Prince William Visits Tech Hub with Earthshot Connections as Singapore Countdown Continues

Prince William is out and about in London for an eco-focused engagement.

On Thursday, the Prince of Wales, 41, visited Sustainable Ventures to be taught extra concerning the work of the environmental incubator. The group is the biggest local weather tech hub in Europe, and helps sustainable startups scale up by funding, workspaces and enterprise help. Sustainable Ventures has helped develop over 500 companies since 2011, embracing business innovation to handle local weather change and useful resource shortage.

The cease got here with a particular connection to the Earthshot Prize, which Prince William launched in 2020 to advertise impactful approaches to the world’s most urgent environmental challenges by the following decade. The Prince of Wales met companies based mostly on the London hub together with ENSO, a 2023 Earthshot Prize finalist for the “Clear Our Air” class. The tech firm makes tires for electrical autos that are extra sustainable and cut back air pollution, resulting in a cleaner environment.

ENSO is amongst fifteen finalists within the operating for the celebrated environmental prize. The 5 final winners can be introduced on the upcoming Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony in Singapore on Nov. 7. The worldwide Earthshot Prize contest invitations changemakers to submit options throughout 5 classes: Defend and Restore Nature, Clear Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Construct a Waste-Free World and Repair Our Local weather. These chosen will obtain £1 million ($1.2 million) and help to scale their options to measurement.

Elsewhere through the Thursday tour, William joined a dialogue with startups on their tales of scaling. The companies included AirEx, which produced the world’s first good air brick to cut back residence vitality payments, and Depop, an e-commerce platform for purchasing and promoting classic and second-hand clothes. 

In one other tie to the Earthshot Prize, Sustainable Ventures beforehand supported Notpla, the sustainable packaging startup and winner of the 2022 Earthshot Prize for “Construct a Waste-Free World.” King Charles’ eldest son visited Notpla’s East London headquarters in Could to see how the Earthshot platform has helped the startup speed up its progress. The Earthshot honor has enabled the enterprise to increase its workforce and put money into equipment for analysis and growth.

When beforehand talking with PEOPLE about what it meant to win an Earthshot Prize, Notpla co-founder Pierre Paslier described the accolade as a game-changer.

“Most significantly, the Earthshot Prize workforce is providing us some tailor-made help and can introduce us to an enormous community of companies, philanthropists and buyers, that ought to enhance scaling our commercialization,” Paslier informed PEOPLE in December 2022.

Prince William’s newest engagement follows a busy go to to New York Metropolis for the second annual Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, the place he formally confirmed he would journey to Singapore for the third cycle of the Earthshot Prize Awards.

The inaugural presentation of prizes was held in London in October 2021, adopted by a second cycle in Boston in December 2022. Shaking up custom, it was revealed final week that Kate Middletonwon’t be a part of her husband for the large occasion as she has in earlier years. Princess Kate, 41, will keep residence to take care of Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, throughout an vital week. PEOPLE understands that Prince George has faculty exams, and his mom can be at residence in Windsor to help him.

The Princess of Wales shared George’s relatable take on checks at college whereas visiting Fitzalan Excessive College in Wales on Tuesday. Kate commented whereas chatting with sixth-form college students (the American equal of twelfth grade) about their numerous lessons. 

In a clip shared on TikTok by Matt Wilkinson of The Solar, Kate mentioned, “George is simply initially of being examined. He says, ‘Mummy, I maintain getting examined on a regular basis.’ However when it will get to A-levels you are feeling such as you’re on it.”