in the cleantech sector, which encompasses technology, telecommunications, renewable energy and other sustainable industries. First, not all areas of the United States are well-suited to growing startups due to the fact that they lack the support infrastructure and customer concentration that young businesses need to grow and prosper. Second, many areas of the United States are just not culturally ready to support a growing startup.
For these and other reasons, an increasing number of startups in the cleantech sector are looking internationally to grow their startups. Some forward-thinking countries are actually encouraging U.S.-based startups in certain sectors to relocate internationally—and they are even offering financial incentives for growing firms to do so. Scotland and Singapore are two such international locations that are fishing for U.S.-based startup firms—primarily in the cleantech sector.
Scotland is particularly interested in firms in sectors such as Financial Technologies, Aerospace, Chemical Sciences, Renewable Energy and others. To entice growing startups to relocate or base operations in Scotland, the country is offering varying degrees of financial incentives.
For instance, the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) offers funding support aimed at the delivery of large scale transformational low carbon infrastructure projects based in Scotland. The funding will provide financial support of up to £20 million per project where this represents no more than 50% of the total capital value of the project. Programs of smaller scale aggregated projects that can demonstrate a transformational impact on the way that Scotland generates and uses energy are also welcome to apply.
Singapore is also interested in the cleantech sector and is offering U.S.-based firms access to a wide variety of resources if they are willing to set up operations in this small Asian city-state. Toward that end, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore, a government organization focused on growing the country’s tech industry, opened a new office in San Francisco. Infocomm Investments’ new office will help U.S. startups that want to expand into Asia. Resources founders can tap into include Singapore-based accelerator programs and potential funding from Infocomm.
These are just two examples of countries that are offering U.S.-based startups in the cleantech sector a wealth of incentives to relocate or base operations outside of the United States. Countries that are offering these types of programs are doing so because they are seeking to foster economic growth and job creation. In addition to funding and access to other resources (e.g., technical assistance, accelerators, mentoring programs, etc.) they can also offer an eager customer base and many other resources.
As you look at strategies to grow your cleantech startup, you ought to consider taking a look at some of these international incentive programs and see if they are right for you.