Dalraj Nijjar

Dalraj is Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Concrete4Change – a United Nations award-winning start-up on a mission to remove 2 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions in the concrete industry by 2040. Concrete4Change is developing a technology for the mineralisation of CO₂ into concrete, making concrete cheaper, stronger and greener; turning one of the world’s biggest emission problems into an emission solution.

To date with Concrete4Change, he has raised £4.5 million via venture capital and UK Government grant funding, and he is now building the team and capabilities to bring Concrete4Change’s technology to market.

Concrete4Change is backed by some of the largest cement and concrete manufacturers in the world, and the company is earmarked as one of the leaders in transitioning the industry towards a decarbonised future.

Before Concrete4Change, he was Growth Lead and founding member of the Warwick Manufacturing Group Accelerator at the University of Warwick, providing growth advisory support to start-ups and SMEs. During his time there, he assisted in the commercialisation of 20 organisations whose activities primarily focused on decarbonisation of foundational industries. Four reached the scale-up stage and Dalraj helped these companies raise £5 million in public and private funding.

Dalraj was recently recognised as a Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ for Europe in 2023, and winner of the prestigious UKRI Young Innovators Award from the UK Government in 2023.

Dalraj is passionate about using the power of innovation and entrepreneurship to spark positive change in the world.

We are pleased to award him in recognition of his extraordinary achievement leading a climate-tech company in his early career.