The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is supporting the next generation of Australian renewable energy startups through Sydney-based not-for-profit EnergyLab.
EnergyLab has been granted $1.64 million to deliver the Entrepreneurial Support for the Cleantech Startup Ecosystem project to support and develop Australia’s renewable energy startup ecosystem.
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The funding aims to address the gap in support available to early-stage clean energy startups operating in Australia.
EnergyLab was founded in 2017 with the mission of supporting emerging clean tech startups to overcome the barriers they face when scaling novel technologies and solutions.
The not-for-profit runs a number of flagship programs, including the Climate Solutions Accelerator, Women in Climate & Energy Fellowship, Scaleup Program, a Mentor Network and EnergyLab Angels.
With ARENA funding, EnergyLab will continue to provide these services for another four years over the duration of the project.
Previous alumni of EnergyLab’s programs include software developer Gridcog, Renewable Metals, electricity retailer Amber Electric and Infravision, whose drone-based approach to power line construction promises cheaper and safer transmission infrastructure.
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EnergyLab CEO Megan Fisher said, “The funding support being provided by ARENA means that EnergyLab can continue to offer and develop leading support programs to grow the clean energy and climate tech startup community in Australia.”
“Over the past seven years EnergyLab has supported over 170 startups and 130 aspiring founders while building a network of over 370 mentors and 180 angel investors. Moving forward, we will be focused on delivering support that takes founders all the way from launching a startup to scaling globally.”
