Sage, a developer of accounting and human resources software for small businesses, partnered with investment organization Village Capital to distribute $190,000 in grant funding. The capital went to 12 startups participating in the second 25-company core cohort of the Sage Impact Entrepreneurship program.
The enterprise software provider announced the financial allocations during a four-day summit held in Atlanta and London. The program targets early-stage companies utilizing technology to address environmental management and resource consumption challenges.
Program administrators utilized a peer evaluation model to determine the primary grant recipients. Participating founders assessed other companies in the cohort based on product value propositions and market scaling potential. This process resulted in $50,000 grants for two organizations.
CIRT, a software platform developer based in Athens that tracks materials to prevent landfill waste, secured the top United States allocation. Recovolt, a Newcastle startup building upstream infrastructure to neutralize electric vehicle batteries, obtained the top European grant.
The peer review process identified two secondary funding targets that each received $25,000. WattAir, an Atlanta climate technology developer extracting clean water from low-grade heat and air, and METzero, a wastewater technology firm retrofitting treatment sites to reduce energy consumption, secured these allocations. Summit attendees selected four additional startups to receive $10,000 grants through an audience voting mechanism.
These recipients included Rhino, an artificial intelligence insurance brokerage modeling climate risk data, and GreenFlip, a London firm utilizing artificial intelligence for residential energy financial modeling. Ecoswap, a digital gift card operator, and Tato Labs, a developer of potato-based biomaterials, completed the funding group.
The broader initiative operates under the philanthropic division Sage Foundation to provide technical mentorship and strategic guidance to founders. The accelerator currently supports 111 startups globally while operating toward a target of 165 funded entities.
“When we first launched the Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program, we wanted to show that Sage was serious about supporting businesses working at the intersection of sustainability and social impact. Cohort 1 showed us exactly what that could look like in practice, with six businesses receiving grants, all of them continuing to grow with our support. With Cohort 2, we've gone further, backing 57 businesses tackling social, environmental and economic challenges around the world. What excites me most isn't the number of businesses we've supported; it's the depth of what they're building, and the communities they're already changing,” said Helen Devanny, Vice President of Sage Foundation.
“Entrepreneurs understand firsthand what it takes to build and grow a company. They recognize the resilience, execution, and potential behind a business in ways that aren’t always visible on paper. The founders selected by their peers have already demonstrated strong momentum, and at this stage, grant funding can help them strengthen their foundations, deepen customer adoption, and prepare for their next phase of growth,” said Kelly Bryan, Regional Director of the Americas and Europe at Village Capital.
"The Village Capital – Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program was exactly what I needed as a founder. It brought together a deeply supportive cohort, world-class industrial experts, investors, founders, and a team that pushed us to be ready for our next major milestone. More than anything, being surrounded by such an inspiring group of founders made the highs more meaningful and the lows much easier to navigate," said Joseph Mooney, co-founder at WattAir.
“Like many technical founders, I naturally focus on the technology. One of the biggest shifts for me has been spending more time thinking about the business itself, the business model, growth strategy, investment readiness and how to communicate the opportunity more clearly. The Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program has allowed me to learn from an incredible cohort of founders who are facing many of the same challenges. I encourage any founder who is serious about growing their business to apply to this program,” said Pavlina Theodosiou, CEO at METzero.
