Greentown Go Build 2023 with Saint-Gobain announces startup cohort

Innovation in the building sector is critical to achieving decarbonisation, as the sector is responsible for 40% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. To change this, innovations are needed that reinvent how buildings and their materials are planned, built, sourced, and managed. That is why Greentown and Saint-Gobain partnered to launch Go Build 2023, which specifically sought innovations to extend product life cycles, find alternative raw materials, and enable technologies for waste revalorisation.

After a highly competitive selection and deliberation process that saw more than 100 applicants from 27 countries, a cohort of six cutting-edge startup participants was selected:

• Active Surfaces (Salem, Mass., US) develops an ultra-lightweight, flexible solar technology for the built environment.
• Carbon Upcycling Technologies (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a circular-decarbonisation solution for hard-to-abate industries – utilising low-purity industrial CO₂ and industrial byproducts to decarbonise cement.
• Endeavor Composites, Inc. (Knoxville, Tenn., US) intercepts landfill-destined post-industrial fibres and sustainably repurposes them into semi-finished goods for the composite industry.
• Hempitecture (Ketchum, Idaho, US) manufactures and distributes biobased building materials, including a low-embodied-carbon insulation.
• Puro Renewables (Miami Beach, Fla., US) upcycles carbon-negative biowaste for use in reducing the amount of fossil-fuel-based resin and carbon footprint in typical plastic products.
• ZS2 Technologies (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) creates magnesium-based advanced building products that can store up to one-fifth of their weight in CO₂ via a proprietary carbon-capture technology.

Selected startups will work closely with Saint-Gobain over six months to explore potential collaborations, including investment opportunities, development partnerships, and commercial partnerships. Throughout the programme, startups will benefit from mentorship, networking opportunities, educational workshops, and partnership-focused programming to support collaboration. Participants will also receive desk space and membership at Greentown for the duration of the programme.

Saint-Gobain is a longtime, dedicated partner of Greentown and its startup community. The company has made many science-based climate commitments, including reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, eliminating its production of waste that is not recovered, and excising non-recyclable raw materials. This is the third Greentown Go programme partnership between Greentown and Saint-Gobain, following successful buildings-focused accelerators in 2019 and 2021.

"At Saint-Gobain, our commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 is rooted in a long history of reducing our environmental impact and it's also a true demonstration of our purpose, Making the World a Better Home", said Basma Kharrat, vice president, external venturing, Saint-Gobain. "We look forward to working collaboratively with the Go Build finalists to help move sustainable practices forward while learning about current trends and future opportunities for a more sustainable built environment."

Greentown Labs runs Greentown Go programmes across five tracks: Go Make (manufacturing), Go Move (transportation), Go Energise (energy and electricity), Go Build (buildings), and Go Grow (food and agriculture). These startup-corporate partnerships programmes challenge the status quo within each key greenhouse-gas-emitting sector as they accelerate partnerships between industry giants and innovators.

"Fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between corporates and startups is an essential piece of the work we do at Greentown Labs to help deploy new climatetech solutions and accelerate our collective decarbonisation efforts", said Greentown Labs CEO and President Kevin Knobloch. "Saint-Gobain is an exemplary partner in the Greentown Labs community, and we can't wait to see the fruitful relationships and engagements that will undoubtedly result from this programme."

The Go Build 2023 cohort will participate in continuous mentoring and three workshops with Saint-Gobain, culminating in a showcase event in spring 2024 at Greentown's Boston location.

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/10012024/greentown-go-build-2023-with-saint-gobain-announces-startup-cohort/