Barclays relaunches Cambridge coworking space for climate tech startups

• Barclays reopens Cambridge Eagle Lab as a dedicated space to support and scale high-growth climate tech businesses
• The Eagle Lab has been retrofitted with a range of carbon reduction technologies, which aim to reduce carbon emissions from the building by 90 per cent compared to 2018
• Barclays sourced several businesses for the retrofit from within its existing climate tech ecosystem, including Naked Energy and SaveMoneyCutCarbon from the Unreasonable Impact programme, and Zedify from its Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio
• The space will serve as a centre of excellence for startups looking to deliver innovative solutions to help mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts

Barclays has relaunched its Cambridge Eagle Lab with a renewed focus on helping high growth climate tech startups to connect, grow and scale. The site has undergone a significant retrofit, with the goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 90 per cent compared to 2018.

The newly-designed space features increased desk capacity for up to 130 people, and a 75 per cent increase in collaboration space allowing a more flexible layout for meetings, events, and networking. It also features a dedicated area to showcase the climate tech technologies and businesses that Barclays is supporting through its partnerships, Unreasonable Impact, Bridge programmes, and Sustainable Impact Capital investments.   

Barclays is uniquely positioned to help clients on the path to net zero and is focused on investing in the climate tech needed by society to transition, while also generating economic growth and creating a new wave of green jobs. The relaunch follows Barclays’ recent partnership announcement with Carbon 13, a Cambridge-based venture builder, to provide over 100 startups with support and mentoring to help tackle the challenges the globe faces on the road to net zero.

A centre of excellence for climate tech

The International Energy Agency has estimated that 35 per cent of emission reductions needed by 2050 will come from new technologies currently not on the market¹. Support for new businesses is therefore vital, and climate tech businesses can also get involved in a number of dedicated pre-seed and bridge programmes, run by Barclays and leading industry partners:

• Carbon 13 Venture Launchpad: a virtual 20-week virtual programme to help pre-seed and early-stage businesses launch scalable solutions to climate related issues.
• Bridge programmes: A series of industry bridge programmes, in collaboration with Codebase, designed to connect leading corporations with startups to share knowledge and strategic thinking:

Sustainability Bridge Programme: funded by Government (as part of the Digital Growth Grant) and focused on sustainable transport
Energy Transition Programme: Funded by Opportunity North East and focused on how innovation can help deliver the Energy Transition

• Rise Start-Up Academy: a 10-week digital-first programme to equip early-stage founders with skills and tools to help them get fit for market. A dedicated Climate FinTech edition will launch later this year to support companies developing exciting solutions to help the world transition to net zero.

A retrofit to reduce carbon footprint
As part of Barclays’ ambition to achieve net zero operations by 2050, the Cambridge Eagle Lab has been retrofitted to improve energy efficiency, in partnership with companies from its Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio and Unreasonable Impact programme, such as SaveMoneyCutCarbon, who consulted on the plans.

Reaching net zero means finding low-carbon ways of doing necessary activities – including electricity generation, transport, and heating. Upgrades to the building include:

• Solar panels by Naked Energy, a hybrid solar technology that generates both heat and power, resulting in a higher energy density than alternative solar technologies
• Energy efficient double-glazed windows with solar control to prevent overheating, as well as roof and cavity wall insulation, and water reduction technologies
• A smart heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, powered by the site’s renewable energy sources, to help improve regulation of the building’s temperature
• Automatic lighting and window-blind controls have been fitted, to optimise the level and quality of light, while also improving energy consumption.

Nick Stace, Head of Sustainability, Barclays UK, said: “We’re excited to be reopening the doors to our Eagle Lab in Cambridge with a renewed focus as a centre of excellence for climate tech start-ups. We want to play a leading role in supporting climate tech and sustainability-focused businesses, by giving them the tools to help them connect, grow and scale. It was crucial that the retrofit and internal redesign of the building accurately reflected the ethos of the businesses that will use it and we expect it to provide significant energy efficiency improvements, allowing us to take an important step forward in reducing our own operational emissions.

“We know that startups need more than just a space, which is why we’re also supporting businesses through our climate tech accelerator programmes from the Cambridge Eagle Lab. We hope this package of support enables businesses to scale at pace and tackle some of today’s most pressing climate tech challenges.”

To find out more, visit https://labs.uk.barclays/locations/cambridge/

-ENDS-

Notes

¹Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the 1.5°C Goal in Reach 2023 Update, International Energy Agency

Planet Mark Accreditation

The project will be reviewed by internationally recognised sustainability accreditation body Planet Mark to assess The Eagle Lab’s carbon footprint.

About Barclays
Barclays is a British universal bank.  We are diversified by business, by different types of customer and client, and geography.  Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group.  For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com

About Barclays Eagle Labs

Barclays Eagle Labs is a growing national network that provides business incubation, dedicated growth programmes, mentoring, as well as co-working and office space for ambitious high-growth businesses. By cultivating a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and providing a collaborative work environment, access to peers and opportunities to maximise growth through digital connections and growth programmes, curated events and funding opportunities, Eagle Labs is able to help startups to grow at pace. Eagle Labs also specialises in positively disrupting key industries by bringing together key corporate players, industry bodies, leading universities and startups to enable rapid innovation and investment by asking them to collaborate and have dedicated industry-aligned programmes. With various Eagle Labs dotted all across the UK and many more in the pipeline, our focus is to help to connect, educate, inspire and accelerate ambitious UK businesses and entrepreneurs. Find out more at labs.uk.barclays.

About Unreasonable Impact

Barclays has a long-standing partnership with Unreasonable Group to help scale early stage social and environmental companies. Since 2016, Barclays’ Unreasonable Impact programme has supported 300 companies who have raised over $11 billion in financing, help avoid 89 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and employ 25,000 people. In 2022, we extended the partnership to support a further 200 environmental and social ventures.

About Sustainable Impact Capital

Barclays’ Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio, led by Barclays’ Principal Investments team, will invest £500m by 2027 in the equity of fast-growing, innovative and environmentally-focused early-stage technology companies, whose values are aligned with those of Barclays and which target the goals and timelines of the Paris Agreement.

From the acceleration of innovative carbon-efficient technologies and supply-chains to supporting the development of viable markets for carbon capture and sequestration, the portfolio is seeking out and supporting clear scalable propositions that deliver both environmental benefits and economic returns.

About Rise, created by Barclays

Rise, created by Barclays, is a global community of the world’s top innovators and entrepreneurs working together to create the future of financial services. By connecting technology, talent and trends, the mission of Rise is to accelerate innovation and growth in the financial services industry. Find out more at rise.barclays.