contribute 18% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Cosysense is a startup on a mission to reduce energy bills and CO2 emissions by 15%.
From Data to Decarbonisation
An Equitable Climate Innovator
Women making waves in cleantech innovation
Kate Hofman
Kate Hofman is Founder of GrowUp Farms (which progressed through Undaunted‘s accelerator, now know as The Greenhouse, back in 2014), and CEO and Co-Founder of Pesto.
After studying for a Master’s in Environmental Technology at Imperial College London, Kate founded GrowUp Farms – the UK’s first vertical farm selling bagged salad to a UK supermarket.
Megan Hale
Megan Hale is CEO and Co-Founder of Team Repair, which progressed through The Greenhouse in 2023.
As a teen, Megan knew she wasn’t destined for a job sitting behind someone else’s desk. She was going to run her own business. Megan loved taking broken stuff apart and fixing it. So, when she found out about a Master’s in Design Engineering at Imperial, she knew it was for her.
Carmel Rafaeli
Carmel Rafaeli is an angel investor and venture partner who supports climate-positive startups with female founders.
Her first job was as a radio news producer, she worked in business development in Japan, and founded and managed a hospitality tech startup. She’s now an angel investor (making small investments of £2000 at a time in startups), and a Venture Partner at Conduit Ventures and Alma Angels.
Safia Qureshi
Safia Qureshi is Founder and CEO of pioneering and award-winning reusable packaging company, CLUBZERØ.
After qualifying as an architect Safia realised she wanted to make a more fundamental impact on how we live than she could by designing houses, schools and offices. She wanted to re-design part of the fabric of our cities in a sustainable, pioneering way.
Alex Park
Alex Park, Founder is Founder and CEO of Biofonic, a climate startup that uses acoustic sensors and AI to accelerate sustainable land management.
As a child growing up in Texas, Alex was fascinated by nature and food. But it was only after a career in data insights at Fortune 100 companies in Silicon Valley that she decided to combine her skills and interests to invent a technology to help farmers improve the soil and grow food sustainably.
Serena Oppenheim
Serena Oppenheim is Co-founder of Fin-Erth, which hosts global events, connecting climate professionals across finance, law, innovation, operations and policy to encourage collaboration. For the past two years it has hosted the Women in Climate Awards. Serena began her career developing windfarms, then founded her own company while battling two chronic health conditions, and now campaigns to ensure women in the climate space get the profile they deserve.
Female innovators paving the way for a sustainable future
For International Women’s Day 2025 and Women at Imperial Week, we asked some of Undaunted’s leading female innovators two key questions:
What needs to happen to accelerate action and investment for women in sustainable innovation?
What is your message on why accelerating action for women in sustainable innovation is vital for us all?
International Women’s Day 2024: Inspiring Inclusion in Innovation
Across all our programmes Undaunted is creating new routes into climate entrepreneurship. From untapping academic research and supporting innovative students and very early-stage cleantech ideas, through to The Greenhouse – Europe’s leading climate accelerator that nurtures pre-seed startups and our Better Futures Retrofit Accelerator for SMEs ready to scale up in the built environment sector.
Celebrating London’s cleantech women innovators
Grantham Institute is celebrating International Women’s Day 2021 and Women at Imperial Week by showcasing successful innovators and their work as part of London’s cleantech community. Communications co-ordinator Rosa Salazar Benazar interviewed four female founders who have been part of the Grantham Institute’s accelerator programme to share their views on this year’s International Women’s Day theme ‘Choose to Challenge’.
Student innovators
Student climate entrepreneurs: inspire, empower, enable!
Lina Rhmari Tlemcani and Naman Sharma, are this year’s Co-Chairs of the Climate Entrepreneurs Club (CEC). Founded and led by students, the CEC work to unite and inspire fellow students across Imperial and beyond who are motivated to take their studies, skills and ideas into the world of entrepreneurship and cleantech. Protecting the planet, tackling climate change and positively impacting global society is at the core of their ethos. In this blog Lina tells us more…
Climate Launchpad: From inspired ideas to ground-breaking, planet-saving innovations
CleanTech
Carbon capture technology is key to deliver on the UAE Consensus
For Earth Day 2024, Elsy Milan, Postgraduate Researcher for the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, reflects COP28 in Dubai, the UAE Consensus and the increasingly central role of carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) for many countries to achieve their emission reduction targets.
Don’t blame plastic, blame poor waste management
Grantham Affiliate Chris Cheeseman, Professor of Materials Resources Engineering at Imperial College London, considers what’s behind the plastic pollution crisis, and why designers and engineers are fundamental to developing a long-term solution.
Why clean tech innovation and selfish action go hand in hand
SSCP DTP student Oliver Schmidt argues that technological innovation is key to empowering individuals to act on climate change.
