For our Spring 2026 Academy, we hosted our first investor/startup speed dating event – and it was a huge success!

Prior to the investors’ arrival, we held a closed Q&A session for our cohort of startups with Sakura Holloway of Future Planet Capital and Archipelago’s Lucy Mortimer. Sakura gave an honest and invaluable insight into how Founders should approach communicating effectively and efficiently with investors.

We then invited our investor network into the room, and challenged our Founders to put their learning into action with a speed-pitching session. It’s a tough call, summing up what your company does in 3 minutes in a way that differentiates you from the crowd and excites investors. Our cohort performed exceptionally well, learning valuable tips to help improve their message, delivery, and pace.

This was followed by a facilitated speed-dating session over drinks and canapés, where investors were encouraged to mingle with startups in a relaxed and informal setting. Feedback from both investors and startups was very positive. People felt conversations were allowed to happen more organically, which led to better quality connections.

Thank you to our Founders for putting in the hard work and rising to the challenge, and the investors who came out in force to connect with our brilliant Spring 2026 Academy Cohort:
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A&B Smart Materials – High-performance, bio-based superabsorbant polymers (SAPs) for nappies, healthcare and agriculture.

DEScycle – Transforming the metals industry with innovative metal recovery and recycling methods using clean technology.

Evoralis – Developing pioneering enzymes to revolutionise plastics and textiles recycling.

FAB Materials – Turning end-of-life textiles into valuable feedstock for the fibreboard industry for use in furniture, construction, display, and design applications.

Greyparrot – AI-powered waste sorting at scale that enables the waste recycling sector to recover more value and reduce environmental impact.

Matoha – Revolutionising the end-of-life pathway for plastics and textiles using AI-driven spectral analysis.

Nova Biochem – A green-chemistry pioneer developing bio-based speciality chemicals from pulp and paper waste products.

Repolywise – Converting unrecycled waste plastic into new plastic, and filling the challenging gaps in the current plastic recycling market.

Sorted – Low-cost AI-powered scanning and robotics devices to boost recovery rates and purity of sorted waste.

WGM Solutions – Developing a Net Carbon-Negative, cement-free alternative to concrete block paving, produced from post-consumer plastic waste.
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The late afternoon networking event was preceded by our formal Academy day which ran from 9am – 4pm and is provided for all our startups. The morning focussed on Impact with Jamie Warmington, Director at Ceres Waste, Renewables and Environment. He built on the work we had already started with our cohort to embed appropriate and verifiable impact metrics into their evaluation and reporting.
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Charlie Briers and his team from Leyton provided our cohort with a comprehensive guide to R&D tax credits.
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The afternoon focussed on communication and presentation. Kiran Patel from Velvet Green Media emphasised the importance of having a clear, concise company message that all members of the team, not just the Founders, can articulate.

Thank you to all our colleagues, friends, and investors for your continued support in helping us to build this growing community.

With thanks to Ronald Paterson Jon Gill and the team at Eversheds Sutherland for supporting the event.

Photography: Ben Peter Catchpole

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