Innovate Zero

About Innovate Zero

In partnership with London & Partners and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Sustainable Ventures brings Innovate Zero, an 18-month programme, to 45 venture stage entrepreneurs scaling their commercial net zero and decarbonation solutions to create greater impact.

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  Rakhi Malde

  Head of Operations, Circular Threads
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  Rakhi Malde

The challenge

Circular Threads faced some important business and development challenges before starting the journey with Innovate Zero. It needed to create a clear plan for growth and devise solutions for effectively using the funds it had already raised.

The Circular Threads founders were also facing broader strategic management issues. They sought to understand the best ways to manage their VIP and boutique services operations.

Circular Threads also faced some challenges with its team. There was a lack of a clear definition for each person's job, and it wanted to ensure everyone was using their skills effectively. Another goal was to reduce the amount of manual tasks the employees had to do and embrace more technology and applications to make operations more efficient.

How Innovate Zero helped

Since joining the Innovate Zero programme in November 2024, Circular Threads' founders have benefited from business advice, education and regular discussions.

They participated in many one-to-one virtual meetings with a business mentor. During the sessions, they received advice that has been incredibly helpful in making their operations more efficient. This included: 

• Brainstorming current challenges. 
• Discussing ideas and growth potential. 
• Making operations more efficient. 

Thanks to their mentor’s support, they've started using new applications and improved their work processes, saving time for their team.

They’ve also taken a fresh look at the services they offer and decided to introduce something new to serve their customers better.

Rakhi Malde, Head of Operations at Circular Threads, said about the programme: “With their guidance, we've introduced a new service to capture missed opportunities, tested new tech platforms and grown our team.” 

One important area they’ve been looking at is their customer relationship management (CRM) systems. CRM systems are a crucial business tool as they help businesses organise and keep track of customer information. These tools allow businesses to better understand their customers’ needs and provide a more personalised experience. 

Our impact

Overall, the founders of Circulars Threads believe that the Innovate Zero programme has played a key role in improving their knowledge and operations.

As a result of the ongoing support since joining the Innovate Zero programme, the team at Circular Threads have:

• Hired a new studio manager to improve efficiency.
• Introduced a new service to capture missed opportunities.

“We aim to test the tech side of building a peer-to-peer platform, which will help us improve our digital offering. Innovate Zero has played a key role in supporting our ongoing growth and success,” said Rakhi.

Additionally, the company plans to move to a new studio to test the bricks-and-mortar side of the business, which will allow it to reach more customers in person and further expand its services and brand.

Finally, the management team is looking to grow, and the business plans to fundraise to support company growth and strengthen the team. The aim is to expand the business across the country and globally, reaching new markets and increasing its customer base and brand awareness.

About FodaVita

Through a combination of design innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), and traditional growing techniques, FodaVita is a business-to-consumer (B2C) technology company that wants to remove barriers to growing food at home and help people reconnect with nature and live more sustainable urban lives.

The challenge

Before participating in the Innovate Zero programme, FodaVita had struggled to define its messaging and ensure its product was suitable and ready for its target market. It knew consumers were interested in its products, but the challenge was to refine its understanding of the market and hone in on which aspect of its solution should form the core of the business.

Initially, the business had been unsure that its concept fit the definition of climate tech, but Sustainable Ventures - which delivers the hands-on commercial and tech support for Innovate Zero - encouraged FodaVita to take part.

How Innovate Zero helped

In August 2024, FodaVita participated in the Innovate Zero programme, which provides expert, tailored support to London-based climate technology businesses.

Through the programme, FodaVita accessed tailored one-to-one advice from a dedicated Innovate Zero advisor via virtual and in-person sessions.

This gave the company the confidence it needed to secure further investment, and helped it start the process of bidding for research funding from UK Research and Innovation.

Since taking part in the programme, FodaVita has decided to streamline its approach by focusing primarily on its most commercial product. In doing so, it hopes to accelerate growth and attract investors, laying the foundations for pursuing new opportunities in untapped domestic markets and international expansion. 

Our impact

FodaVita developed a comprehensive growth strategy for the short and long-term. Firstly, it will use digital platforms, events and more traditional media channels to raise awareness and drive organic growth. Secondly, it plans to open a concept store in central London and form strategic partnerships with premium retail outlets.

In the future, FodaVita will look to expand into international markets and further develop the range of products and services it offers in the UK corporate and public sector wellbeing sectors. 

Michael Thorp, CEO and Founder of FodaVita, said: “I highly recommend the Innovate Zero programme by Sustainable Ventures to any startup operating in the net zero or sustainability space. The programme has been a game-changer for our business.”

Thanks to the tailored, one-to-one support it received on the Innovate Zero programme, FodaVita was able to identify and fine-tune the part of its offering that had the most commercial potential.

The collaborative approach with sustainable ventures and its expert advisors offered “invaluable” support that equipped the business with the tools, insights and confidence to take the next step in its growth journey. As well as taking part in a funding round, FodaVita has a “clear strategy for innovation, growth and success” that it can build upon to realise its future ambitions.