Greentown Labs, the largest ClimateTech incubator in North America, and Saint-Gobain, a multinational manufacturer and distributor of materials and services for the construction and industrial markets, announce six startup participants for Greentown Go Build—a Greentown Go programme focused on accelerating startup-corporate partnerships to advance circularity and decarbonise the built environment.
Innovation in the building sector is critical to achieving decarbonisation, as the sector is responsible for 40% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. To change this, we need innovations that reinvent how buildings and their materials are planned, built, sourced and managed. That’s why Greentown and Saint-Gobain partnered to launch Go Build 2023, which specifically sought innovations to extend product life cycles, find alternative raw materials, and enable technologies for waste revalorisation.
After a highly competitive selection and deliberation process that saw more than 100 applicants from 27 countries, a cohort of six cutting-edge startup participants was selected:
- Active Surfaces (Salem, Mass., US) develops an ultra-lightweight, flexible solar technology for the built environment.
- Carbon Upcycling Technologies (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a circular-decarbonisation solution for hard-to-abate industries–-utilising low-purity industrial CO2 and industrial byproducts to decarbonise cement.
- Endeavor Composites, Inc. (Knoxville, Tenn., US) intercepts landfill-destined post-industrial fibres and sustainably repurposes them into semi-finished goods for the composite industry.
- Hempitecture (Ketchum, Idaho, US) manufactures and distributes biobased building materials, including a low-embodied-carbon insulation.
- Puro Renewables (Miami Beach, Fla., US) upcycles carbon-negative biowaste for use in reducing the amount of fossil-fuel-based resin and carbon footprint in typical plastic products.
- ZS2 Technologies (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) creates magnesium-based advanced building products that can store up to one-fifth of their weight in CO2 via a proprietary carbon-capture technology.
Selected startups will work closely with Saint-Gobain over six months to explore potential collaborations, including investment opportunities, development partnerships, and commercial partnerships. Throughout the programme, startups will benefit from mentorship, networking opportunities, educational workshops and partnership-focused programming to support collaboration. Participants will also receive desk space and membership at Greentown for the duration of the programme.