EY announces collaboration with Carbon13 to support start-ups and entrepreneurs in their mission to reduce CO2e

EY has today announced that it is investing in a collaboration with Carbon13, the venture building programme that supports entrepreneurs in creating new businesses whose primary objectives are to reduce CO2e emissions. 

Carbon13’s core goal is “to create scalable ventures with the combined potential to reduce CO2e emissions by 400 million tonnes or 1 per cent of global emissions”. Carbon 13 has been set up to help 1,000 entrepreneurs build 200 start-ups, each of which has the potential to reduce emissions by at least 10 million tonnes per annum. 

Every cohort of the programme lasts eight months: the first programme started in March 2021, which is now complete, with the second now ongoing. EY worked with the first two cohorts and has also committed to collaborating with the next three venture builder programmes over the next two years, with applications for Cohort 3 currently open.

As part of the collaboration, EY will share knowledge, insights and advice to help the start-ups to overcome common challenges faced by early-stage businesses.  EY is also running speaker events and workshops where members of the EY sustainability team share EY’s deep expertise across the climate change and sustainability field to help shape and refine the start-ups’ value propositions. In addition, EY is supporting the entrepreneurs as they pitch their initial concepts, offering feedback and advice to help strengthen their ideas. 

Carbon13 was founded in 2019. The organisation is led by co-founder and CEO Dr Chris Coleridge, senior faculty in management practice at Cambridge Judge Business School. The other co-founders are Dr Nicky Dee and Michael Langguth.  

This announcement comes on the back of the recent launch of EY Carbon in the UK. EY Carbon’s remit is to advise and support listed businesses as they prepare their net zero plans ahead of the 2023 deadline set by the Chancellor during COP26. The team is dedicated to helping these businesses develop robust, ambitious plans, while building longer-term sustainability strategies. 

Kim Paykel, EY Associate Partner, and UK Sustainability Innovation leader and head of EY wavespace™ UK, commented:  "We are really excited about our collaboration  with Carbon13. As well as being an opportunity for us to support the next generation of climate entrepreneurs, we can also learn so much from their ideas, and new ways of looking at a problem. Collaborating across ecosystems is essential in the fight against such a complex and systemic challenge like climate change.” 

Ben Taylor, EY Global Climate Change & Sustainability Services Strategy & Markets Leader said: “Collaboration is central to building sustainable solutions. EY’s support of Carbon13 aligns with our belief that sustainability is the innovation opportunity of our lifetime. By supporting these entrepreneurs and their innovative ideas, we are supporting the development of some of the sustainable solutions best placed to positively impact business, people, and the planet.” 

Rob Doepel, EY’s Managing Partner - Sustainability said: “Transitioning to a more sustainable and low carbon economy will take a collective effort from every corner of the business community. Innovative thinking, transformational business models and rapid action are what’s needed to fast track us to a more sustainable future. That’s why organisations like Carbon13 are so vital in the fight against climate change - the entrepreneurs and ideas they support are potentially game-changing in the race to significantly reduce CO2e emissions.”

Dr Chris Coleridge, Carbon13 CEO, said: “Having the support, knowledge and expertise of EY and its people is a huge boost to Carbon13 and the entrepreneurs that we work with. There are a great number of entrepreneurs with some ground-breaking ideas but the challenge is taking these from concept to reality much more quickly. By bringing together the collective power and expertise of EY to collaborate and offer advice and guidance to entrepreneurs, we will be better able to drive forward their plans and ambitions.”