One of Belfast’s rising green innovators has successfully completed Bord na Móna’s 2024 Accelerate Green programme, culminating in the Accelerate Green Conference which took place on 23 May in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Accelerate Green is a leading accelerator programme, delivered by Bord na Móna in conjunction with Resolve Partners, dedicated to scaling early-stage enterprises and SMEs that are leading the response to climate action and sustainability.
The company is Weev- installing public chargers and end-to-end solutions for electric vehicles in both the workplace and daily fleets. Weev’s chargers enable EV drivers to charge in as little as twenty minutes on a convenient and reliable network.
Since the 2024 Accelerate Green Programme launched in January, eight businesses have participated in a series of comprehensive learning and mentoring workshops engaging with a broad range of leaders from enterprise and energy agencies, Irish-founded companies, research networks and investors. The participants have also participated in networking, mentoring and business development opportunities through engagement with senior leaders across Bord na Móna’s business.
Related: Queen’s gets green light to build largest eco-friendly accommodation on island of Ireland
This year’s cohort join an alumni of thirty-four Irish businesses that have participated in Accelerate Green since its launch in 2022. Many of the former accelerator participants have reported significant and sustainable progress in their companies since completing Accelerate Green and have collectively raised €10 million in venture capital to date. According to recent research* among the Accelerate Green alumni, over 90% of past participants now have more confidence in their ability as business leaders to scale their companies successfully. 75% of past participants have grown their workforce since completing the programme and three in four have scaled their business operations in Ireland. Accelerate Green alumni also value the networking element of the programme with 88% of past participants expanding their network of connections to benefit their business, while 63% of the alumni generated a new business opportunity through the peer group they connected with on the programme.
The 2024 Accelerate Green Programme culminated in Bord na Móna’s annual Accelerate Green Conference which provided a platform for the eight participating businesses to showcase their business offerings to conference attendees from across the country. Over 300 joined the conference to hear from some of Ireland’s leading sustainability experts and innovators who are leveraging green business innovations and practices to address climate change. Key speakers and panellists included: Bord na Móna Chief Executive, Tom Donnellan; Donal Flavin, Head of Strategic Policy, Energy, Sustainability, Telecommunications, Digital and Data, IDA Ireland; James Sprinz, Vice President for Europe, Energy Impact Partners; Eoin Kennedy, Head of Future Operations, Eirgrid; Philip Boucher-Hayes and many more, with Newstalk and Midlands 103 also broadcasting live from the event.
Commenting on the success of Accelerate Green 2024, Bord na Móna Chief Executive Tom Donnellan said:
“I am delighted to see eight new businesses complete our Accelerate Green programme and join the thriving alumni of past participants who have come through the accelerator since we first launched back in 2022. Accelerate Green is a unique opportunity for smaller-scale leaders in the sustainability space to develop the skills and knowledge required to grow their businesses and succeed in Ireland and beyond.
As a business that has completed our own significant scaling journey having transitioned from brown to green, we are now progressing at pace as a renewable energy and climate solutions leader in Ireland. At Bord na Móna we understand the challenges and opportunities that come with change and transformation, and this is why we are so committed to this programme and to sharing our own learnings and expertise with these rising innovators to help them on their respective growth journeys.
This year’s cohort includes an impressive range of climate-conscious companies, excelling in different areas from agri-tech to EV charging, each participant is fulfilling an important need in the sustainability space. I look forward to seeing all eight companies succeed in the future and contribute to Ireland’s ambitious climate goals.”
Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment said:
“Congratulations to ACEL Energy, Voltclub Renewables, Konree Innovation, Weev, SomaTech, I/O Agri, AffinityEV and Universal Graphics on successfully completing the Accelerate Green programme. Building a thriving community of green innovators and encouraging more sustainable business practices across Ireland will play a significant role in our national effort to realise our climate ambitions and create a more sustainable future for Ireland. I am inspired to see such sustainable innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among these promising participants and wish them every success in their future endeavours.”
Source: Written from press release
