There is a growing interest in consumer clean technology, which is about reducing the environmental burden of consumption and is related to resource scarcity, rising energy and fuel costs, digitalisation and automatisation. The project helps exploit arising business opportunities in consumer clean technology for small and medium sized enterprises, start-ups and intermediaries in the Baltic Sea region by shaping models for networking, partnerships and cultural cooperation. Consumer cleantech: Cleantech traditionally springs from innovations in the industry sector. Recently, cleantech start-ups also began to emerge in the consumer market. The growth logic of cleantech companies is changing: more and more companies start addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by resource scarcity, rising energy and fuel costs, digitalisation, automatisation and user-centred design. This is called consumer cleantech. Strengthening innovation capacity: The project addresses innovation actors in order to strengthen their innovation capacity in consumer cleantech: to help them identify brilliant ideas, and foster teams committed to creating new businesses and reducing the environmental burden of consumption. This is done by transnational training programmes and supporting activities, such as testbeds. The project triggers networking and cooperation, training programmes for intermediaries, small and medium sized enterprises and start-ups. It creates strategic and operational partnerships between organisations and stakeholders, and strengthens knowledge and awareness of consumer cleantech within the innovation and investor scene. All this is being gathered within a model called SmartUp Accelerator. The SmartUp Accelerator: The SmartUp Accelerator project launches a transnational consumer cleantech innovation ecosystem driving the Baltic Sea region’s level strategic and operative partnerships and new commercialised innovations. This in turn shall create success stories on the EU and global consumer cleantech markets, leading to increased prosperity, well-being and sustainability around the Baltic Sea region.
