Given its location within Imperial College London, and its heritage as one of the first climate-focused accelerators, The Greenhouse is uniquely placed to accelerate the development of commercially focused, technology-driven solutions to tackle climate change.

The programme has been designed to increase the value of your business so that you are in a position to raise investment by the end of your 12 months with us. Startups undertake The Greenhouse journey with the aim of raising a minimum of £100k by the end of the 12-month period – sufficient funds to maintain the business for a further 12-months.

Our holistic programme of support takes place over twelve months, part-time, and is based on three pillars:

Up to £20k in equity-free grant funding – we don’t take equity from our founders.

Access to office space, meeting rooms, labs, technical resources, facilities, social and networking events, and scale-up space across Imperial and the White City Innovation District, including: Scale Space; the Advanced Hackspace; Imperial Enterprise Lab; Imperial White City, South Kensington and Silwood Park campuses.

Direct access to leading experts including at CO2RE (the national Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub) for those working on GGR, and the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment for those working on financial innovation.

Access to subsidised (50%) internships.

Recruitment support from Imperial Careers Service.

A startup’s Greenhouse journey starts at the application stage when we ask you to complete an application form and send on an (optional) pitch deck. We provide a number of Q&A webinars though the application window so that you can meet The Greenhouse team and ask questions directly. The applications submitted by the deadline are reviewed and ranked by a panel of experts. We aim to provide brief feedback to every applicant so that they can continue with the development of their idea.

Approximately 10 – 15 teams will then be invited to join the next cohort of The Greenhouse programme takes place over twelve months part-time, and is divided into two six-month sprints interspersed with a mid-point review:

Germination Phase: customer discovery and value proposition

Teams are provided tools with which to conduct a deep dive on their hypothetical market and customer segments during this six-month sprint phase.

The insights obtained from this detailed review are used to develop an understanding of the customer needs, the wider value chain and iterate on the proposed product or market fit. The ultimate aim is to develop an evidenced value proposition and identify a target market segment.

This phase is supported by both intensive coaching to help startups iterate their business and technology models, and more formal support through masterclasses and workshops.

Teams will receive an equity-free grant upon commencing this phase. Progressing from the Germination Phase to the Propagation Phase of The Greenhouse is subject to a mid-term review.

Propagation Phase: deployment

The Propagation phase focuses on more specialist skills (such as pitching) and commercialising the business model. Teams are supported to take part in trials, tests and pilots with customers and end-users and use the results to further iterate their propositions and develop their commercial model. In parallel teams are developing investment plans and actively fundraising to support the business after leaving The Greenhouse.

This period also lasts up to six months and is supported by business mentoring from experienced professionals, who help and advise the startups as they execute their commercialisation strategies.

The phase culminates with a Demo Day with investors, held in the prestigious Royal Institution lecture theatre.

Progressing from the Propogation Phase will be subject to a review, and a positive outcome will result in graduating from The Greenhouse. Teams will receive the second equity-free grant on commencing this phase.