Banco Santander is rewarding these six companies that want to change F1

Vibrant and bright, few teams are as closely associated with a color as Ferrari is with red. Throughout its history there has been no attempt to reduce its popularity until ‘today’, thanks to the Santander X Global Challenge | Countdown to Zero. It is a global entrepreneurship challenge promoted by Banco Santander and FOM, owner of F1, which aims to recognize and support startups Y scaleups with the ambition to accelerate the decarbonization of the competition and, by extension, of the automotive sector.

It is a transition to a “green” color, clearly symbolic, but in practice it is decisive for the future of the automotive industry to be compatible with the future of the planet. This is the starting point of the collaboration between the financial institution and F1, after it returned to competition as a sponsor of Ferrari. The union between both brands, and therefore this challenge, is dedicated to the search for innovative and sustainable solutions for the automotive world in different areas such as mobility, logistics, transport and alternatives to offset carbon emissions.

With this clear objective, Banco Santander launched the Santander X Global Challenge | Countdown to Zero with startups and scaleups from 11 countries (Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, USA, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, United Kingdom and Uruguay) where more than 600 entrepreneurial projects are registered. Of all the participants, six have been startups and scaleups with different strategies, tools and developments, chosen to advance the race to achieve zero emissions. The Mexican F1 Grand Prix was the chosen setting to introduce them.

Concrete4Change (UK)

Concrete is the most consumed material on the planet (surpassed only by water) and represents 8% of global CO2 emissions, so if the green revolution had to start somewhere, it might be there. This is the idea of ​​Concrete4Change, whose goal is to decarbonize its construction through a technology capable of capturing a large amount of CO2 in concrete (up to 30%), which also results in improving its resistance.
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Staxy (UK)

The carbon footprint that comes from every road trip is the enemy to beat at Staxy, which has developed a low-cost car-sharing app that allows users to reduce their carbon footprint by connecting with people who do things with them. similar trip. A simple but effective idea that made it the fastest growing shared ride platform in Europe.
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Ucaneo (Germany)

The role of synthetic biology in climate change is what they set out to explore at Ucaneo and they now have an answer: the world’s first cell-free Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that uses a bio-catalytic membrane to capture CO2 from in the air Nature and engineering go hand in hand in this young German company that will help accelerate the creation of two markets: carbon credits (CO2 storage) and carbon-neutral products, such as synthetic fuels.
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Cedion (Spain)

The Spanish company Cedrion knows that the future of the automotive industry is electric, focusing on cooling for the on-board electronics of electric cars. In particular, by creating silent cooling devices based on the corona discharge effect. The result that caused them to be recognized by the Santander X Global Challenge | Countdown to Zero devices are smaller and lighter than existing technologies, with lower consumption, fully adaptable and without moving parts.
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H2SITE (Spain)

Hydrogen is a key element in the decarbonization of mobility and one of the master keys that opens the door to an energy transition within the reach of everyone, including small and medium-sized companies. In fact, the production of renewable hydrogen in situ for SMEs is the challenge of H2SITE, a Spanish company that has developed technology for the distributed generation of hydrogen on a small and medium scale, with high purity and low cost, using catalytic membrane reactors.
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Zeleros (Spain)

If mobility has limitations, Zeleros is thinking to overcome them. This Spanish company designs, manufactures and supplies hyperloop vehicles, the fastest land transport system for passengers and goods in the world. Fully electric and automated inter-city journeys, with ground-level and high-speed journeys with no direct emissions. Your contribution: work to make this model scalable and a reality in the next decade.

Concrete4Change (United Kingdom), Staxy (United Kingdom) and Ucaneo (Germany) were the winners in the Startup category, with prizes of 30,000 euros, and the Spanish Cedrion, H2SITE and Zeleros took the prizes in the Scaleup category, with a prize of 90,000 euros to continue developing their ideas. They will all have the opportunity to present their solutions to Formula 1 executives and collaborate with the EIT InnoEnergy Innovation Engine in designing their growth plan.

The same honorable mentions were awarded to Basquevolt (Spain), which develops solid-state lithium batteries; DeepDrive (Germany), which develops innovative efficient propulsion technology for electric vehicles; and for Nüwiel (Germany), manufacturer of electric trailers with zero force sensor technology that enables electric acceleration and braking.

“It is a source of pride if some of these ideas end up being implemented in the automotive industry to make it more sustainable,” said Juan Manuel Cendoya, Director of Communications, Corporate Marketing and Studies at Banco Santander. Today, thanks to the team made up of Santander, Ferrari, FOM, they are on the starting grid of a race towards sustainability where, thanks to them, the goal of zero emissions is a little closer.