Net Zero Technology Centre announces 2024 clean energy accelerator start-up cohort

The Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) has announced its 2024 TechX start-up cohort. The TechX Clean Energy Accelerator, now in its sixth year, will welcome 12 high potential start-ups to the programme which commences in February.

Each start-up will receive up to £100k in funding and access to NZTC’s network of mentors, investors, and sponsors, including bp, Equinor, ADNOC and ConocoPhillips, the latter of which joined the programme this year. Start-ups will also benefit from industry support opportunities including field trials.

The programme leverages entrepreneurial ingenuity to discover and propel critical technologies required for the energy transition. Following 15 weeks of investor readiness training, refining business models, business storytelling and more, the programme will culminate in a Demo Day in June 2024. 

This will provide the start-ups with an opportunity to showcase their solutions to industry and investors, with potential to win further funding. Following graduation from the programme, TechX also provides two additional years of growth support, and continued access to NZTC’s network and co-working facilities. 

The selected start-ups are:

• Airspection: Drones designed for more reliable, more robust and safer offshore infrastructure inspection
• Apleum: Technology to convert renewable energy, carbon dioxide and water into zero carbon jet fuel
• Kali Technology: Carbon-zero industrial process heating using low cost, integrated heat pump technology
• Frontier Robotics: Platform-agnostic software and associated hardware for autonomous underwater inspections
• HyWaves: Power management control system to increase hydrogen production for dedicated solar-to-hydrogen, and lowering cost
• H2CHP: Fuel-flexible power generator targeted at ports offering full control over the combustion process to operate at high efficiency with zero carbon emissions
• INERGIO Technologies: Novel system design that combines advantages of fuel cells and diesel generators for sustainable off-grid and backup power solutions
• MECHAPRES: High-temperature heat pump with embedded thermal storage for industrial heat decarbonisation, with heat and steam as a service potential
• Modjoule: Smart, battery-equipped containers for cost-effective electrification of shipping vessels
• Reaforma: Leveraging construction waste for secure carbon capture and storage in a novel carbon-negative composite
• Soltropy: Novel solar thermal technology for buildings that harvests carbon neutral heat all year round
• SurreyH2: Lower cost green hydrogen production technology using a recirculating catalyst, with intrinsic hydrogen storage capability.

To date, 57 start-ups have been supported through the programme. The alumni have collectively generated £32m in revenue, and created 443 new jobs.