Amazon has unveiled the eight startups in the UK chosen to join its Sustainability Accelerator, a launchpad for high-potential startups.
This comes after Amazon revealed research that shows investors are rewarding startups that promise a commitment to sustainability.
One of those eight startups is Portsmouth-based premium pet brand, Tangle, an innovative brand launched in 2022 to counteract the ghost fishing net problem. The sustainable business was founded by Xavier Warburton and Sam Cartwright whose idea to repurpose end-of-life fishing nets into long-lasting, premium dog products for environment conscious dog owners impressed the e-commerce giant looking to support early-stage businesses with massive potential.
“We’re thrilled to be part of the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator program and to have the opportunity to work with other innovative startups” said Xavier Warburton, “We believe that our approach can make a real difference in protecting our oceans and marine life, and we’re really looking forward to this next chapter and scaling up our impact with the support of Amazon and EIT Climate-KIC.”
The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator is a 12-week programme to help founders navigate the challenges of starting and scaling a business. Amazon and EIT Climate-KIC will work together to help the startups through a Climate Impact Forecast, they will audit the business’ climate impact and develop strategies to improve their environmental footprint and consumer proposition.
John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager at Amazon, commented: “The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator is the ideal launchpad for high-potential startups, and we are proud to be helping a second cohort of founders scale their businesses to deliver innovative technologies and sustainable products.”
Xavier adds: “We’re all aware of the impact of plastic bottles and straws, but in reality, ghost nets make up nearly half of all plastics in our oceans and they’re far more deadly to marine life. Lost or discarded nets continue to ‘ghost’ around the ocean entangling and killing marine life so unnecessarily. By creating our beautifully made dog products from recycled nets, Tangle stops the ghost net problem and in-turn allows animal lovers help save marine life. We’re on track to stop over 500 tennis courts worth (137,800 sqm) of fishing nets becoming ghost nets this year.”
At the end of the Accelerator programme, all startups will have the opportunity to pitch their business to a board of investors. Last years Amazon Sustainability Accelerator startups raised more than £4.5 million.
