The chosen companies, from various industries, will complete modules and workshops, and network with industry leaders.

Bord na Móna has announced nine green Irish businesses that will take part in its 2025 Accelerate Green Grow programme.

The nine businesses, The Planted Way, Novelplast, Circular Food Co, BioSense, Easydry, JTM Energy, Watt Footprint, Pulse Market and Plaswire, make up the fourth cohort of sustainability-focused companies taking part in the programme.

First introduced in 2022 by Bord na Móna and Resolve Partners, the programme is designed to empower and encourage the work of early-stage enterprises, SMEs and start-ups in sustainable sectors.

The programme is a “key element” of the semi-state company’s €5m investment to foster green innovation in Ireland from 2022 to 2025. Since its launch, 60 companies have taken part in the programme, said Bord na Móna.

The chosen firms are spread across various industries in Ireland, including energy, food-tech, circular economy solutions, biodiversity and artificial intelligence.

The selected companies will participate in an eight-module series of learning sessions and mentoring workshops at the Accelerate Green Hub in Co Offaly. They will also engage with industry experts, including representatives from enterprise and energy agencies, Irish corporates, research networks, investors and senior leaders in Bord na Móna.

Furthermore, the participating companies will showcase their innovations to Bord na Móna personnel and key stakeholders, industry experts and investors at the Accelerate Green conference which will take place on 15 May in Tullamore.

“Each year I am more impressed by the calibre of companies we have joining the Accelerate Green Grow programme, and this year is no different,” said Tom Donnellan, the chief executive of Bord na Móna.

“The roll-out of this programme is part of Bord na Móna’s €5m commitment to support the growth of Ireland’s rising green innovator network between 2022 and 2025. We are playing our part in decarbonisation and driving an environmentally sustainable economy.”

Mairead McGuinness, former European commissioner for financial stability, financial services and the capital markets Union, joined the official launch of the programme at the Accelerate Green Hub.

“We cannot ignore the threats of climate change and environmental degradation which is why the Accelerate Green Grow programme is so important to support businesses that can and will provide solutions,” McGuinness said.

“All businesses – large and small – face sustainability challenges. Those who have identified the challenges and are working to address them have a future, those that do not will not survive in the medium to long term.”

Established in 1946, Bord na Móna began by harvesting Irish peatlands for an affordable energy source. The Accelerate Green Grow programme is supported partially by the EU’s Life-integrated project Peatlands and People.

Last year, nine start-ups completed the programme and took their learnings to work on ideas including microorganisms that turn carbon dioxide into proteins and a software platform to help enterprises address biodiversity.

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