Prince William hails ‘amazing’ eco-friendly start-up businesses

'It’s amazing and shows, if we put our minds to something, what we can discover,' Prince of Wales says

The Prince of Wales during a visit to the London headquarters of Sustainable Ventures. PA

Prince William hailed “amazing” eco-friendly start-up technology businesses in London on Thursday.

The Prince of Wales was shown building material made from food waste during a visit to Sustainable Ventures, a working space that helps fund and support green firms.

“It’s amazing and shows, if we put our minds to something, what we can discover,” he remarked.

The prince met representatives of businesses such as ENSO, which has created a more efficient electric vehicle tyre reducing harmful particles worn off during travel.

ENSO was among the finalists of this year’s Earthshot Prize, established by Prince William to find solutions to “repair” the planet.

Founder Gunnlaugur Erlendsson said, after showing the prince a taxi that had the tyres, that the recognition has helped the business.

The prince was also shown thermal imaging used to detect heat loss from buildings anywhere on Earth by firm SatVu.

He later joined a discussion with start-ups to hear how Sustainable Ventures is helping them to expand.

Among them was AirEx, which created the world’s first smart air brick to reduce home energy bills, and Depop, an online platform which allows users to buy and sell vintage and second-hand clothing.

Since 2011, Sustainable Ventures, based in County Hall near the Houses of Parliament, has supported more than 500 businesses, including Notpla, one of the 2022 Earthshot Prize winners.

It is called the centre of the UK’s climate tech revolution and the largest hub of its type in Europe.

“The Prince of Wales is known for his dedication to sustainability,” said Andrew Wordsworth, managing partner of Sustainable Ventures, who showed Prince William around.

“It’s inspiring for Sustainable Ventures’ members to know that someone of his influence understands that they need to scale to have impact in the next decade.

“He has shown by his actions that we need optimistic solutions in a world dominated by negative headlines.”