An Aberdeenshire start-up, The Habitat People, has been awarded £15,000 after winning the Climate Impact Start-up Award at Robert Gordon University’s (RGU’s) Regional Start-up Accelerator Showcase.

The Habitat People picked up the award for its new Carbon Capture business, The Carbon Shop, which is launching imminently.

The business, which is based at Castle Fraser, Inverurie, will boost carbon offsetting across Scotland by enhancing biodiversity within the environment. It has its flagship site at Peterhead, which it will use to give organisations and individuals across the country the opportunity to purchase carbon in a bid to reduce their net carbon output.

Founded in 2020, The Habitat People is a conservation company which manages land, educates, and creates high-quality habitat for the betterment of people, biodiversity and the green economy.

The company signed up to RGU’s Accelerator programme in December last year, and has benefited from ongoing business support, mentoring, training, and seed funding as part of the initiative.

Company Director, David Hunter, comments: “It has been a joy to take part in the Accelerator programme, which has helped us learn more about business and technology from industry experts.

"We were delighted to be shortlisted for the Start-up Accelerator prize, and certainly did not expect to win! We feel humbled to have been given this recognition; it is a real boost to the whole team. It is a great start for our Carbon Offsetting business and the funding will really help to maximise the opportunities ahead, which in turn will help the environment. We are very grateful to RGU for the support they have provided.”

Eight other finalists took part in the final, which was held on 12th May 2022 at RGU. The event was streamed live with the audience playing an active role in the voting. The programme, which is in its fourth year, was open to individuals across Aberdeenshire this year for the first time.

RGU’s Start-up Accelerator is run by the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Group, a team of practitioners that the University has funded to support RGU’s aims of economic, social and cultural development.

The event was funded by the Scottish Government, The Scottish Funding Council, and Opportunity North East, through the Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF).

For more information on the Habitat People, visit https://www.habitatpeople.co.uk.

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