Ccic accelerator launch press release

CCIC Launches the First Cleantech Proof of Concept Accelerator in the Caribbean Joining Forces with SUJ, the Caribbean Climate Innovation Center wants to accelerate Caribbean cleantech startups for success with Launchit GreenTech Accelerator

By Cashyaka McDonald June 11, 2016

Photo: Administrative Monitoring and Evaluations Officer, Ms. Tameka Lee (left), Marketing Officer, Ms. Cashyaka McDonald, Interim Project Manager, Mrs. Marcia Henry, Managing Director and Past POC winner, Mr. Robert Wright.

“Innovation and technology have to be at the heart of progress,� said Mr. Fabi Sylvain, The High Commissioner of Canada Developing transformative clean technologies and new materials requires more than a great idea and some committed people. It takes an innovation ecosystem.

On 29th June, 2016, the Caribbean Climate Innovation Center (CCIC) officially launched its flagship proof of concept accelerator programme dubbed Launchit

GreenTech at the Scientific Research Council in Kingston Jamaica. This innovative accelerator will assist in addressing the Caribbean’s need for scalable clean technology enterprises.

Selected entrepreneurs will benefit from a six-month curriculum that focuses on business modeling, prototype development, go-to-market strategy, financing and creation of industry connections that cleantech startups need to succeed. Each participating cleantech startup will receive: 

Mentorship from cleantech industry leaders to help with business planning, intellectual property protection, marketing, financing and more.



Connections through CCIC network for access to industry leaders, service providers and investors from across the region.



Hands-on business education workshops to assist startups with business model fine-tuning, prototype development, market development and funding strategies.



Customer discovery assistance to hone minimally viable product and go-tomarket strategy.



Company and brand visibility from CCIC accelerator community events, programmes and marketing outreach.

Financial support for Participating startups will receive financial support of up to US$6,000 in grant funding and over US$12,000 as an investment in the cost for professional services, office space and coaching from accelerator partners.

“This initiative is particularly important at a time when Jamaica, like the rest of the world, is watching the developments of Brexit, and recognizing the vast implications, including the arising issues as it pertains to employment of British nationals, who work throughout the European Union (EU)”, said Dr. the Hon Andrew Wheatley, Minister of Science, Energy & Technology in his presentation at the launch. He further stated, “These recent developments that have dominated media across the globe have validated the need for Small Island Developing States, particularly in the Caribbean, to hone their local talents, invest in and develop their most critical resource, their human capital, while providing meaningful opportunities for income generation at home.”

The commercialization of complex science and energy technologies requires hefty capital investment, access to world-leading scientific tools and facilities and lengthy development timescales beyond the typical software startup and venture capital models.

To help Entrepreneurs bridge this commercialization “valley of death,” the CCIC will

support cutting-edge innovators to work on early-stage prototype development that can deliver game-changing impact to the cleantech industry.

Due to the overwhelming demand received for such an accelerator, the CCIC will reopen the application call on July 13, 2016 to increase the intake of applicants. The CCIC will also be facilitating business education opportunities to unselected applicants so that they may resubmit improved business proposals during this call.

About The Caribbean Climate Innovation Center The CCIC is a project being spearheaded by a consortium which includes the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) in Trinidad and Tobago and the Scientific Research Council in Jamaica. The Center is one of the three components of the Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC). The aim of the CCIC GreenTech Startup programme is to build an enabling ecosystem that will foster growth-oriented entrepreneurs and profitable businesses that address climate change mitigations and adaptation needs throughout the Caribbean. The thematic areas of focus are (a) water/waste management (b) sustainable agriculture/agribusiness (c) energy efficiency (d) renewable energy and (e) resource use efficiency. Learn more at http://www.caribbeancic.org.

About Startup Jamaica Start-Up Jamaica (SUJ) is an accelerator which is a public/private partnership between the Government of Jamaica through The Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET) and the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) on the one hand, and local and overseas private investors on the other, with the support of The World Bank Project “Youth Employment in Digital and Animation Industries�.