Why supporting green start-ups for students is a win-win

There is an ever-increasing interest in green issues from students worldwide – students want to see their university adopt greener and more sustainable policies – and a significant number want to try out their green ideas for themselves, with the university the ideal place to test them at relatively low risk.

Engaging with the green agenda brings several benefits to universities – more employable graduates, an improved green reputation for the university, and higher student recruitment – but it is encouraging students to run with their green start-up ideas, which could provide the biggest advantage.

Universities are increasingly taking action to support the green agenda, and with good reason.

Reports have suggested that institutions’ green credentials are being scrutinised by students when they are choosing which university to study at, with a QS Pulse Report in 2024 suggesting more than half were researching this as part of their selection process.

However, only 20% of students reported that they were extremely satisfied (and 45% somewhat satisfied) with what they were seeing in terms of the university’s actions.

It is also becoming easier to find out this information, with several rankings now measuring it, many linked with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025 and the World Green University Rankings.

Universities are increasingly including sustainability and green issues as a key part of their duty to the local community and wider world.

At an institutional level they are committing to decarbonising investments and are offering increased recycling, energy-saving initiatives such as energy-efficient light bulbs across campus, collecting water in roof tanks, addressing leaks faster, and composting food waste, which is also leading to lower utility bills.

Many universities are installing renewables for their energy and increasing their use of electric vehicles.

Strathmore University in Kenya has a highly successful energy generation and conservation programme and is one of the greenest universities in Africa while the University of California, Berkeley generates 1.2 megawatts from solar panels.

The University of Sussex has recently installed reverse vending machines to increase recycling rates. They are also promoting individual students and staff to behave in greener ways, such as offering loans for buying bikes, safe bike sheds, public transport season tickets, and university-branded water bottles combined with refilling points and reusable coffee cups, with an associated discount.

Backing green student ventures

But it is backing students’ green ventures that could be the key to boosting universities’ green credentials while helping students to realise their aspirations of getting involved in sustainability issues.

The current generation of students are increasingly becoming interested in starting their own businesses for a number of reasons – ranging from impatience for success, not wanting to work their way up in a corporate job, and the lack of graduate jobs available, with applications for graduate jobs in the UK, for example, increasing to a record high in 2024 of 140 per job opening.

But most important is the belief they can make a positive difference to the world. Research has shown a positive link between entrepreneurship education and green intentions, and by getting involved in green issues, students get the chance to help the local community and learn skills and experience to boost their CVs.

The benefits of green enterprises

Green enterprises, despite their main aim of addressing environmental issues, do not have to be registered as social enterprises, so they are not expected to channel all their profits back into the business and can scale up more easily.

Also, tech businesses can also potentially file for intellectual property, such as patents. All of this makes it easier to get funding in the form of equity investments from investors, such as venture capitalists and business angels.

In fact, there is lots of scope for funding, especially from government grants aimed at encouraging green ventures, and many equity investors who want to back green ventures for philanthropic as well as financial reasons.

Many university venture competitions are aimed at supporting green ventures - Watercycle Technologies Ltd won the Eli Harari competition at the University of Manchester in 2016.

They purify contaminated water while at the same time extracting valuable minerals. Solar Ethos, also a winner in 2024, has developed thin graphene films for solar cells, which improve their efficiency and durability, and Graphene Thermal, which makes energy-efficient floor heating.

Many green ventures have a tech element to them. MiAlgae was started at the University of Edinburgh. It produces omega-3 oils from whisky waste, instead of relying on harvesting fish.

Externally, the £1 million (US$1.33 million) Earthshot Prize awarded by the UK Prince and Princess of Wales supports green solutions. The Green Alley Awards, based in Germany, offers €25000 to European start-ups that address the circular economy.

SHAKE supports agriculture-based start-ups that cater to environmental concerns. Green “cleantech” accelerators and incubators can also give cohorts of like-minded students skills and a network to take their idea forward, for example, Greentech Africa 2025 offers an accelerator programme and potential funding for sustainable development start-ups, and Mills Fabrica in Hong Kong targets agrifood ventures.

How to move the green start-up agenda forward

For universities, it is important to promote what they are doing in order to make it visible to prospective students as news or case studies on the university website. Also vital is entering the many rankings and competitions that are available.

The good news is that everyone wins. Even if their venture is ultimately not successful, students will gain skills to address the “Green Skills Gap” which will be useful for students seeking employment – with businesses also looking to become more sustainable to improve their brand image, to become more transparent in order to avoid potential criticism, and to comply with stricter regulations.

Most of all, by helping those who want to start green ventures, universities are not only supporting students’ ambitions but are also improving their own green ratings, and as a byproduct, they will boost their student recruitment.

Robert A Phillips is a senior lecturer at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.