~ Global healthcare company offers support to new businesses tackling climate change as the company underlines the growing link between human health and the environment

~ Top finalists include Clearbot, a Hong Kong based autonomous boat start-up by two Indian-origin founders

NATIONAL, 28^th JUNE, 2023 (GPN): A raft of start-ups working at the interface between climate change and human health have received financial backing and commercial support from global healthcare business Bupa as the company focuses on the link between the environment and health.

Bupa is offering a mix of financial support, marketing expertise from its own people and further networking opportunities to 18 global start-ups which are pioneering products aimed at tackling climate change in innovative new ways.

The company’s eco-Disruptive programme will culminate in an inaugural event in London in July. Start-ups will have the opportunity to showcase their novel approaches to reducing emissions to potential investors and Bupa colleagues, as well as collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs.

The 18 finalists have been selected by Bupa employees across the world in a competition where they picked their preferred businesses from more than 1,000 hopefuls based on their positive impact to both healthcare and the environmental. Colleagues made their selection from innovative start-ups based in countries including the UK, Spain, Hong Kong and Australia.

Under the initiative, special squads of Bupa colleagues join forces with the start-ups to brainstorm development ideas and further opportunities. The 18 finalists additionally each receive £25,000 (or local currency equivalent) to develop a minimum viable product and the winner receives £200,000 (or local currency equivalent) to help develop their product further.

The shortlist of start-ups that have gone through the programme in 2022, some of whose products are already being trialled in Bupa hospitals and clinics throughout the world, include:

• SageTech Medical which has created a process to capture and recycle waste anaesthetic gases. These volatile gases are highly damaging to the environment and significantly contribute to the total carbon footprint of healthcare.
• Upcycled Medical which manufactures personal protective equipment such as medical scrubs, gowns and workwear from waste plastic collected from the sea and landfill.
• Cassava Bags which has created a 100% natural biodegradable alternative to plastic bags made from the roots of cassava that can dissolve in boiling water in minutes.

Iñaki Ereño, Bupa’s Group CEO, said: “As a provider of healthcare services to millions of people across the world, we recognise the link between the environment and human health. We know that we cannot solve these global challenges on our own, so we are joining forces with others to make a difference.”

Alongside Bupa’s ongoing drive to achieve its net zero target by 2040, he said the initiative showed that by working with disruptive and promising start-ups, corporates can accelerate the transition that we urgently need. The eco-Disruptive programme also provides an opportunity for Bupa colleagues to learn agile ways of working from start-ups, and engages all of Bupa’s workforce on delivering its sustainability agenda.

“At Bupa we are working together with these promising new businesses to help them realise their potential in reducing carbon emissions,” added Mr Ereño. “This goes beyond financial support and involves our own people joining forces with their development team in order to help co-create.”

About Bupa

Bupa’s purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world. We are an international healthcare company serving over 43 million customers worldwide. With no shareholders, we reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers. We directly employ around 82,000 people, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Türkiye, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Middle East and Ireland. We also have associate businesses in Saudi Arabia and India.

For more information, visit www.bupa.com.

Our sustainability strategy

As a healthcare company we have an important role in addressing climate change, and a responsibility to act now. In 2021, sustainability was included in our corporate strategy, and in 2022, we launched our sustainability strategy, outlining our ambition to help tackle this challenge, and ‘making a better world’ for colleagues, customers, communities and wider society.

Our strategy has a clear net zero goal by 2040 underpinned by 1.5 degree aligned Science Based Targets (SBT) validated by the SBT initiative (SBTi), and an interim scope 1&2 2025 target. To set credible and ambitious targets we joined the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign, aligning our plans to tackle emissions with the Paris Agreement.