Co-founder of a Climate Tech Startup

Join Carbon13 as a Co-founder of a Climate Tech Startup

All great stories start somewhere. Yours could begin with an application to Carbon13. We are seeking passionate individuals ready to dedicate the next several years to building a climate tech startup that fundamentally reshapes the baseline scenarios driving us deeper into the climate crisis.

The Carbon13 Venture Builder Programme

There's no time for false starts. Join our intensive programme designed to fast-track your entrepreneurial journey:

• Find your dream co-founder: Connect with like-minded individuals in just 8 weeks.
• Define your problem space: Sharpen your focus on high-impact climate solutions.
• Access unparalleled expertise: Tap into a network of 400+ domain specialists, carbon experts, and sharp-eyed Entrepreneurs in Residence.
• Secure initial investment: Show your team's readiness to transform industries and secure Carbon13's pre-seed investment in just 5 months.

We are specifically looking for experienced entrepreneurs and venture catalysts with strong insights into emitting industries and the skillset to scale quickly. With Carbon13, you will find the right technical co-founder and the best possible foundation for building a successful climate tech startup.

Our Mission: Save the Climate and Aim Big

Carbon13 is the Venture Builder for the Climate Emergency, laser-focused on supporting founders solving exclusively for the climate. Our mission is to build and back ventures addressing Earth’s critical life support systems, with an initial focus on the most urgent problem: climate change. We challenge every new founder to aim big – to build a solution with the potential to reduce carbon dioxide (or equivalent greenhouse gases) by 10 million tonnes per year, and all our support is designed to help you reach this ambitious figure.

"I’ve always loved the hustle of entrepreneurship. Climate tech entrepreneurship is the icing on the cake. It’s doing what I love to make the world a better place for everyone else. For climate tech to have maximum impact, it needs a diversity of founders who represent all set to benefit from it." – Sioned Owen, Founder and Chief Product Officer at Unbound Energy from cohort 3.

Why Participate in Carbon13?

• Shortcut to co-founders: Meet exceptional science professionals to collaborate on extraordinary climate tech solutions.
• Avoid false starts: Begin your entrepreneurship journey correctly, bypassing dead ends and incremental impacts.
• Deep carbon knowledge: Receive training that enables you to build a startup tailored for climate tech VC investment.

"One of the unique things that we are doing at Carbon13 is we are not expecting our founders to outsource this knowledge, we are very much training all of our founders, so they have access to the latest tools and techniques, so that they can assess their carbon mitigation potential, understand how to communicate it and of course be transparent in how they are measuring it." – Dr. Nicky Dee, Carbon13 Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer.

Flexible Programme Framework

The programme offers flexibility to accommodate diverse life circumstances. While there are nine essential in-person days in London/Cambridge, the remainder of the programme is delivered remotely. We believe that tackling the climate crisis requires involving individuals from all walks of life, including those with children, caring for elderly relatives, or other obligations. Our Venture Builder is designed with this principle in mind.

"There was people from all over the place. All different walks of life, ages, backgrounds and I think this was one of the great things that Carbon13 was able to bring together for me." – Natalia Dorfman, CEO and co-founder of KITA from cohort 2 in Cambridge.

Sector Agnostic Approach & Impact

Carbon13 is sector agnostic, allowing founders to explore ideas across any emitting industry, from Food and Construction to Energy, New Materials, and Carbon Capture. Our support is tailored for science-based, deeptech, or hardware ventures, covering go-to-market strategy, IP protection, fundraising, and team building. You'll gain access to a 'brains trust' of hundreds of experts, peers, and partners.

Since 2021, over 90 ventures have launched through the programme, with 46 receiving our pre-seed investment totaling £5 million. More than two-thirds of these have already secured follow-on funding. Our portfolio companies are developing technologies with immense emission-saving potential, including carbon-negative concrete, methane capture, bioplastics, precision fermentation, quantum computing for materials discovery, green ammonia, green hydrogen, biochar, and direct air capture.

Building Your Climate Tech Startup with Carbon13

The VC funding route is often the faster path for launching complex projects with high decarbonization impact. Carbon13 is designed to provide your venture with the best entry point into this route, especially for science-based startups aiming to reduce CO2e emissions by 10 million tonnes per year. If you don't have an idea yet, we'll support you in finding one with significant emission reduction potential or connect you with a co-founder/team with strong industry insights to execute validated customer pain points.

You'll build your climate tech startup as part of a cohort of 80 founders. Our programme amplifies your work, focusing on impactful, non-incremental ideas. The programme is divided into three phases:

• Phase 1: Teaming & Ideation: Meet inspiring people, form your co-founding team, and decide whether to prioritize the idea or the personal connection.
• Phase 2: Validation: Work intensely with Domain Experts and your personal Entrepreneur in Residence on team strengthening, carbon intelligence, rapid concept iterations, business model forming, prototype testing, intellectual property, customer development, stakeholder development, behaviour change, governance, and venture incorporation. At the end of this phase, we invest in selected teams.
• Phase 3: Acceleration: Focus on market, product, business model, and strategy to prepare your venture for further seed-stage investment. We assist with scaling strategies, managing growth challenges, and developing a funding strategy, guaranteeing introductions to relevant (impact) investors from our extensive network.

Carbon13 in Numbers:

• £14 million investment: Across 101 ventures since 2021.
• £40 million follow-on funding: Carbon13 companies have collectively raised over £40 million in up-rounds.
• 500 million tonnes decarbonisation potential: Our portfolio is collectively working towards this annual target.
• +10% Earthshot nominated: Including Kita, Samudra Oceans, Forge Minerals, and Nium.
• 40% of participants hold a PhD.
• 90% of each cohort forms a co-founding team within Phase 1.
• +500 domain experts: Carbon experts, Entrepreneurs in Residence.

Key skills/competency

• Entrepreneurship
• Venture Building
• Climate Tech
• Business Acumen
• Startup Scaling
• Carbon Mitigation
• Fundraising Strategy
• Team Leadership
• Market Validation
• Deep Tech Innovation