Nick Marks, founder of PIE Factory, and Tim, Tradeshow Impact Manager, discuss the hurdles and opportunities for UK climate-tech ventures over the next five years. UK climate-tech start-ups face a complex landscape: high development costs, cautious investors, and evolving regulations. Nick Marks, leading sustainability expert and founder of PIE Factory, and Tim, Tradeshow Impact Manager, explain how start-ups can overcome capital constraints, leverage emerging policies, and harness innovative technologies – all while staying mission-driven. From AI energy solutions to green hydrogen, the UK offers unique advantages for ventures that prove real impact rather than marketing hype. Entrepreneur UK finds out more…

What are the biggest obstacles UK start-ups face when trying to scale green technologies, and how do you see these evolving over the next five years?
Access to capital is a major obstacle for UK climate-tech start-ups that want to scale, but it affects funded and bootstrapped companies in different ways. Investors are increasingly cautious, favouring proven revenue and near-term returns, which makes it harder for high-risk green technologies to raise money. For bootstrapped teams, the challenge is not investor appetite but limited cash to fund long development cycles and infrastructure-heavy solutions.

Regulation can slow progress for both paths. Navigating compliance, planning, and approvals takes time and money, which stretches lean teams and can deter investors from capital-intensive technologies such as carbon capture, while areas like EVs move faster because they fit existing systems more easily.

Over the next five years, these pressures are likely to shift rather than disappear. Funding mechanisms should improve, giving credible ventures better routes to scale, while bootstrapped companies will benefit from clearer standards that make it easier to prove impact and win customers earlier. Advances in automation and AI will help reduce costs and speed up development, but supply chain fragility will remain a constraint unless more capability is built domestically.

Which upcoming UK policies or initiatives do you think will have the most impact on climate-tech entrepreneurship?
The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will transform climate-tech by phasing out fossil fuels and boosting low-carbon tech to over 95% of the grid. Linking UK-EU emissions trading schemes and extending the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio promise stabilised prices and scale-up support. The 2026 Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy and Climate Tech Policy Coalition will further amplify entrepreneurship by tackling barriers.

Looking ahead, what emerging technologies or business models do you believe will transform the UK’s green economy by 2030?
AI and digital solutions for energy forecasting, alongside vehicle-to-grid tech, will optimise renewables and grid stability. Fusion energy, advanced nuclear, CCUS, and green hydrogen emerge as game-changers for hard-to-abate sectors. Business models blending sustainability with ROI, like tim’s photo-based ESG measurement, will redefine events and supply chains.

How can UK start-ups stay competitive internationally in the climate-tech sector, and what unique advantages does the UK offer for the next wave of innovation?
UK climate-tech start-ups stay competitive internationally by choosing a growth path that fits their mission, not investor fashion. Some raise funding while others bootstrap, and both routes can work when impact is proven rather than marketed.

Start-ups that take funding benefit from the UK’s strong climate investment ecosystem and its ability to support early validation in real-world settings. Capital can speed up development and international expansion, but credibility only comes when that money is used to deliver outcomes that can be measured.

In a sector under scrutiny, trust is earned through evidence. Bootstrapped start-ups compete through focus and control. The UK makes this possible by giving founders access to early customers and a regulatory environment that rewards practical solutions. Growing through revenue keeps teams close to the problem they are solving and reduces the risk of greenwashing because success depends on real impact.

The UK’s advantage is its ability to support both approaches without pushing founders toward hype. Its ecosystem rewards companies that stay true to their mission and can demonstrate impact, whether they scale with investment or grow on their own terms.