Frequently Asked Questions

One individual should complete an application for the relevant Eco Venture and include details of up to four key team members.

- Application submission: applications may be submitted from Tuesday 21 April to 11:59pm on Monday 4 May 2026. - Application review: applications will be reviewed (and interview booking invitations will be issued) by Friday 15 May 2026. - Interviews: selected applicants will be invited to book and attend a video interview from Monday 18 May to Friday 5 June 2026. - Recommendation: EVC will recommend shortlisted Eco Ventures to its member law firms by Friday 19 June 2026 for consideration for inclusion in EVC Cohort 4. - Decision: EVC and its member law firms will decide by Friday 10 July 2026 which interviewed Eco Ventures to accept into EVC Cohort 4. - Notification: applicants will be informed w/c 13 July 2026 whether they are invited to join EVC Cohort 4. - EVC Cohort 4 launch: the annual cohort launches in July 2026 and runs for 12 months.

No, you can be a sole founder.

It will likely take at least one hour to complete the application form. We deliberately ask for extensive information from applicants so we can thoroughly vet them and their suitability for the EVC programme.

Yes, you can see all of the application form questions in the "Preview all questions before starting" link on the application home page ("Step 1").

We will review each applicant’s: - mission (i.e. the environmental/climate problem the venture is looking to solve and its expected solution); - approach (how the venture expects to execute on its idea and operationalise the venture); - venture maturity/commercial traction (e.g. investment levels, TRL and revenue amounts (if any)); - actual/expected legal needs for the next 12 months and the expected timing for such legal needs arising (we are looking to provide substantial legal support and we will look more favourably on applications that show careful consideration of the venture’s legal needs); and - level of external support (e.g. third party funding and support from a university innovation hub, incubator, accelerator, venture builder/studio or makerspace/workspace).

No, providing a venture meets the eligibility criteria set out in these FAQs, we welcome all applications.

1. Early-stage for-profit greentech ventures who: - have a primary mission of improving/saving our planet through their solution (which can be a product or a service; also, it doesn’t matter which greentech sector they focus on, e.g. o Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing, including Built Environment; o Clean Energy, Efficiency and Mobility; o Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage; o Circular Economy and Packaging; o Agritech, Watertech and Foodtech; or o Climate Finance and Intelligence; - have received valuable external support, e.g. being connected to a UK university innovation hub, incubator, accelerator, venture builder/studio or makerspace/workspace (each, a “Supporting Organisation”) or having received equity funding from angel/VC investors or Innovate UK/Scottish Enterprise grant funding; - are pre-Series A (ventures can be registered companies or not yet registered); - are (i) pre-revenue or (ii) commercially launched and generating revenue; and - are sole founders or part of a co-founding team. 1. Planet-positive social enterprises or charities in the UK.

Applications will be reviewed by Friday 15 May 2026.

We are looking for applications from ambitious Eco Ventures that have an infectious zeal for saving the planet. We will be excited about innovations that have a potentially big planet-positive impact. Bear in mind that the application is not being read by scientists, engineers or technical experts, so explain your innovation and business clearly and succinctly and with as little technical jargon as possible. Our law firms want to support Eco Ventures that have a reasonable prospect of success for their planet-saving innovation or venture, so we are unlikely to accept Eco Ventures based solely on them having a cool innovative idea. It will be easier to impress us with a clear outline of traction you have received so far. Finally, the key service of the EVC programme is the provision of free legal and IP support. We are more likely to accept Eco Ventures with a broad range of legal needs that have been thoughtfully set out in detail in the application form.

Our EVC member law firms like to support different types of planet-positive ventures. Some EVC member law firms are keen to support purely not-for-profit social enterprises or charities. Other EVC member law firms are keen to support early greentech ventures who are - or could be deemed equivalent to - a social enterprise. Some other EVC member law firms are keen to support ventures whose company directors/founders have a "low-income" (under £58,000 annually) in line with a U.S. income threshold test. Please note it is not mandatory for all ventures accepted into the EVC programme to be a social enterprise or have "low-income" company directors/founders.

We’re not overly prescriptive about what should be in the approximately 10 to 15-slide pitch deck (ideally PDF or Microsoft PowerPoint), but it would help to include a high-level summary of your venture’s mission, approach, venture maturity, commercial traction/operational impact, level of external support and actual/expected legal needs (again, with as little technical jargon as possible).

The draft application form should save automatically if you close your browser. You should return to the same part of the application form if you reopen the application in the same browser on the same device. You can access your draft application form from a different browser/a different device by clicking "Resume your application" on the application form webpage and entering the e-mail address you have entered in your application form.

Please e-mail Mitesh Jagatia at mitesh@ecoventurescounsel.com.(mailto:info@ecoventurescounsel.com) Best of luck with your application!

Yes, in addition to providing extensive information about your venture and contact details for someone we can contact for a reference on your founding team/venture, we require applicants to upload documents including a pitch deck, your venture's logo and, unless you are a not-for-profit organisation, a copy of your venture's cap table. Where applicable, you may also need to upload your venture's governing documents or other documents relating to your venture's recognition as a social enterprise.

When you submit your application form you will receive an e-mail confirmation of submission of your application form. That e-mail will include a "View your application" link to an EVC webpage where you can enter your e-mail you used to apply to view your full submitted application including your uploaded documents. If selected for the interview phase, you will be invited to book a video interview with EVC.

Selected Eco Ventures will be assessed against the vetting criteria in a video interview (over Microsoft Teams). Interviews will begin with the applicant giving a short 5 to 10-minute presentation of their pitch deck to help the interviewer(s) better understand the Eco Venture’s mission, approach, venture maturity, commercial traction, level of external support and actual/expected legal needs.

EVC and its member law firms will decide, in their sole discretion, which Eco Ventures are accepted into any cohort.

We are looking to support Eco Ventures who, first and foremost, are laser-focused on saving/improving the planet in some way and have an exciting novel solution for doing so. We will select for-profit greentech ventures that, as an aggregate, are (i) connected to a range of Supporting Organisations, (ii) based across the breadth of the UK; (iii) focusing on a range of greentech solutions and (iv) at a range of Technology Readiness Levels/maturity levels. We will select social enterprises and charities based on the strength of their planet-positive mission and the scope of their actual/potential impact.

w/c 13 July 2026.

EVC will welcome applications for an annual cohort from Eco Ventures that have not been part of a prior cohort, provided the Eco Ventures (i) do not have the means to otherwise pay for legal support or (ii) have not been advised by EVC that they are not eligible to apply.

We will review your application and may share it (or extracts from it) with our operations service provider, EVC member law firms and the Supporting Organisation you are connected to for the purposes of reviewing your application. Please see further details on how we will use your personal information in the Privacy Policy available on the EVC website. (https://www.ecoventurescounsel.com/privacy-policy)