Space Park Leicester welcomes third ESA UK start-up
Kita, the carbon insurer for the climate crisis, is helping accelerate the shift to net zero thanks to the support of the scientific community at Space Park Leicester.
Kita has become the latest company to sign up to the world’s largest space innovation network for technology start-ups. Kita’s focus is de-risking the growing carbon removal industry to enable faster scaling of solutions to fight climate change.
Incorporated in December 2021, Kita is the third organisation to join the European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Centre for the United Kingdom (ESA BIC UK) programme at Space Park Leicester.
As part of the programme the carbon removal specialist insurer will have access to desk space and expertise at the £100 million Midlands-based research hub.
Kita’s insurance protects buyers of forward-purchased carbon removal credits against under-delivery. This reduces the risk of missing net-zero targets, investment milestones, and project goals. Kita uses sophisticated remote monitoring technologies to enable this multi-year insurance product to be provided cost effectively, while at the same time providing an additional layer of transparency to their clients.
Dr Paul Young, Chief Technical Officer at Kita, said: “We are thrilled to join the ESA BIC programme at Space Park Leicester. It has opened the door to an incredible level of support from a renowned team of experts. By offering their support and allowing us to tap into their data and knowledge, they are helping develop innovative new insurance solutions to support carbon removal and tackle climate change.”
He added: “We are committed to bringing more insurance products to the market to help accelerate growth of the carbon removal solutions that the world so critically needs.”
Since 2010, more than 100 start-ups have joined the ESA BIC programme, which operates at four different locations across the UK.
By joining the programme, businesses are allowed to use space and satellite technologies to develop new innovative products and services.
The ESA BIC UK is managed and partly funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), in collaboration with ESA Space Solutions, the UK Space Agency and the University of Leicester.
It provides start-ups with a carefully designed two-year support package to help them through the development of their game changing products and services in an increasingly competitive and global marketplace.
William Wells, Director of ESA BIC UK at Leicester said: “We are proud to be supporting pioneering start-ups such as Kita through the ESA BIC programme.
“Space Park Leicester is proud to be recognised as a sustainable organisation, so it is an honour to be able to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change by helping Kita develop and grow.”
Space Park Leicester has been designed to support increased collaboration between University of Leicester researchers and educators and the private sector, creating high quality knowledge-based jobs, building the skills base through training, and contributing to economic growth and resilience of the economy. The project is led by the University of Leicester in partnership with Leicester City Council and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP).