Grosvenor Backs Two Innovative Start-Ups With £10,000 Social Impact Prize
Two start-up businesses have received £10,000 from Grosvenor Britain & Ireland to further the development of their business.
The teams, Recycleye and Tempo Market, are the joint winners of the Social Impact Award, part of Imperial College London’s flagship innovation and entrepreneurship program, the Venture Catalyst Challenge, which supports and accelerates exciting student innovations.
A recent spin-out from Imperial College London, Recycleye’s vision is to accelerate the world’s transition towards a circular economy through AI-powered waste sorting & analytics. By developing technology that can provide smarter characterisation, ubiquitous tracking and automated sorting of waste at scale, the application has the potential to drastically increase the rate and efficiency of recycling. Find out more at recycleye.com.
Tempo Market also supports the shift to a more circular economy by providing access to camping equipment when you need it, without the need to buy, store, or clean it. Their rental model involves repairing and re-using equipment, reducing the number of products manufactured and transported reducing our impact on the planet. Renting equipment also reduces the cost of camping making it more accessible to a greater range of people. Find out more at tempo-market.com.
“Recycleye is accelerating the world’s transition towards a circular economy – and with Grosvenor’s support we will be able to achieve that aim faster and at scale.” said Viktor Dewulf, CEO, Recycleye.
“At Tempo we make products work around the needs of customers, reducing product manufacturing and providing a great customer experience,” added Solomia Boretska, Tempo Market. “Currently we provide all the equipment you need for a camping trip, delivered directly to your campsite. Our model will expand to student housing where we will provide all of the essential student products alongside the accommodation rental.”
“To meet the challenge of the climate emergency we must innovate and invest in transformative ideas. Many of the solutions to the big issues we’ve faced over time have been born on university campuses, and we are proud to be supporting two young businesses with ideas that can change society for the better,” said Tor Burrows, Director of Sustainability and Innovation, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. “In their pitches, both Recycleye and Tempo Market demonstrated a hugely credible solution to their identified issue and the potential for their idea to have a positive impact on society.”
Since its inception in 2013, Venture Catalyst Challenge alumni teams have gone on to raise millions in investment, launch spin-outs, merge with tech companies, and, most importantly, have a profound and positive impact on the wider world. This year, 260 start-ups submitted ideas and business plans to the awards scheme with 25 invited to pitch live to a panel of judges.
As part of a progressive global property business, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland creates and manages high-quality neighborhoods that are great places to live, work and visit. Its diverse property development, management and investment portfolio includes Grosvenor’s London estate of Mayfair and Belgravia and other developments in London, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire. Grosvenor chose to support the Social Impact Award due to its emphasis on positive action and its alignment with the company’s purpose of creating financial and social benefit.