Wadham College and Planet Fund to assist climate scientists to transition research into commercial ventures

Scientific expertise is vital for scaling the impact of the climate tech sector but scientists, engineers and researchers struggle to take innovations from research level and turn them into commercial ventures. From today, Planet Positive Lab, a new initiative between the University of Oxford’s Wadham College, Founders Factory and Planet Fund, a ClimateTech investment fund, will provide a programme of climate advice, operational support and capital to founders to help push forward science-based innovation that addresses the global climate crisis.  

Planet Positive Lab is the world’s first university-based, operator-backed and industry-driven climate tech programme for students, academics and alumni. The strongest climate-tech ventures are led by people with a deep understanding of cutting-edge science and technologies working with people with an extensive knowledge of how to create and build businesses, and investors who pay close attention to ventures led by science as much as a mission for change. The University of Oxford’s reputation for pioneering research and development, and the exceptional educational experiences it facilitates across all fields, makes it a natural home for Planet Positive Lab.

Nascent and early-stage ventures will join the inaugural programme at Wadham College this summer. Over the ten-week programme, founders will receive operational masterclasses and workshops hosted by Founders Factory’s operational experts, climate deep dives from Oxford scientists and Planet Fund’s network of experienced ClimateTech founders, venture capitalists and experts, individual mentorship, and invaluable access to corporate and investors network. 

Robert Hannigan, Warden of Wadham added: 'Planet Positive Lab offers a winning combination of academic excellence, startup knowledge and capital to turn innovation into viable solutions that will accelerate action against climate change.’

Henry Lane Fox, CEO and co-founder of Founders Factory and General Partner at Planet Fund said: ‘The UK is home to some of the world’s best universities and they’ve shown their clout in game-changing research and development. Cutting-edge science, however, doesn’t translate into business ventures as much as you would expect. Scientists, engineers and researchers find it daunting to build out an effective business model, measure impact and raise funds. With Planet Positive Lab we are aiming to build playbooks and provide hands-on advice to address these areas and make a difference to the world.’ 

Micol Chiesa and Christiaan de Koning from Planet Positive Lab added: ‘We are looking for innovative startups working to solve the most severe consequences of climate change while building the backbone of our economy in the following industries: food, agriculture, land and oceans, energy, transport and mobility, industry and manufacturing, the built environment and climate service.

Planet Positive Lab is accepting applications to this summer’s inaugural venture lab and creating an ecosystem of partners that have made science-based climate commitments and are looking to support the next generation of technologies that will enable a Planet positive economy. 

Register for the inaugural bootcamp.

All startup applications and further information can be found at https://www.planetpositivelab.com/.

You can also find out more at the Planet Positive Lab launch event at 5.15 on Tuesday 25 April in the Holywell Music Room - register here.

Planet Positive Lab has been developed to support the University of Oxford innovation ecosystem in the development of the next generation of climate and environmentally focussed companies. It brings together the deep operational experience and networks of Founders Factory with the world-class research of the University of Oxford. The Lab seeks to be an open space and to build a powerful community supporting ambitious goals in this critically important area.

The members of the Lab’s Advisory Council, who can come from outside as well as within the University of Oxford, are appointed in a purely personal capacity with no institutional affiliation. The advice that they provide is of a generic nature without endorsing in any way the nature, quality or scientific validity of the companies, people, projects, or work emanating from the Lab or its associated activities.

Christian de Koning
chris@planetpositivelab.com

Micol Chiesa
micol@planetpositivelab.com

Julie Hage, Development Director
+44 (0) 1865 277 997
julie.hage@wadham.ox.ac.uk

Barnaby Norman, Deputy Development Director
+44 (0) 1865 277 542
barnaby.norman@wadham.ox.ac.uk

Laura Moross, Founders Factory PR consultant

laura.moross@foundersfactory.co

T: +44 (0)7969673895

https://www.planet.fund/

Planet Fund partners with seed stage companies building the next generation of Planet Positive companies. Planet Positive categorises a company, technology or product that achieves a net positive impact on our planet, its ecosystems and its people whereby they aim to use our planet’s resources sustainably and to contribute to building a sustainable future. Headquartered in London, Planet Fund offers high conviction capital and operational support to start-ups.

www.foundersfactory.com

Founders Factory builds and funds startups together with exceptional entrepreneurs and the world’s leading companies.

Headquartered in London, Founders Factory offers founders capital, operational support from a team of 100 hands-on experts and unrivaled access to industry leaders like Deutsche Telekom, Aviva, Guardian Media Group, Standard Bank, L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson D.C. and Reckitt.

Founders Factory’s Venture Studio co-founds businesses from inception, developing new ideas, technologies and business models into high growth companies.

Operating sector-focused Accelerator programs and Venture Funds for Pre-Seed and Seed stage startups, Founders Factory invests in talented and diverse founding teams across industries and geographies - with a current focus on FinTech, Climate, Media and Telecoms, Health and Consumer.

Since 2015, Founders Factory’s 300 portfolio companies have raised $720mm follow-on funding from notable investors, including NfX, Coatue, Forerunner, Tencent, Mubadala and firstminute Capital

www.wadham.ox.ac.uk

Founded in 1610, Wadham College is one of the largest colleges making up the University of Oxford. Our founder, Dorothy Wadham, believed in the power of knowledge and learning to make the world a better place. In the following centuries, our academics have helped to push the boundaries of what we know and to tackle the great problems of their age. This continues to drive us today as we work with our partners to support science-based innovation that addresses the global climate crisis.