Accelerating with impact - UPowr joins program backed by INCO and Mirvac
The team at UPowr are excited to announce our recent acceptance into The Impact Accelerator - a program designed to support startups working at the crossroads of green technology and social impact.
Backed by leading global platform for social and environmental start-ups, INCO, property developer giant Mirvac and Mirvac Ventures, as well as venture capital firm Artesian, the program is set to provide startups with the tools they need to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Over 120 startups applied to join the program, with 11 being selected for the nine-month journey. Throughout this time, the start-ups will receive mentoring, a membership in INCO’s global ecosystem, partnership opportunities with Mirvac and access to funding.
Pitching to a panel of judges to secure a spot in the program, UPowr CEO and co-founder Stu Philpot shared the UPowr solution and the problem we’re working to solve.
While over 2 million homes in Australia have solar, Stu explained that the customer experience hasn’t changed, that the industry has crippled many small installation businesses, and that most energy retailers have struggled to play a meaningful role in transitioning customers to new energy solutions.
“And yet, it’s estimated that $6 billion dollars of residential solar will be installed in Australia over the next three years. AEMO, Australia’s electricity market operator, estimates that over the next 20 years, this could be as large as $70 billion. There is a real opportunity to do this differently,” Stu said.
“This is what UPowr is working to do - in Australia first, and then globally. We have an amazing team full of energy experts who have the capability and the passion to do this.”
While our vision is global, the UPowr team is currently located in Sydney and Melbourne, with UPowr’s Sydney team now being housed in the sleek Hoist co-working space in Ultimo for the next nine months.
“We’re really excited to join INCO and the other startups in the co-working space. While we’re all working on solving different problems, it’s great to be able to support amazing people making a difference,” Stu said.
For UPowr, our journey will see pilots kick-off in Victoria in the coming weeks, with a New South Wales initiative not far behind.
UPowr would like to thank Marie, Jean and Thomas from The Impact Accelerator for kicking the program off with a bang, along with the partners that have made it all possible.
