The Royal Dutch Shell is looking to award a funding pot of £350k to the UK’s top leading low-carbon businesses.

Applications are now open for the Shell Springboard 2019 national programme, which funds the most innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tackling Britain’s energy issues.

The yearly competition is one of Shell’s two social investment supporting enterprise development and they are looking to give a £350,000 equity-free funding pot to help grow six low-carbon small businesses.

Each of the winning six regional startups will be awarded a £40,000 investment, with the overall national winner taking home an additional prize of £150,000.

Alongside the funding pot, the chosen six SMEs will receive press exposure, a ‘quality assurance’ stamp and support to help attract further investment.

Last year’s prizewinner – Upside Energy – recently secured a £470,000 grant from Innovate UK.

Since the launch of the Shell Springboard programme in 2015, over £4 million has been invested in more than 100 innovative low-carbon enterprises and  84% of these Shell-backed companies are still operational within five years, in contrast to the national average of about 45%.

Deadline for application is 10 am on October 29 – Apply Now