8 start-ups join the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, supported by EIT Climate-KIC

From shoes that grow with your child to DIY oat milk, eight European start-ups creating innovative and more sustainable consumer products are set to scale after being hand-picked to join the latest Amazon Sustainability Accelerator.  Out of more than 1,000 applications, these founders will now benefit from a 10-week bespoke programme  designed in partnership with EIT Climate-KIC and innovation strategy consultants, Growth Studio.

Start-ups meet and work with experts in Amazon’s Sustainability teams, attend workshops, receive mentorship, and benefit from a tailored curriculum, designed to help founders navigate the challenges of scaling a sustainable business. EIT Climate-KIC will also guide them through a climate impact assessment where they will measure, forecast and monitor the emissions mitigation potential of their solution compared to similar products currently on the market.

“At EIT Climate-KIC, we are excited to support more entrepreneurs to reach their greatest climate impact potential. By equipping emerging start-ups with the tools to measure their climate mitigation potential and supporting their capacity to think systemically, we can foster a critical cultural shift in business mindsets,” said. Dr. Kirsten Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer, EIT Climate-KIC. 

Meet the 2024 cohort

Meet the start-ups joining the Accelerator and designing products to address sustainability challenges such as circular food production, fast fashion and menstrual waste:

1. Asan (UK): Asan aims to eradicate period poverty and tampon waste with its innovative reusable menstrual cup. Designed at the Harvard Innovation Lab and rated by The Standard as the number one menstrual cup for easy removal, it’s simple-to-use ring design may stop thousands of pads and tampons from going to landfill every year. 

Photo by AVIRAL DHAWAN

2. Morrow (UK): Morrow’s ‘beanless’ coffee is crafted from more sustainable, locally grown and up-cycled ingredients, such as fruit pips, peels and ancient grains.Through advanced flavour chemistry and biotransformation, Morrow replicates the flavour and aroma of traditional coffee to provide a cost-effective and more environmentally friendly solution to the challenges posed by conventional coffee production. This includes addressing the impending supply crisis, with estimates suggesting that up to 50 per cent of land currently used for coffee cultivation is projected to become unsuitable by 2050 due to the effects of climate change. 

3. MYOM (Make Your Own Milk) (UK): Oat milk company, MYOM, is minimising packaging waste and transportation emissions by selling an oat premix that turns into a milk when mixed with water.Offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional oat, nut and soya milks – which are usually shipped in cartons containing 90 per cent water – MYOM is available in recyclable pouches that are delivered through the letterbox. This avoids both excess packaging materials and incremental carbon emissions associated with additional materials and weight. 

“We’re thrilled to learn from Amazon’s experts, the EU’s EIT Climate-KIC, and fellow founders to build a scalable, impact-driven e-commerce, good food business,” said Mike Curtis, MYOM Founder. “We’re committed to great taste and less waste by dramatically cutting excess packaging and the need for refrigeration during shipping. The Accelerator will help us reach new customers and bring our delicious, healthy and convenient oat milk nationwide and beyond.” 

4. Ops Clean (France): Ops Clean has developed a laundry detergent that is free from harmful chemicals commonly found in most detergent products. Its sachet design can be used for up to 350 washes, and the start-up claims it emits only 15g of CO2 per wash, leaving no pollutants in the water afterwards, unlike other solutions that can emit up to 320g of CO2 per wash when considering both powder and liquid detergents. 

5. Paint Zero (UK): Paint Zero has developed a fossil-fuel-free, plant-based paint. With a palette of 75 colours, Paint Zero transforms into a non-toxic paint in 90 seconds when mixed with tap water. The novel paint avoids 100 per cent of the petrochemical liquids and plastics used in standard paints, eliminating toxicity and reducing transport emissions and costs. 

Photo by MARTYN PAYNE

6. ReBorn (UK): Wiltshire-based ReBorn turns industrial waste into useful, stylish and recyclable homeware products. Launched in partnership with Brunel University in September 2023, the company claims to have already saved more than 10 tonnes of waste from landfill and 100 tonnes of carbon emissions as a by-product of the materials they use accelerating the sustainability of the global homewares industry. 

 7. ZIG+STAR (UK): ZIG+STAR is an innovative children’s footwear business seeking to solve the challenge of fast-growing feet with its collection of expandable and durable unisex kids’ shoes. Their Good-to-Grow removable midsole allows six months additional wear of their shoes and boots, and their range of sustainably designed sandals allow maximum adjustment around growing feet. On a mission to reduce waste, they also offer an incentivised Trade-In scheme where old shoes can be sent back to be donated or recycled free of charge, in exchange for product discounts. 

8. Zen Running Club (Netherlands): Zen Running Club is capturing the next generation of runners who want to balance sustainability with performance. Built with plant-based materials such as Eucalyptus fibres and rapeseed oil, its award-winning FUTUREOne running shoe is developed with more than 60% bio-based foam containing enzymes that accelerate breakdown in landfill. 

The success of acceleration challenges

Since launching in 2022, EIT Climate-KIC has been involved with the development and expansion of the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, which has supported more than 40 start-ups across the UK and Europe, provided more than €1 million in grants and credits, and helped those businesses on average increase sales by 700 per cent and raise over €18.7 million to date.

The programme is an example of our collaboration with leading corporates to drive sustainable innovation. We leverage our expertise in climate entrepreneurship to create bespoke incubation and acceleration challenges aligned with businesses’ sustainability goals. For more information, contact Sebastián Bustamante González, Entrepreneurship Programme Manager at sebastian.bustamante@climate-kic.org.