2050 Accelerator Showcase Day

Now that the dust has settled on a phenomenal week, it's time to share a few thoughts. 

Firstly, I'm so proud of what we accomplished with the 2050 Accelerator. The showcase day last week was the culmination of a huge amount of hard work. The startups were and are outstanding!

We set out to prove that we could attract world class talent and that Ireland can serve as a testbed for sustainability innovation. And without a shadow of a doubt, that is the case. More on that shortly.

When Minister Michael McGrath TD launched the 2050 Accelerator back in May, he said we need to innovate our way out of this crisis. And this is a message I want to emphasise. Humanity has made this mess. And given the scale of the task ahead, at times one can feel a little helpless. Just this week we learned the sea-ice surrounding Antarctica is well below any previous recorded winter level. And the Taoiseach spoke about how we have hit just 15% of our SDG goals, despite being at the half way mark. Last week the UN warned that we have reached a tipping point for climate action. It is important to acknowledge the scale of the problem. 

But it is equally important not to lose hope. And, in fact, I’m pretty hopeful! Key technologies are being adopted at a faster rate than the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) had forecast. And not by a small margin. Wind, solar and batteries are being deployed faster than just about any other physical technology in human history. And there are plenty of other innovations, some mundane and some cutting edge, that stand a good chance of digging us out of this hole. The trick is to test them rapidly and get them into people’s hands as quickly as possible. I’m a firm believer that one of the best ways to achieve this is to make those innovations a commercial success. Sure, people will adopt EV’s because its the right thing to do. But they’ll adopt them a lot faster if it'll save them money vs their petrol car. 

And this has been the approach of the 2050 Accelerator.

These marvellous startups (full list below) from all over the world have had the opportunity to work with Kerry, Coillte and ESB to bring commercial pilots to life. To test their innovations with the possibility of scaling them from Ireland to the world. 

It's a powerful model. But it doesn't work without people willing to push hard. To take risks. To work together for a common good. And over the last 12 weeks It's been a privilege to work with such people. And not just the folks on the programme - our startups and our corporate partners - but the hundreds of others who have helped make this programme such a success. So many, I'm terrified to start listing names as I will most likely miss someone! 

But we are not finished. There is work to do. The work on the pilots themselves has just begun and we need to see them to conclusion. Our fantastic showcase day was not the end - it’s just the beginning.

More to come.

I would like to thank the Government of Ireland and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in particular for their support bringing this programme to life. And of course Kerry, Coillte, ESB and the The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment for not just sponsoring the programme, but for leaning into it. For participating in it wholly. We often forget that even big companies are comprised of individual people. People who are every bit as passionate about sustainability as I am, but who actually know what they are talking about! People like Geraldine Moloney and Donal Phelan in ESB. James O'Connell, Sibéal Bird and Juan Gabriel Aguiriano Nalda in Kerry, and David Feeney and Kenneth Joyce in Coillte. They did so much more than what we asked of them. 

A big thanks to Kevin Tidwell in Grantham who also supported the programme and helped us make Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) a part of it, as well as adding a little biodiversity.

To my own team, in particular Ashley Shak , who worked incredibly hard to bring this to life. To Reebu Cherian who supports her, my own team Elizabeth Fingleton, Jonathan Blayney, Eoghan O'Flaherty, Sarah Walker as well as our phenomenal events, accounts and marketing teams. And to our very own CEO, Patrick Walsh, who let me do this crazy thing.

To our mentors Brett Meyers, Kevin Kavanagh, Donal O'Flynn, Ross Hunt, Nevcan Gungor, Maria McMenamin and hugh reynolds. To James McBride at Otherlab for his insight and support. And a major shout out to John Beckett who doesn’t spend all his time furthering the 2050 cause, but apparently runs a business on the side.

Thanks to Alan Hobbs and Nicole Greenan at Enterprise Ireland for coming along to talk to the startups and provide support, as well as Colm Rafferty at Maples for helping some of the cohort out with their term sheet woes.

To the countless people that have supported us or the startups on this journey.

And finally, to the next chapter. The 2050 Ecosystem is underway with our partners in crime - Mary Rodgers from the PorterShed in Galway, Liam Cronin from RDI Hub in Kerry, Frank Brennan in Republic of Work and Ed Murphy and Rita Martin in GreentechHQ down in Enniscorthy. We’ve got big plans, but I’ll save that for another post!

2050 Accelerator cohort startups:

Nerit'e, EIO Diagnostics, Silicate, CarbonStack, Micron Agritech, Natural Building Systems, HiiKER: The Hiking Maps App, BladeBridge, Aikido Technologies, AgriSound, CREW Carbon

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