Amazon is committed to expanding sustainable choices for our customers. As part of that commitment, we’ve launched the first ever Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator, designed for early-stage startups building products designed with their environmental impact in mind.
The Accelerator provides founders and their businesses with a support package worth more than £30,000 in the form of an equity-free grant, AWS Activate Credits and Amazon Advertising Credits, as well as providing expert mentorship and a tailored curriculum designed to encourage them to grow their operations.
Meet some of the startups joining the Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator this year.
Cleannest
Cleannest is a ‘digitally native’ nappy company with a long-term goal to create a 100% biodegradable nappy - a product that doesn’t exist on the market today.
After watching their family and friends become new parents, university colleagues Morgan Mixon and Rima Suppan set out on a mission to provide nappies built to minimise environmental impact without losing sight of the conveniences carers need, want and deserve.
Cleannest is launching its first product in the UK later this year – a nappy which combines planet-conscious design with performance by using both environmentally friendly and high-quality materials.
Rima and Morgan, co-founders of Cleannest, said, “Our goal is to soak up learnings from different industries and creatively apply that knowledge to making parents and carers’ lives easier. We’re on the cusp of launching our first Cleannest product. Learning from Amazon’s experts, the EU’s Climate-KIC and our fellow founders before we go to market is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Grub Club
Grub Club produces hypoallergenic, vet-approved and insect-based pet food that promises the nutrition of regular meat without the carbon footprint or meat-related allergies associated with meat-based pet food.
The startup is tapping into the growing insect protein market and hopes to lead the ‘sustainable pet food revolution’. Highlighting how pets are reported to consume 20% of global meat production, Grub Club also wants to raise awareness of the environmental impact that owning pets can have and what can be done to reduce this.
Part of Grub Club’s product range will be dog treats that are made with ‘superfood’ ingredients usually reserved for humans. The founders say the product is so good that they often sample the treats themselves in front of potential investors!
Alessandro Di Trapani, co-founder and CEO, and Hugh Petit, co-founder and COO, said, “Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator provides us with a unique and exciting opportunity to lay the foundations of a scalable, impact-first e-commerce business. In addition, we see Amazon as a critical channel for us as we set our sights on scaling geographically. Plugging into the Amazon eco-system and learning from experts will provide us with invaluable insights and advice.”
Homethings
The team behind Homethings creates refillable and sustainable home cleaning products to help people minimise their use of single-use plastics.
Homethings have designed a range of refillable and sustainable home cleaning products for their rapidly growing customer base. The founding team have a background in finance. Matthew Aubrey, spent three years at Bethnal Green Ventures, whilst Tim Keaveney brings experience from his background in finance at Barclays.
The co-founders said, “We can't wait to work with and learn from the Amazon team and the other awesome purpose driven companies taking part.”
OMNI
OMNI is a vet-formulated plant-based pet food startup that uses much less land, water and creates fewer greenhouse gases compared to conventional meat-based equivalents.
After seeing concerning rates of cancer and obesity in dogs, small animal veterinarian Dr Guy Sandelowsky co-founded OMNI with Shiv Sivakumar, a former investment banker. Using science-backed ingredients OMNI provides dogs with a 100% nutritionally complete diet and aims to make pets’ lives better. Their food is not just designed to be better for pets, but better for the planet too. It is estimated that switching to a plant-based diet like the one produced by OMNI will result in 85% lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional meat-based alternatives.
Dr Guy Sandelowsky and Shiv Sivakumar expressed their enthusiasm at being involved in the Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator.
“We’re excited to join and to have the opportunity to work with experts who have experience in e-commerce, sustainability-focused physical goods and startup growth. We’re also keen to fully understand the climate impact potential of our product, develop new strategies and receive external validation, all while exchanging ideas with a community of like-minded sustainability-focused founders.”
Laundry Leaves
Laundry Leaves is changing the way consumers do their laundry. While traditional detergents are predominantly made with, or contained in, plastic, Laundry Leaves produce liquid-free laundry detergent sheets that are housed in a lighter, smaller packaging.
Co-founder Calum Hutchison has a first-class honours degree in Business Management with Marketing and previously worked for five years at a fortune 500 aircraft manufacturer with responsibility for helicopter sales throughout Western Europe.
“We began our Amazon journey only five months ago and have already seen excellent sales growth,” said Calum. “The Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator will allow us to continue to shape our business sustainably, accelerate our growth with Amazon and assist in Laundry Leaves’ journey of growth and evolution.”
Skingredients
Skingredients offer a range of active skincare products which use a refillable and recyclable packaging system.
Founded by Jennifer Rock, an award-winning skincare facialist and influencer in the skincare world, Skingredients is a refillable skincare range designed with ingredients clinically-proven to nourish, protect and make customers feel better in their skin. The entire range is housed in reusable, durable outer tubes designed to protect the integrity of the product, with refillable inner tubes that are fully recyclable.
“We relaunched our range in new refillable bottles in 2021 and are delighted to join the accelerator to be able to draw on the expertise of Amazon, EIT Climate-KIC and outside mentors to help scale Skingredients fast and make a positive impact on sustainability in the skincare industry,” said Jennifer.
“Sustainability is not a destination that can be reached in a day, but Skingredients is buckled in for the ride. We are on a journey to create a skincare range that is better for your skin and the planet.”
SURI
SURI (short for ‘sustainable rituals’) offers electric toothbrushes which are reusable and repairable, with replaceable heads made from plant-based materials. They aim to create personal care products that help people live more sustainably without compromising on quality, performance or design.
Gyve Safavi, co-founder and CEO, and Mark Rushmore, co-founder, said, “We’re excited to partner and learn from Amazon at the start of our journey. We’re at a pivotal stage and couldn’t be more thrilled to have the support and guidance from the world’s most successful e-commerce company.”
ETHOSA
ETHOSA is reinventing the shower category with waterless and refillable plant-based personal care products that set new standards for sustainability.
The team behind ETHOSA met while working with industry-leading clients in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMGC) sector. They are using their combined experience to develop and launch the new startup. Founder Gaëlle Chatelard has a wealth of insight and experience from working as a Marketing Director for a luxury wine brand and managing accounts such as Unilever & Colgate-Palmolive at a leading market intelligence agency, while co-founder Oliver Ludwig brings in relevant expertise he gained working with similar clients in e-commerce and logistics.
“We know that there is a huge lack of education around sustainability practices,” said Gaelle. “While we are working hard on closing this gap at ETHOSA, we strongly believe that the Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator will enable us to make a bigger impact faster and become a voice of authority in the industry through the engagement tools and strategic support we will receive.”
Learn more about the Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator
