A blue earth event will return to Bristol for the third year running, bringing together business leaders, investors, pioneers and more to inspire environmentally-conscious business practices.
Blue Earth Summit, hosted by event and media organisation Wavelength, has invited purpose-led businesses to apply for the Blue Earth 100, a list of the most innovative and impactful companies in the UK.
A shortlist of 30 companies from the #BE100 list will be invited to pitch live to a room of global impact investors at the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol taking place from October 11-13. Last year it saw more than 5,000 attendees descend on inland surf destination The Wave.
In 2022 more than 500 businesses applied to pitch at the summit, where over £6m in investment was raised. Finalists who have pitched live and received investment included plastic-free chewing gum Nuud, sustainable period care products company DAME, and sustainable children’s clothes company Bundlee.
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This yearn, the ventures team behind Blue Earth has already raised over £100m for 33 companies.
Eve Kekeh, founder of Bundlee, said: “At Blue Earth Summit I felt validated about my business. I had a constant flow of investors coming up to me and telling me what we are doing is awesome. I secured investment from Sweaty Betty co-founders Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton. I didn’t even know they were in the audience! Simon saw the pitch, we talked at the networking event afterwards, and they became investors .”
The live pitches have been well received at previous summits and this year speakers include entrepreneur Deborah Meaden, singer and campaigner Feargal Sharkey, Eden Project founder Tim Smit, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees and Riverford chief executive Guy Singh-Watson.
Alongside the talks, workshops and panels, Blue Earth Summit is "committed to supporting clear and tangible solutions" to shift the dial towards more regenerative business practices.
Guy Hayler, co-founder of Blue Earth Summit, said: “We want to support high-growth, high-impact companies that have the potential to disrupt their industries for the better. The #BE100 will give them a profile with investors and then 30 companies will be able to pitch live to progressive investors looking to make a difference. We know that accessing finance is hard and takes time so our agenda is one that backs investment in innovative business that can deliver positive change for people and the planet .”
Thirty companies will be selected to pitch from three categories: seed, growth and scale.
- Seed includes early-stage innovators pitching for up to £1m revenue looking for pre seed and seed rounds.
- Growth includes established brands with proven traction pitching for £1m to £20m revenue, seed to Series A.
- Scale includes companies with clear market penetration and global demand pitching for £20m+ revenue, series A / B and beyond.
Ms Kekeh added: “I applied to pitch because I knew we needed to raise more investment to get to the next stage of growth. We’d already built our own rental system, created the website, and done our first round of angel investment. But I needed financial resources to bring on more team members and invest in marketing and brand partnerships. It was such a great opportunity to get in front of so many investors in one room who all cared about sustainability as well as scalability .”
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