Five Oxfordshire and Thames Valley companies given Tech Nation boost

Published by

Nicky Godding

Five companies across Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley have been taken on by Tech Nation, the UK’s leading growth platform for tech scaleups to participate in its second Net Zero growth programme.

Oxford-based Ambue, Bicester-based Electric Assisted Vehicles, measurable.energy in Reading, Oxwash and PowerMarket both in Oxford.

Net Zero 2.0 is the first government-backed growth programme designed to support the most promising climate tech companies in the UK.

This year’s successful companies were assessed by 40 specialists across key industries and sectors. The companies were judged based on their scalability and potential to help the UK reach its high-priority net zero goal. Companies are actively decarbonising each key sector, with the most prominent including energy and electricity, transport, buildings and cities, and agriculture. Carbon removals and space-tech are two new focus areas this year.

With 40 per cent of emissions reductions reliant on technologies not yet at mass-market scale, it is imperative to support the growth of these companies. In the run-up to COP26, the Net Zero programme aims to help realise these vital tech companies’ potential to drastically reduce global emissions. Every company in the Net Zero 2.0 cohort will be given unparalleled access to long-term investment opportunities, education, talent, press opportunities and a platform with which to influence green policies and create the optimum conditions for growth.

Ambue gives people information and advice to use energy more efficiently in their homes, while measurable.energy have built a platform that aims to eliminate all wasted energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings. Electric Assisted Vehicles is the leading provider of last-mile transport solutions specifically designed for evolving urban environments.

Oxwash is working to fully decarbonise the laundry sector while PowerMarket is digitalising and consolidating the entire life-cycle for enterprise solar assets.

The UK leads the way in Europe for its number of climate tech companies

New data from Tech Nation and Dealroom has revealed there are 519 Net Zero startups and scaleups in the UK, nearly double the number in France (270) and 63 per cent more than in Germany (318).

With its Net Zero 1.0 cohort and new Net Zero 2.0 cohort, Tech Nation has now supported the growth of 13 per cent of the UK’s climate tech companies in total, who are leading the race to net zero by innovating across entech, healthtech, agritech, fintech and even space tech.

Southeastern tech is booming

The Southeastern climate tech companies joining Net Zero 2.0 are part of a fast-growing Southeastern tech scene. According to data from The Tech Nation Report 2021, the UK’s South East is home to more than 49,320 digital tech firms (and seven tech ‘unicorns’ - companies valued at more than $1 billion), and its tech sector employs more than 328,000 people, with an annual turnover of $91 billion.

Oxford - where five of the seven Southeastern Net Zero 2.0 companies hail from - is the South East’s largest tech hub, and received £344 million in investment in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the second largest tech hub in the UK overall (behind only London).

Sammy Fry, Net Zero Lead at Tech Nation, said: “With Europe recording its highest ever temperature on record this Summer, and the latest IPCC report published last month, there isn’t a more urgent time to act on decarbonising our atmosphere. Every successful Net Zero scaleup is another leap closer to decarbonising the world. I’m proud to say that in the run up to COP26, our pioneering Net Zero growth programme gives these ambitious, high-growth climate tech scaleups the access they need to investors, insights, education, networks, and practical support, enabling the UK to lead our transition to a green economy as quickly as possible.”

Gerard Grech, Founding CEO of Tech Nation and Founding Member of the Tech Zero Taskforce, said: “Climate tech is playing an enormous role in reducing carbon emissions. Technology that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, either directly or indirectly, across all sectors of society is in hot demand. But with 40% of emissions reductions reliant on technologies not yet at mass-market scale, there is huge potential still to be realised. With these companies needing to scale further and faster than any other technology has before to meet the demand, we are committed to doing all we can at Tech Nation to support and accelerate their growth.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.