Barclays Eagle Labs Venture Launchpad
The objective is to produce a venture ready for pre-seed investment with progress towards milestones such as Product/Market Fit & Go-To-Market. On the carbon side, you’ll be building a robust carbon case for 10 million tonnes of CO2e emissions mitigation.
Phase 1 – Getting ready for investment
Phase 1 is a 10-week sprint focused on:
- Business Intelligence
- Carbon Intelligence
- Teaming
- Presenting for investment
At the end of Phase 1, teams will pitch to the Carbon13 Investment Committee for £120k pre-seed funding.
Unique to Carbon13, the ventures will also make a second pitch, their Carbon Pitch, based solely on their venture’s potential for climate impact. Our Investment Committee will not invest in any venture which cannot present a robust case 10 million tonnes of CO2e emissions mitigation.
Structured to achieve your milestones
Business Intelligence: Founders will work with the Carbon13 senior team and entrepreneurs in residence to work on Business Intelligence dimensions such as IP strategy, business model, value proposition/product line-up, contracting and supply chain strategy, route to market/scaling plan, pricing strategy, strategy execution practices and approach to governance. The support is bespoke according to the starting point of each venture, as well as its sector and whether it is software-based or science/hardware-based. The goal is to make each venture “best in class” on all these dimensions so as to be able to move quickly and be competitive in the global economy.
Carbon Intelligence: This is where founders will build their credible case for 10 million tonnes of CO2e emissions mitigation per year when at scale. It is this carbon case which sets Carbon13 ventures apart in conversations with investors, corporate customers and stakeholders who are looking for the real world impact on climate before they invest.
To build this carbon case, each team will work closely with our roster of carbon experts and leverage Carbon13’s GHG Toolkit to develop the ventures’ carbon story, including undertaking life cycle analyses to align their decarbonisation and the business model strategies. Furthermore, this Phase is also about training the team itself, to empower each founder to confidently make long term decisions based on the carbon value and impact, long after the Venture Launchpad’s end.
The Phase culminates in a Carbon Pitch, presenting their vision and potential for decarbonisation to both Carbon13 and Barclays, along with the completed carbon case which will act as their touchstone when deciding how to maximise the decarbonisation efforts of the venture.
Teaming: A team is a venture’s strongest asset and Carbon13 will help founders prove their strength to investors and customers. Founders will achieve this through building healthy teaming habits, understanding how to present their founders’ complementarities, and a becoming a team truly capable of executing a world changing venture.
Building on the pioneering techniques used in the Venture Builder since 2021, domain experts and entrepreneurs in residence will work with each venture to establish a great understanding of the team dynamics to identify the top three-five habits necessary to embed in the venture to increase the chances of building a healthy organisation which is truly ready for the scaleup journey.
The team will also receive support on wellbeing throughout this intense period of activity and to ensure good habits and resilience are in place as the venture grows.
Presenting investment and carbon cases: Founders will present their vision and plan, built on their commercial, product and carbon strategies, to the Carbon13 investment Committee. The Committee will evaluate each venture, including evaluating the potential for our target 10 million tonnes of CO2e emissions annual mitigation. The Carbon13 team, including our Storyteller-in-Residence, will work throughout the Phase to support founders to construct the most impactful pitch, ensuring that founders have a strong case for investment from the Committee or external investors beyond the Launchpad.
Ask your questions
Book a short call with Puja Balachander, Director of Venture Development.
Phase 2 – Building momentum
As the teams tackle new challenges in their route to build customer traction and develop their products, Carbon13’s experts will give niche support.
The ventures will work with Carbon13 and their network of enablers in Cambridge, London and across Europe along with Barclays and the Eagle Lab teams to help the ventures build customer traction and momentum, including preparing a funding strategy for post-Carbon13 life and helping them to bring in the next round of finance.