Greenhouse receives $29m grant from City of Sydney

Climate action ecosystem Greenhouse has received a grant of $29 million from the City of Sydney to support the opening of its tech hub.

The Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub will open across three floors of the new Salesforce tower in Sydney’s CBD.

The City of Sydney’s $29 million total contribution comprises $7 million towards the fit-out of the hub, and a total of $22 million in negotiated rent abatement over 10 years to 2033.

By 2033, Greenhouse aims to have contributed to 10 percent of Australia's total emissions reduction targets, through its work with climate technology companies and corporates. Achieving this would remove at least 22 million megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum in the process.

Mark Rowland, chief collaboration officer of Greenhouse said, “Climate change is the largest global challenge of our time. We must accelerate the adoption of technologies that transition us to a zero-carbon world if we are to have any chance of minimising environmental destruction.

“Initiatives that help climate tech startups flourish and scale can be far more effective and impactful when launched and grown within an ecosystem of supporters, customers, and investors, all in close proximity.”

Rowland said in this focussed and collaborative environment, they can “turbocharge” the solutions capable of amplified, meaningful, and lasting impact.

“This might explain why we’ve already received significant interest in the Climate Tech Hub from dozens of climate tech companies, climate action groups, and climate tech investors,” he said.

According to Greenhouse, the tech hub is designed to be an epicentre of climate action in the heart of Sydney capable of supporting up to 500 ‘ecopreneurs’, offering facilities such as event and collaboration spaces, private office suites, meeting rooms, dedicated desks, and a recording studio.

It will also deliver programs and foster connection, collaboration, and co-innovation between startups, investors, government agencies, climate action groups, researchers, and climate-aligned corporations.

This includes housing a number of VCs and angel investors investing in climate, such as Taronga Ventures and the Investible Climate Tech Fund.

The $29 million “accommodation grant” is part of the City of Sydney’s Tech Startups Action Plan, which aims to address the needs of tech startups and create the infrastructure and ecosystems needed to foster knowledge and innovation.

Clover Moore, lord mayor of the City of Sydney said, “The innovation space in Salesforce Tower will be a hub for climate tech startups and scaleups – a cost-effective office space that will enable emerging companies to prosper and expand into global markets.”

Applications for membership to the Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub are now open to anyone aspiring to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon world by building and scaling climate tech solutions, with over 50 climate tech companies already expressing interest.