Source: Barclays Bank
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales made a trip to Barclays’ Eagle Lab in Notting Hill London, with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), to meet entrepreneurs making waves in technology and sustainability (pictures attached).
The Prince of Wales has been an environmental leader for over 40 years and is Patron of CISL, which works with business, government and finance leaders to deliver change towards sustainability. CISL’s Banking Environment Initiative brings together some of the world's largest banks to lead the banking industry in collectively directing capital towards environmentally and socially sustainable economic development. Today in Notting Hill, His Royal Highness was able to meet entrepreneurs behind rapidly growing businesses, aiming to solve fundamental global issues through financial and green technology.
The companies were in Barclays Eagle Lab- an incubator space for entrepreneurs in the bank’s former cheque processing centre. They included; Budi Pay - who created a payment app for rural towns in India to access their money easily, Desolenator - a social enterprise behind solar powered water purification technology, and Everledger- a company that created a digital ledger to track and protect diamonds and other valuable items. Also in attendance were Halotrade - a company combining blockchain technology, mobile apps and supplier financing to drive sustainable and transparent global supply chains, Squirrel - a financial wellbeing platform helping people regain control of their finances and Yagro - a platform to help farmers achieve financial sustainability.
In addition to meeting businesses, His Royal Highness was shown laser cutting and 3D printing - technologies helping businesses to rapidly prototype their ideas and reduce transport emissions and material consumption. The visit prompted a pledge from Barclays - offering guaranteed desk space in its Eagle Labs across the country - for companies working on green and sustainable initiatives specifically.
The visit was followed by a CEO dinner that Barclays helped to convene, together with other global banks of the Banking Environment Initiative (BEI), to discuss collaboration that would more powerfully harness technology-driven innovations in finance to help solve societal challenges.