News and blog

Find out about what Undaunted’s startups, alumni, team and collaborators have been getting up to via the recent news, blogs and thought pieces linked below. Stay in-the-loop by signing up to our newsletter. To view upcoming events please visit out events page.

Recent news

Collage shows a conical flask in a desert landscape with tiny people climbing up it. The flask contains a green leafy plant.
From the lab to zero emissions – how can we accelerate climate innovations out of academia?

Universities are hotbeds of scientific discovery. The fundamental and applied research taking place in public research institutions has a vital role to play in advancing deep-tech climate innovation – both by increasing the diversity of potential solutions and deliberately exploring high-risk or neglected areas overlooked by the private sector. Yet, many climate-relevant breakthroughs never make it out of the lab. In this blog post, our Climate Solutions Catalyst team examines the key barriers that stifle the real-world translation of academic research – and introduce a bold new initiative designed to overcome this pivotal bottleneck.

Cohort 8 photographed at their induction day
14 innovative climate startups embark on Undaunted’s Greenhouse accelerator

“The 14 diverse and talented startups selected for Cohort 8 came through a tough application process – it’s fantastic to welcome them into the Undaunted community,” says Maiko Schaffrath, Head of The Greenhouse. “It’s really encouraging to see applications for this programme increase with each Cohort – up 80% compared to our last call. This highlights a strong pipeline of innovations across carbon capture, alternative materials, biotech, climate finance, and beyond. With input from both technical and commercial experts, our rigorous selection process resulted in an acceptance rate of under 10%.”

After the White City Incubator, the Puraffinity team moved next door to Scale Space.
Imperial leads £5m collaboration to scale UK climate startups

Funding from Research England Development Fund will enable Imperial and partners to support climate science startups to commercial deployment.

“Climate innovation is thriving within and around UK university hubs, and this funding shows UKRI’s commitment to supercharging this kind of high-potential research,” said Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Undaunted. “We will work with our collaborators to smash barriers currently preventing the scale up of technologies…”

News archive

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 ... Read more

Imperial at London Tech Week 2025

Imperial academics, staff and startups take part in a range of events across this year’s London Tech Week. Read more

AI evidence pipelines could offer reliable support for conservation decisions

AI can match human experts in retrieving conservation evidence, researchers from Imperial College London and Cambridge University find. Read more

Imperial founders, innovators and alumni shine in Forbes 30 Under 30

The prestigious listing of young entrepreneurs includes 14 innovators from Imperial. Read more

Lingerie and climate-proof farming startups win top prizes in WE Innovate 2025

Imperial’s flagship women’s entrepreneurship programme, this year a collab with Queen’s University Belfast, celebrated the winning ventures. Read more

Imperial to build UK’s first university network for women entrepreneurs

Imperial will lead the development of a new national network for women entrepreneurs, building on the success of its WE Innovate programme. Read more

14 innovative climate startups embark on Undaunted’s Greenhouse accelerator

Undaunted welcomes 14 cutting-edge innovators onto its 12-month climate accelerator to get investor-ready and boost their commercial success. Read more

14 innovative climate startups embark on Undaunted’s Greenhouse accelerator

Undaunted welcomes 14 cutting-edge innovators onto its 12-month climate accelerator to get investor-ready and boost their commercial success. Read more

Grantham Climate Art Prize mural unveiled at South Kensington campus

A panoramic mural that draws attention to the climate crisis has been unveiled at Imperial's South Kensington campus. Read more

Sustainable dyes being developed at Imperial win H&M Global Change Award

Prestigious fashion industry award also honours Imperial startup PulpaTronics, for its low-cost, recyclable radio-frequency ID tags. Read more

Power, policy and innovation: Exploring the UK’s energy future at Imperial

Collaboration is key to making meaningful change in the energy sector, and Imperial is at the heart of convening the right people. Read more

Carbon Cell raises £1.2m to scale its low carbon foam material

Carbon Cell has raised a £1.2m pre-seed round to scale its novel, plastic-free foam made from biochar and natural polymers Read more

Microbial Foods as a sustainable, healthy and resilient source of nutrients

Researchers explain the potential of microbial foods as an alternative source of nutrients, showing how this sector could be ... Read more

Earth-cooling research to be piloted by Imperial aerospace engineers

UK is funding multiple new climate cooling projects that could avoid the worst effects of climate change Read more

Winner announced: Grantham Climate Art Prize 2025

A student from the Dyson School of Engineering has won this year’s Grantham Climate Art Prize. Read more

The challenge is huge, but we are Undaunted – join us?

Loading...