What is U-START?
U-START is the start-up programme from Veolia Germany. Since 2016, we have been supporting new companies in the fields of energy, waste disposal, water and industry. With targeted thematic calls for tender, we identify potential partners and launch long-term cooperation and co-creation projects between start-ups and Veolia employees.
What do we offer start-ups?
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Testing of their business idea at one of our 200 sites in Germany
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Development of joint prototypes
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Development of joint market studies
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Early financial support of up to €50,000
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The benefits of a global industry partner
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And all without equity
What exactly are we looking for?
We are always looking for promising entrepreneurs with ambitious ideas and projects in the fields of energy, waste disposal and water that support the principle of a circular economy.
We are looking for start-ups in Germany and throughout Europe; the programme is not limited geographically. However, it is important that a specific cooperation with Veolia in Germany is potentially possible – we examine that together.
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Insight into our programme:
Veolia Germany has implemented the U-START programme to promote cooperation with innovative start-ups in the fields of the circular economy, climate protection and resource efficiency and to shorten the time to market entry with new concepts for a better world.
Success stories
U-START was and remains a good idea. In the last five years alone, we have launched 17 cooperation projects with new companies and got a total of nine start-up campaigns underway. Seven of those cooperations are still successfully active today
... a sensational ratio.
Charge X – the intelligent multi-socket for electric cars
In 2020, together with our partners Thüga and BS| Energy, we sought new, digital solutions and business models for municipal energy networks and infrastructures as part of the U-START programme ... and we found one. The ‘ChargeX’ charging system has been in series production since the middle of this year as a full-scope white-label product for a number of municipal utilities. With the ‘Aqueduct’ solution, ChargeX from Munich offers intelligent charging of several electric vehicles at the same time. Thanks to the modular charging system, once the charging infrastructure has been set up, it can be expanded with little effort via plug-and-play installation whenever demand increases. At the same time, intelligent charging technology ensures vehicles are charged according to priority in rotational operation while simultaneously guaranteeing that the power grid is not overloaded at any time.
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