Climate KIC champions innovation in AI, climate, and agri-food with two major initiatives in Ireland

Press Release – Dublin, 9 April 2025 – Climate KIC is driving forward innovation in AI, climate, and agri-food with two innovative programmes designed to support start-ups and entrepreneurship support organisations (ESOs) in Ireland. These initiatives, the 2050 Accelerator and the programme “Nurturing entrepreneurship support organisations and start-ups for AI-driven climate action”, will empower high-potential ventures and organisations to develop transformative solutions for sustainability challenges.

The 2050 Accelerator

The 2050 Accelerator, led by Dogpatch Labs and backed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), in collaboration with Kerry Dairy Ireland, ESB, and Coillte, is entering its second year. This programme brings together nine sustainability-focused start-ups from Ireland, the UK, Europe, and the US to develop pilots for their new technology alongside corporate partners.

With a focus on energy, agriculture, and forestry, the accelerator provides participants with corporate partnerships, mentorship, and access to real-world infrastructure. Climate KIC acts as a key ecosystem partner through access to European expertise and a global network, building on its extensive expertise in designing agri-food innovation solutions.

The programme will culminate in a showcase event on 19 June 2025, offering international investors and industry leaders a glimpse into the future of green technology.

Nurturing entrepreneurship support organisations and start-ups for AI-driven climate action

This programme, supported by Salesforce and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), seeks to strengthen the entrepreneurial landscape by collaborating with organisations that support start-ups working in AI, climate, and agri-food.

The initiative will provide up to 5 ESOs and 10 start-ups with resources, trainings, mentorship, and networking opportunities, helping them enhance their their existing service offerings and impact across four key areas:

Vision 2050: re-imagine Ireland’s land and agri-food system
Circular bio-economy solutions at regional or multiple value chains level
Carbon farming and payments for ecosystem services, incentivising sustainable farm practices
Sustainability and emissions reductions in dairy farms.

Fostering entrepreneurial activity to transform the agri-food system

Both programmes highlight Ireland’s growing role as a hub for climate-smart agriculture, and build on Climate KIC’s partnership with DAFM, which is helping Ireland decarbonise the land and agri-food value chain through its Deep Demonstration model of innovation.

Since its kick-off in 2022, the partnership has been working to implement concrete pathways towards reducing emissions, diversifying incomes, and shifting to circular bio-economy solutions. These include both immediate outcomes in dairy farm emission reduction, sustainable beef production, carbon farming and tillage, as well as long-term objectives such as investing in new value chains and alternative proteins, helping entire regions become circular, and charting a new vision for the future of the sector.

As part of this systemic approach, these two new programmes are an example of Climate KIC’s efforts to foster entrepreneurial activity and remove barriers to innovation, by aligning entrepreneurial goals with climate and market opportunities, and testing new business models in local communities.

Notes to the Editor

The 2050 Accelerator boasts a legacy of nurturing high-impact companies such as Yale spin-out CREW Carbon, who went on to raise a $5.3M seed round to capture carbon at wastewater treatment facilities and Silicate Carbon, a finalist in the international XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition. The 2025 start-up cohort includes TurtleTree (precision fermentation), Wholechain (supply chain traceability), PES Technologies (real-time soil health data), Tern (AI-based navigation software), Terra Motion (satellite imagery to monitor peatlands), Soilytix (soil DNA sequencing), Iona Drones (drone deliveries).
Nurturing entrepreneurship support organisations and start-ups for AI-driven climate action is a 9-month programme aiming at translating existing climate challenges into actionable opportunities and business models for ESOs and start-ups. It will offer, among its services, regulatory guidance as well as practical methodologies for assessing, forecasting, and tracking the climate impact of AI-driven innovations. In partnership with Salesforce, Climate KIC is offering this programme in two locations, Dublin and London.

More information – https://www.2050accelerator.com/ – https://www.climate-kic.org/get-involved/open-calls/