Building on last year’s success, law firm Simmons & Simmons has opened applications to its GreenTech fund, awarding up to four startups £100,000 of legal support. Applications are open until 15 January 2023.
Navigating the legal world as a young startup can be challenging and very costly. As an international law firm, Simmons & Simmons not only sees it as their duty to support startups on their legal journeys but also “to tackle the biodiversity and climate crisis”.
To this end, the law firm established its GreenTech Fund last year, aiming to support businesses that use technology to tackle global warming and the looming biodiversity crisis.
“The GreenTech fund is an attempt to achieve [positive impact] by sharing our skills with businesses that are actively seeking solutions to the crisis in which we find ourselves,” said co-lead of the firm’s environmental sustainability network, Ali Crosthwaite.
Open since 7 November 2022, the legal firm’s GreenTech fund is accepting applications from businesses who fit the following criteria: a) businesses must make use of technology to mitigate the climate and/or biodiversity emergencies b) they must have raised external capital to Series A or raised angel or seed c) they must have been accepted onto a recognised incubator/accelerator programme or referred to the firm by an established venture capital investor.
Led by members of the firm’s environmental sustainability network, the GreenFund involves the collaboration of investors and sustainability-oriented accelerators and incubators such as Techstars, Entrepreneur First and Illuminate Financial.
“It will be an honour for us to support passionate startups that help communities and businesses to live and act sustainably. I know there are outstanding GreenTech startups doing their bit in Luxembourg and that’s why I strongly encourage them to apply,” said Delphine Mailloc-Amand, ESG Marketing, BD Lead and CSR Local Ambassador at Simmons & Simmons Luxembourg.
Open until 15 January 2022, interested parties can find all the relevant details as well as the link for the application portal here. For more information on last year’s winners, see here. The finalists will be announced in February after which they will go through a pitching contest until early March.
