Sky Zero Footprint Fund Returns Bigger and Bolder in 2025 to Supercharge Sustainability

Sky Media has announced the return of an expanded Sky Zero Footprint Fund for 2025. After taking a year off to refresh and refine the initiative, the fund is back with a new format and renewed commitment to drive meaningful change for a better planet through the power of advertising. Once again, Sky Media, the advertising arm of Sky, is offering £2 million in advertising support to amplify brands and organisations leading the way in sustainability. This marks a total of £8 million in media value that Sky has committed to the initiative since its launch in 2021.

Key 2025 Highlights:

£2 million in advertising support available to brands and organisations tackling sustainability challenges.

New three-category structure to broaden impact across startups, charities, and major brands.

Panel of expert judges from sustainability, advertising, and media to select the most impactful initiatives.

This year, the fund is evolving to have an even greater impact, with a new structure designed to attract a wider range of brands and initiatives. The 2025 Sky Zero Footprint Fund will now feature three distinct categories:

Disruptors - Celebrating and championing challenger brands scaling up with innovative ideas and products that have the potential to drive significant environmental change.

Catalysts - Supporting charities and not-for-profit organisations making a major difference but often facing challenges in demonstrating measurable impact or sales.

Champions - Engaging larger, established brands to reinvigorate their role in driving national conversations and large-scale sustainability efforts, helping to move environmental action up the agenda.

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media commented. By evolving the fund for 2025, we're aiming to put sustainability front-and-centre for a wider range of brands, empowering a diverse range of organisations -from groundbreaking startups to influential household names-to take bold steps towards a more sustainable future.

A panel of expert judges, including leaders from sustainability, advertising, and media, will oversee the selection process, ensuring that the most impactful initiatives receive support. Previous winners have demonstrated the power of the fund in driving real change. In 2023, Grub Club was awarded the Grand Prix prize for its innovative approach to sustainable pet food, made from insect protein.

Alessandro Di Trapani co-founder of Grub Club commented, Winning the Sky Zero Footprint Fund was a game-changer for Grub Club. The process was an incredible experience, from refining our brand message to filming our first-ever TV ad. The exposure has put Grub Club in front of millions of pet owners across the UK, driving awareness and credibility in a way that would have been impossible for an early-stage brand alone. More than just visibility, the Footprint Fund has been a key catalyst in unlocking national distribution, helping us secure major retail partnerships that will accelerate our mission to make pet food more sustainable.

Entry guidelines will be available from www.skymedia.co.uk/skyzerofootprintfund, and further details on the judging panel and selection criteria will be announced soon. Submissions will open in early March.

Confirmed Judges include:

Fiona Ball - Group Director, Bigger Picture and Sustainability, Sky

Stephen Woodford - Chief Executive of the Advertising Association

Michelle Carvill - Author Can Marketing Save the Planet'

David Garrido - Sky Sports News Presenter / Sky Zero Ambassador

Pippa Glucklich - CEO, Electric Glue

Dino Myers-Lamptey - Founder, The Barber Shop

Lindsey Clay - CEO, Thinkbox

Tim Pritchard - Head of Content and Responsible Media, MGOMD

Fund BreakdownWinners' funds:

Disruptors (9 businesses to live pitch with 3 x £200k prizes available) Celebrating and championing challenger brands scaling up with innovative ideas and products that have the potential to drive significant environmental change.

Catalysts (6 charities to live pitch with 2 x £200k prizes available) Supporting charities and not-for-profit organisations making a major difference but often facing challenges in demonstrating measurable impact or sales.

Champions (3 brands to live pitch with 1 x 500k prize) - Engaging larger, established brands to reinvigorate their role in driving national conversations and large-scale sustainability efforts, helping to move environmental action up the agenda.

Grand Prix (1 brand to win an additional £500k prize) prize winners are selected in June/July who then go away to make their ads. Grand Prix in October will see the most impactive ad awarded an additional £500k by the judges.

About Sky MediaSky Media is the advertising sales arm of Sky, helping businesses of all shapes and sizes to grow. Through world-class premium content & channels, combined with market-leading data-driven innovations like AdSmart, Sky Media gives brands access to audiences wherever they are, however they watch.

Reaching over 93% of the UK population, Sky Media represents over 130 channels including all of Sky's quality channels and sites including Sky Sports, Sky News, Sky Max, Sky Showcase, Sky Cinema, Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic, Sky Crime, Sky Comedy, Sky Witness, Sky Nature, Sky Documentaries and Sky HISTORY. Sky Media also sells on behalf of a range of renowned broadcasters including Paramount (Channel 5, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Toons, Nick Jr, Nick Jr Too), Warner Bros. Discovery (Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Cartoonito, Discovery, Quest, TNT Sports), Narrative Entertainment (GREAT!, POP, POP MAX), A+E Networks and AMC Networks.

As Europe's leading direct-to-consumer media and entertainment company and owned by Comcast NBCUniversal, Sky Media has a truly global footprint. So whether local, national or international, new to TV, a startup looking to scale quickly or an es

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