Tocardo, C-Power secure spots on COP26 cleantech investment programme

Dutch tidal energy company Tocardo and U.S.-based marine energy developer C-Power have made it to the Greenbackers Investment Capital’s final list of technology start-ups to take part in an innovative six-month international investment programme.

The programme has been designed to help the finalist start-ups secure international funding ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

Called 26ForCOP26, it will introduce the 26 selected businesses to a global investor base through an online deal platform Greenbackers Showcase via a series of hosted events between June and November 2021.

The programme will culminate in a live and live-streamed ‘SuperPitch’ showcase event, hosted in Glasgow during COP26, which runs from 31 October to 12 November.

The 26ForCOP26 launch comes after a recent report from the International Energy Authority stated that by 2050, ‘almost half the reductions in CO2 emissions will come from technologies that are currently at the demonstration or prototype phase. Major innovation efforts must take place this decade, in order to bring these new technologies to market in time’.

Robert Hokin, managing partner at Greenbackers, a Glasgow-based venture capital specialist for net-zero innovators, said: “We developed a showcase of great technology ventures to coincide with the global focus on the COP26 Climate Summit happening here in our hometown of Glasgow this November.

“There’s been plenty of talk about target-setting but to make Net Zero a reality, COP26 needs to be about action. Investment capital needs to flow faster into the climate technology start-ups that can and will make a difference.

“Our ’26ForCOP26′ is an action programme for making that investment happen”.

The selected 26 companies have been picked from over 120 applicants and come from nine countries and cover the various cleantech sub sectors including sustainable transportation, renewable power generation, water and energy conservation; smart grid, and ocean and blue economy, amongst others.

Greenbackers 26ForCOP26 is Sponsored by Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, international law firm Brown Rudnick, and supported by the Solar Impulse Foundation and the CivTech Alliance.