RISE Awards Shortlist, Sustainable Startup Summit, Green Construction
Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to this week’s Sustainable Times newsletter. In this edition, we’re celebrating the innovators shaping a greener future, from the startups and scaleups shortlisted for the RISE Awards, to founders transforming carbon-intensive industries through innovative technologies.
At the Investor Table, we spotlight the dynamic and diverse companies shortlisted for the RISE Awards across the categories of clean tech, consumer goods, sustainable fashion, renewable energy, fintech, and healthcare. On Profit Meets Purpose, we hear from GT Wings CEO George Thompson on why wind-assisted shipping is ready to be part of making the shipping industry more sustainable, and from SeedLegals CEO Anthony Rose on customer-driven development and the realities of today’s fundraising landscape.
In The Edit, we explore how regulation and investment are converging to decarbonise the built environment, with startups like Carbon Cell, IndiNature, Minimass, 2050 Materials, and Qualis Flow presenting practical solutions that cut carbon, reduce costs, and reshape the future of construction. We also highlight Levistor’s flywheel storage system, a breakthrough in rail decarbonisation with rapid payback potential.
Finally, in Small Steps, Big Impact, we preview the Sustainable Startup Investment Summit being held in London on 1st October. Highlights include panels led by leading law firm Mishcon de Reya and Patrick Aisher - Chair of highly successful technology investor Kinled - and five standout startup pitches.
Kind Regards,
Daisy Moll
This week at the Investor Table we invite our community of investors to celebrate the startups and scaleups that have been shortlisted for The RISE Awards. The awards recognise companies from across a range of sectors.
Clean Tech: Hutan Bio, Opovate, Planet Smart, Verv Energy, Polymateria, Bamboo Connect, Prism Power, Recycle Roots
Consumer: Foreva Farmers, Auraskin, House of Willow Alexander, Xampla, Eco Green Living, Poppy Furniture
Sustainable Fashion: Anatolian Colors, Brightland, Roarsome, LaundRe, Arda Biomaterials
Renewable Energy: Energy Box, Solivus, Naked Energy, Instollar Technologies
Fintech: ekko, Maanch, Mia Wealth, C2Zero, Sustainometrics
Healthcare: 2Curex, Precomb, Mudho, Nurtify Limited
Construction: Thoth London, Brightbuilds, Mater-AI, Granyt, EcoCistem
Green Transport: Carnot, GT Wings, Levistor, Lightfoot
Alongside the sector categories, the awards honour service providers such as asset managers, banks and legal firms supporting the startup community, and spotlight fresh talent through the Rising Star award.
If you would like to join us in celebrating, The RISE Awards are being held on 6th November at The Grand Connaught Rooms in London.
Please email jessica.bremner@sustainabletimes.co.uk for further information about tickets and tables.
On Profit Meets Purpose, Daisy Moll was joined by George Thompson, Founder and CEO of GT Wings. He shares how their technology is sailing the shipping industry into a more sustainable future.
As shipping braces for tougher climate rules, GT Wings is showing that compact, high-thrust wind tech can turn compliance into competitive advantage.
The clean shipping boom has long been promised and is slow to arrive. But if you ask George, the inflection point is in sight and regulation is the accelerant.
“The market’s really coming in 2027. That’s when the regulation hits hard,” Thompson says. For shipowners and operators, he adds, “the cost of non-compliance is growing”. Those two forces, looming rules and rising penalties, are reshaping buying decisions at sea, creating space for technologies that deliver verifiable fuel and emissions cuts.
Borrowing from high-lift aeronautics, GT Wings uses active flow-control fans that “both suck and blow the air at different places”, maintaining attached flow and generating greater thrust from a smaller device. That extra thrust reduces engine load, and therefore fuel use, by “anywhere between five to 35 percent”, depending on route and weather conditions.
Listen to the full episode here.
We also welcomed Anthony Rose, Co-founder and CEO of SeedLegals, a platform used by startups and investors to streamline the investment process.
Surprisingly he isn’t a lawyer, he previously led the development of BBC iPlayer and has built multiple startups and that outsider perspective has helped him see both the product and the customer’s needs more clearly. SeedLegals streamlines legal documentation so founders can focus on what really matters: securing investment, hiring, and growing with fewer mistakes.
Anthony shares his obsession with customer-driven development, illustrated by his well-known “Lindt chocolate test”: bribe users with chocolate, watch them struggle, fix the top three issues, and repeat until the product clicks. He argues this rapid feedback loop beats expensive research cycles, and that in startups, “building stuff” is often a sign you haven’t validated enough. Better, he says, to test with low-code tools or even human-in-the-loop processes, discover what people truly want, then automate once demand is proven.
He also unpacks current fundraising trends. The market is far tougher than the boom of 2021. Higher interest rates mean safer returns elsewhere, and while AI attracts attention, it also adds noise and uncertainty. Today’s investors expect to see revenue earlier, so Anthony advises founders to raise only what they need, keep operations lean, and build traction before approaching venture capital.
Listen to the full episode here.
The construction sector, responsible for 37% of global CO₂ emissions, is under growing regulatory and market pressure to decarbonise. With the EU’s new carbon market (ETS2) and the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive setting stricter standards, and the UK facing housing and retrofit targets, startups are stepping up with solutions. Investors are taking note, with green finance from banks and VCs accelerating adoption. As regulation, finance, and innovation converge, sustainable construction is shifting from ambition to inevitability.
Sustainable Times sat down with some of the startups leading this shift and explored what this means for investors. Startups featured in this shift include Carbon Cell, which is scaling biochar-based foams with a negative carbon footprint, IndiNature, producing hemp-based insulation that locks in carbon, and Minimass, re-engineering concrete beams to cut emissions and costs. Platforms like 2050 Materials and Qualis Flow are driving digital solutions by embedding life-cycle carbon data into design tools and streamlining supply chains.
Together, these ventures show how innovation is reshaping the built environment, from materials to data, while proving that sustainability and cost efficiency can go hand in hand.
Read the full article here.
Levistor, a British energy technology firm, has launched a next-generation flywheel storage system designed to cut rail emissions, reduce operating costs, and outlast conventional batteries. Independent research shows the system can lower energy use on light rail networks by up to 24%, with payback in less than four years at busy stations. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which degrade after a few thousand cycles, Levistor’s flywheels can endure more than one million cycles while maintaining full capacity.
The company’s CycloCell technology, first developed for ultra-rapid EV charging with support from National Highways, is now being positioned as a scalable decarbonisation tool for rail and metro networks worldwide. With features such as vacuum-sealed magnetic bearings, a shatter-proof rotor, and mass-manufacturing readiness, Levistor is offering operators a long-life, low-maintenance alternative to batteries. The system is now commercially available and Levistor will pitch at the Sustainable Startup Investment Summit on 1st October in London.
Read the full article here.
We are now just three weeks away from the Sustainable Startup Investment Summit and we have confirmed the agenda for the evening that is going to be sure to empower our community of investors. We invite you to join us for an evening of pitches, panels and networking.
Alongside the five companies pitching Levistor, O-Hx, Le Rouge Francais, 2Curex, and Entocycle. We are pleased to announce that we have two panels.
One is with Mishcon de Reya, a leading independent law firm, who will be exploring how to identify a company that is ready for scale and what the differences are for investors investing at Series A and beyond.
We are also joined by Patrick Aisher, Chair of Kinled, who will be sharing ‘How to Pick a Winner’ based on his deep experience of investment in technology innovation, which includes 50 successful exits.
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