Working with you to solve the world's most pressing issues.

We specialise in accelerating the Just Transition innovation in the UK, Africa and APAC. We form alliances with ecosystem catalysts and equip founders with needed capital, resources and skills for their ventures to succeed.

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Who we are

Who we are

Who we are

Who we are

Our mission.

Enabling an inclusive Just Transition by empowering entrepreneurs with access to funding, resources and expertise for a better, fairer world.

Jobs

+60

Grant Funding

+£4.3M

Investment Raised

+£45.6M

We work closely with a number of founders in our community.

Sustainable Development Goals

Each of our founders are pursuing one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

Discover our dynamic network of sister companies and initiatives, driving sustainable change across the globe.

Sustainable Women's Network logo.

Sustainable Women's Network

Bringing together women who share common values that include making a difference, treading lightly on this planet, being authentic and leading change.

Startup Discovery Asia

Fostering innovation among youth, women, and marginalised communities in South Asia to address social, economic, and climate challenges.

Startup Discovery School Africa

Nurturing diverse leaders in West Africa to combat the climate crisis through innovative programs and partnerships.

Sahara Impact Ventures

Investing in pre-series A businesses in West Africa that address climate change and inequality through a gender lens.

Future Impact Ventures

Supporting early-stage technology companies committed to a Just Transition to net-zero and socio-economic equity.

Programmes

Programmes

Programmes

Programmes

Programmes

Programmes

Programmes

Programmes

Both community founders and companies have seen real results with our programmes.

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Being part of SDS’s 2021 cohort has been a fantastic opportunity to scale, network and grow my startup.

The programme helped open the right doors and made me think of the early stages of my startup differently than if I were to navigate the pre-MVP stage alone. There were many sessions which helped me feel launch and pitch ready and I couldn’t have done it without the support from the team and the group sessions!

Paasha Ahmed

Founder of Paasha Cosmetics
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I really love how supportive the team at SDS are, and how invaluable the community they’ve built is. It’s easily one of the best facilitators of startup founders looking to find the right tools to begin their journey.

Emmanuel Olawore

Founder of Incept
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SDS was the course I never knew I needed. Direct access to business mentors is invaluable. Their contact list is a priceless tool and just makes life easier. The course content was well structured and filled in a lot of gaps I had to transition from a service-based business to a product business. I would highly recommend SDS!

Mary Adekoya

Founder of Papachichi (Pink Hot Comb)
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(Should I say this out loud?) Best hackathon I've attended yet 🙌🏼 the topics, ideas, and energy were amazing!

Shafna Abdul Majeed

Hackathon
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It was nice to have a cohort to go through the programme as it was following similar stories at different stages of development to recognise how we were doing things. The facilitators were great, some more theoretical than others. I preferred practical workshops or building on ideas. Samantha was very attentive. I thank her, especially for the support.

Bernardo

Incubator
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SDS was the course I never knew I needed. Direct access to business mentors is invaluable. Their contact list is a priceless tool and just makes life easier. The course content was well structured and filled in a lot of gaps I had to transition from a service-based business to a product business. I would highly recommend SDS!

Karen

Incubator
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The people involved in making the programme happen have been brilliant. From organisers to mentors to some of the workshop hosts, everyone has been extremely friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and inspiring.

Joseph Folkes - Clip Energy

Accelerator
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It's been a diverse, organised and practical programme that I'd recommend to early-stage founders. The grant was easy to access and provided us with capital to explore ideas.

Kirsty Kenney - Kuppa

Accelerator
Startup Discovery School logo.