You might remember that back in August, our founder Martina won the Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Award.
We were really excited that recently, she was also shortlisted for the finals of Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year!
The finals were held in London on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2019, where Martina was one of six passionate entrepreneurs competing for the title.
- Chair of Shell UK, Sinead Lynch -
“The UK is a global leader in innovation, producing game changing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. At Shell, we recognise the pivotal role UK innovators will play in a successful energy transition, and we are committed to supporting entrepreneurs in commercialising and scaling their technologies. I have been greatly impressed by the calibre of the finalists and their ideas to accelerate the energy transition.”
Meet the Entrepreneurs 👉
All of the finalists have businesses that are shaping a smarter, more sustainable future for the UK.
Check them out:
Nathan Edwards (CDB), Thomas Ferrugia (Beta Bugs), Thomas Fudge (WASE), Charlie Guy (LettUs Grow), Ehab Sayed (Biohm) and our wonderful founder, Martina Zupan (Alterwaste Ltd).
The Energy Summit 🌟
Martina travelled down to London for the finals, where she finally had the chance to meet the other shortlisted entrepreneurs at Shell’s Energy Summit. She told us that it was inspiring to be around other entrepreneurs with a passion to make a positive change in the world and it came as no surprise to her that all of the shortlisted entrepreneurs were doing amazing things!
She said:
“It was incredible to meet other sustainable entrepreneurs who are passionate about doing good in such varied ways. I left London inspired and happy to be a part of such an impactful community.”
The winner was announced at The Energy Summit by Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge (Chair of The Carbon Trust) and Sinead Lynch (Chair of Shell UK). There could only be one winner (although we all felt like winners just by being there) and we were delighted that Charlie Guy (LettUs Grow) was crowned winner this year. Charlier wow-ed the judges and the rest of us, with his unique hydroponic system for sustainable vertical farming! His entrepreneurial spirit made him a clear winner and we can’t wait to follow the progress of his low carbon business LettUs Grow as he changes the future of how our food is grown.
Start-up Connect 💡
After the winner was announced, the day continued at Start-up Connect, a programme run by Shell for low-carbon start-ups, including alumni of the Shell LiveWIRE and Shell Springboard programmes, looking to scale up their businesses. At the session, Martina had the opportunity to hear stories and advice from investors and other entrepreneurs.
It was a long day, packed-full with advice and support. We cannot thank Shell LiveWIRE enough for the incredible opportunity and for recognising the change that we are trying to make in the world!
Another BIG congrats to Charlie from LettUs Grow for his well-deserved win! 
And an enormous well-done to other fellow finalists – keep up the amazing work!
The Shell Springboard winner, Farm-Hand, was also announced during Martina’s visit to London. They attend Climate-KIC Accelerator in Edinburgh with Martina and we could not be more pleased with them winning in their category.
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