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Startups from the climate, food, and energy sectors came together at London’s House of Sport for the Champions Innovate programme, entering an exciting second phase to enhance the social and environmental impact of the UEFA Champions League final.
The workshop was the second of three taking place in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League Final in London on 1 June. It gave the startups the opportunity to ask questions to experts from UEFA and sponsors, run their plans past staff from the UEFA Innovation Hub and the Greater London Authority, and exchange insights with the other organisations.
“With Champions Innovate, we are bringing together our sponsors, the host city and startups to create impactful solutions to address important challenges,” said UEFA Research and Sustainability Director Andrea Traverso, who attended the workshop and will be on the jury to allocate the award for the best project at London’s City Hall on 30 May.
📣 Pledgeball: mobilising UEFA Champions League supporters to take climate action
Pledgeball is a campaign platform that incentivises fans to make environmental pledges in support of their clubs to inspire collective climate action. Its CEO and founder, Katie Cross, believes that with support from the Champions Innovate programme and UEFA sponsor Mastercard, Pledgeball can mobilise fans of the clubs involved in the UEFA Champions League Final – both online and in-person – to reduce their carbon emissions during the event, showcasing collective impact on a global stage.
Katie Cross, Pledgeball CEO and founder, said, “Pledgeball has already engaged fans across the country but from a much smaller scale,” says Cross, who is working with a PhD student to conduct a full case study of the new pilot project and report its findings for future use. “Now, as part of the Champions Innovate programme, it means taking this to the next level, where we can rally the community of fans who enjoy the UEFA Champions League. The potential that we have here to create meaningful change is huge.”
🥕 My Emissions: empowering fans to make more conscious food choices
My Emissions is a platform providing carbon labelling for food companies with the aim of informing more sustainable food choices. During the UEFA Champions League Final and UEFA Champions Festival in London, it will work with Just Eat Takeaway to embed carbon ratings in food catering menus, assigning each dish a carbon score from A to E based on measurements related to carbon emissions, processing, transport and packaging.
“We’re bringing transparency and education to fans, revealing the impact of food so that people can make informed choices,” explained My Emissions co-founder Matthew Isaacs, who believes the pilot project can serve as a blueprint for sustainable food at future European football events.
Matthew Isaacs, My Emissions co-founder, said, “Through Champions Innovate, we’re bringing our solution to one of the largest global sporting events in the world. We’re able to talk to fans about the carbon footprint of food on a scale that we’ve never achieved before.”
⚡ Pavegen: powering the UEFA Champions Festival through renewable energy
Pavegen is a smart flooring technology and energy solutions company who create engaging experiences with brands using the power generated by footsteps. They are collaborating with Rockstar, PepsiCo’s energy drink, to convert fans’ steps into electrical energy to help power the UEFA’s Champions Festival at London’s Trafalgar Square – including at the Friday DJ Night Show.
“Innovation means challenging the status quo, being disruptive and doing things differently,” says their CEO and founder Laurence Kemball-Cook, whose team brought a prototype tile connected to an electricity generator to the workshop.
Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen CEO and founder, said, “The Champions Innovate programme is an absolute game-changer for Pavegen. For us to be putting our product under fans’ feet to generate energy and data at one of the world’s biggest sporting events is hugely exciting.”
Next steps
The startups will now go away to consolidate feedback and work on key project deliverables ahead of the third workshop on 17 April. Final presentations will take place on Thursday 30 May at London’s City Hall, two days ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final, with the winning startup receiving a €45,000 prize.
