Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), together with its partner Village Capital, has announced the newest cohort of startups joining the Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Programme.Â
Powered by Sage Foundation, the company’s social impact arm, the programme includes the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the US, supporting under-represented businesses addressing pressing challenges worldwide.
The cohort covers a range of businesses interested in building solutions to urgent social, environmental and economic challenges. Over the next three years, the 57 start-ups in cohort two will receive mentorship, training, equity-free grants and Sage product support to help strengthen their businesses and scale their impact.
This builds on a strong first year – with the programme now supporting 111 ventures, and continues to advance towards its initial goal of backing 165 high-impact startups.
The selected companies have been divided into a Core Cohort, which will receive tailored mentorship, funding and product access; and a Community Cohort, which will receive access to Village Capital’s learning solutions and investment-readiness tools.
Members of the Core Cohort include:
DeepRoots (London) – An AI-based platform that aligns farmer priorities, supply-chain needs and environmental data in one place to aid in regenerative land management.
Ecoswap (London) – Shifts everyday consumption towards brands that do right by people and planet, using a simple digital gift card that lets businesses and individuals reward, incentivise, and spend more consciously.
Ganddee (London) – Ganddee is the AI-powered marketplace that connects shoppers to local second-hand shops.
GreenFlip (London) – Makes decarbonising investable by providing instant retrofit ROI assessments with accurate AI-powered heat loss, energy consumption, solar generation, and financial performance modelling.
Kona Clean Teknologies (Durham) – Develops sustainable coatings for the wind energy sector that reduce solvent emissions, increase the use of bio-based raw materials, and remove isocyanates.
METzero Technologies (Newcastle) – Retrofits treatment sites with a novel solution that cuts pollution and energy use while recovering ammonia for low-carbon fertiliser and hydrogen for clean fuel. It is rethinking wastewater treatment to help industries achieve net-zero goals.
Potenix (London) – Creates the world’s first precision anaerobic digester, using AI-driven engineering to convert food waste into clean energy.
RecoVolt (Newcastle) – Develops upstream infrastructure to safely neutralise end-of-life EV batteries at intake, enabling scalable reuse and recycling.
Start-ups were assessed on the strength of their mission, business model, and ability to deliver impact in their communities. Across the programme, founders are tackling challenges at the intersection of sustainability and social impact.
The chosen companies were selected by the programme’s advisory board, which includes members of Sage’s leadership team. External members included senior executives from climate-focused venture capital firms and companies, and senior leaders of companies from the previous cohort.
Speaking on their selection into the programme, Pavlina Theodosiou, CEO and Co-Founder at UK-based METzero, said: “Being accepted felt like a real validation of the work we’re doing at METzero, and it gives me confidence that we’ll have the right mentoring and support as we prepare for our upcoming fundraising round.”
Helen Devanny, Vice President of Sage Foundation, said: “The growth in applications is a signal of the rising ambition of impact-driven founders and the urgency of the challenges they’re working to solve. We continue to be inspired by the quality of those applying and the ambition behind the solutions they’re building.
“Through our partnership with Village Capital, we’re proud to help these entrepreneurs scale solutions that drive meaningful change, multiplying Sage’s impact far beyond our own business.”
Kelly Bryan, Regional Director at Village Capital, said: “At Village Capital, we believe the future of impact lies in founders who are building practical, scalable solutions rooted in the realities their communities face every day. The 2026 Sage Impact Entrepreneurship cohorts reflect that belief – entrepreneurs who are not only addressing critical challenges for people and the planet, but doing so with models designed for long-term resilience and growth.”
Through this partnership, we’re strengthening the ecosystems around these founders by equipping them with the right networks, capital, and strategic support they need to transform their innovations and create measurable environmental impact.”
To see the full list of startups that are part of the UK Core & Community cohorts, please visit  https://vilcap.com/programs/sage-impact-entrepreneurship-europe-2026
Applications for future cohorts will open later this year as Sage and Village Capital continue expanding support for mission-driven entrepreneurs globally.
About Sage Foundation
Sage Foundation has been knocking down barriers in our communities since 2015. By mobilising our colleagues, partners, and customers through impactful programmes, Sage Foundation is helping underrepresented entrepreneurs to grow their businesses while equipping the entrepreneurs of tomorrow with the skills they need to succeed.
About Sage:
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow.  By digitalising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our AI-powered platform connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.
About Village Capital
Village Capital is reinventing the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Known for its groundbreaking approaches to supporting founders who are building solutions to emergent social, economic, and environmental challenges, VilCap unlocks critical social and financial capital for early-stage startups to maximize business and impact growth.
Since 2009, Village Capital has supported close to 1,800 startups that have raised USD 7.5 billion in investment capital. It has made more than 150 investments through its various affiliated funds, including Vilcap Investments, which has invested in 110 peer-selected companies. Additionally, more than 25,500 users actively engage on Abaca, their web app that equips entrepreneurs, ESOs, and capital providers with tools for learning about, assessing suitability and expanding access to financial capital. Its latest feature, Capital Explorer, helps founders identify the most appropriate funding options for their businesses. Learn more at https://www.vilcap.com/ and follow @villagecapital.
Media Contact:Â sage@axicom.com
