Co-workspace accelerator, Huckletree, announces ‘Urban Futures’ as the theme for two of its cornerstone annual events – Alpha Accelerator and Earthrise sustainability summit. The theme centres around the future of urban living – including smart cities, the built environment, mobility and transport, energy and emissions, and more.

The current urban population around the world is 55%, with research by the UN showing this figure could rise by as much as 68% by 2050. These alarming data figures showcase the urgent need for urban innovation and re-thinking human existence in these areas, and Huckletree is focusing both their programming and events firmly towards addressing the challenge.

Alpha Accelerator
Huckletree’s Alpha Accelerator programme is a 12-week pre-seed programme that is exclusive to teams with at least one founding member from an underrepresented group. The intensive programme assembles industry-leading mentors and serial entrepreneurs to lead the cohort through rigorous preparation for series A funding, including weekly workshops, 1 to 1 sessions with investors, and group mentoring. Then, at the close of the 12-week programme, the cohort will pitch to 100+ investors at an investor expo.

The Urban Futures theme in 2022 will be Alpha’s ninth year running, this time focusing on building more sustainable cities. To date, the pro-bono programme has seen eight cohorts raise a combined £15m+ in funding, create 250+ jobs, and go through 2 acquisitions. Crunchbase recently named the programme as one of the top 100 accelerators in the world.

Gabriela Hersham, CEO and Co-Founder, Huckletree, commented:

“At Huckletree, we’re committed to breaking down the barriers that underrepresented groups face when entering the entrepreneurial ecosystem. From gender and race to sexuality, education, and neurodivergence, Alpha supports a diverse cohort of entrepreneurs to access everything they need to supercharge their business. From FoodTech pioneers to FinTech challengers, since 2014, we have housed and supported over 5,000 innovative companies and forward-thinking entrepreneurs looking to change our world for the better.”

Applications for this year’s cohort will open on January 3rd, and prospective applicants can register interest here.

Earthrise Summit 2022
After a successful inaugural event in 2021 featuring the likes of model and activist Lily Cole and Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin, Huckletree will return its Earthrise Summit event – bringing together key speakers and experts for a series of panel discussions and keynote speeches. Similar to Alpha, this year’s focus will be firmly on Urban Futures, with thousands expected to gather to tackle the future of the space.

Patrick Keogh, Programmes Director, Huckletree, commented:
“Urbanisation is happening, and it’s happening fast. We’re choosing to focus Earthrise on Urban Futures in 2022, as a key place for unlocking a more sustainable future. As the population rises in our cities, we must address how we plan for the future to cope before it’s too late as what happens in the city doesn’t stay in the city. We have to address that.”