A year after participating in ClimateLaunchpad, alumni from the 2023 cohort report that the programme brought about some of the biggest mind shifts they’d ever experienced. Here’s a look at how ClimateLaunchpad’s unique approach has reshaped these startups. Get the right product For many, the ClimateLaunchpad journey began with ambitious, but loosely defined, ideas. As… Read more »

Among all the teams that managed to secure a top 3 spot in their Regional Final, there was one expression shared by everyone: pure joy! Ok, and a bit of pride too, but happiness clearly took centre stage in the first few minutes after the jury’s announcement. And no wonder—they outperformed over 1,100 start-ups in… Read more »

Bio-CM is our winner of the Regional Final Europe! They wowed the jury with their innovative solution to repurpose agricultural waste into insulation boards for conventional building systems. Their mission? To add value to invaluable waste through their unique fibre extraction process, significantly cutting carbon emissions while providing extra income for farmers. The jury was… Read more »

Behind the scenes of the ClimateLaunchpad programme* We often say it: ClimateLaunchpad is so much more than just a competition. It’s a journey, one that teaches start-ups how to build and sustain a successful business. It’s almost like the Olympics – participation is often more valuable than winning. While it’s great to have innovative ideas… Read more »

Green Entrepreneur Trend #2 2024 Not every green start-up has a technical fix for climate change. While many focus on transforming industries like fashion, this year we’ve seen an inspiring influx of applications centred around raising awareness, education, and empowering individuals to take action themselves. The thing is, how can people adopt sustainable habits if… Read more »

Five essential lessons from former participants: ClimateLaunchpad is a competition, of course. But it’s so much more than that. We offer start-ups and entrepreneurs a unique opportunity not just to compete for the top prize, but to learn how to turn their sustainable ideas into successful businesses. Even if you don’t win, you’ll gain invaluable… Read more »

Green Entrepreneur Trend #1 2024 Each year, we are amazed by the innovative ideas submitted by sustainable entrepreneurs. This year, we’ve seen a remarkable surge in proposals aimed at revolutionising our relationship with clothing. And it’s no wonder—the fashion industry is a major polluter, and our throwaway culture means we’re discarding our garments faster than… Read more »

Hey all,  We are delighted to invite you to the five upcoming ClimateBasics Learning Sessions.   Join EIT Climate-KIC subject experts as they take you through these important issues around climate change in an interactive and accessible way. Buckle up and learn about the challenges and the opportunities, and what it means for you, your business,… Read more »

Every winner of this green competition entered the contest with just one great cleantech idea and lots (lots!) of drive. The trick is to transform these ingredients into a thriving start-up. To help you do the same, the winners of the Regional Finals 2023 share with you their biggest learnings. Charish your passion “Having passion… Read more »

A proud and very happy start-up Yuon Control heard its green business idea declared the winner of the European Final. Entrepreneurs from Yuon Control took on the big challenge to optimize district heating networks that warm family homes and reduce energy consumption. Not an easy task, considering that, in their homeland Switzerland, the heating of… Read more »

After an exciting Asian Pacific Final, She-Guard from Pakistan earned first place with their green business idea to turn agro-waste into biodegradable and plastic-free sanitary napkins. This start-up has a potential massive impact on climate sustainability and provides women with an essential sanitary product. “I am so grateful!” Radiating an overwhelming mix of surprise and… Read more »

Surely it is no easy challenge to take on: resolve the inefficient trucking, millions of empty miles, wasted space, and excessive CO2 emissions that plague the shipping industry. But start-up Merge from Egypt nailed it. And earned first place in the African Regional Final of ClimateLaunchpad 2023. “We are ready to make an enormous difference… Read more »

Preventing good stuff from being wasted, contributes to sustainability in so many ways. Perhaps this is why waste prevention inspired many competitors of the 2023 edition of ClimateLaunchpad. The inventive minds of ClimateLaunchpad competitors produce a myriad of solutions to contribute to global green business. They augment food systems, enhance green mobility, clear paths towards… Read more »

Of course also a shiny spotlight for 2D Membranes from Switzerland. With their idea they can make a huge impact on the reduction of carbon dioxide, the key challenge of climate impact. No surprise that they won the third prize during the Global Grand Final! Reducing CO2 in the air is the main challenge to… Read more »

As a child Gibson Kawago had to travel 32 miles to get to a chargingstation. And that is not exceptional for 40 million Tanzanians who live in remote areas. How fantastic is his idea to transform waste laptop batteries into affordable and and environmentally friendly battery packs. The lithium-ion battery packs provide a household with… Read more »

About our winner: 80 percent of the Ecological Footprint in the fashion industry comes from the materials that are used. There is a high demand for more sustainable products, but developing them is not that easy.  A challenge that start-up Mabe Estudio accepted. They developed a plant-based leather that is indistinguishable from the real thing. No… Read more »

Last Thursday, our 2022 finalists competed for the global win during our hybrid Global Grand Final, hosted from The Green Village field lab at TU Delft in The Netherlands. The event showcased this year’s best pitches by the top-16 teams from across the globe, mixed with powerful panel discussions. We have our winners! As every… Read more »

What you toss in the trash can without a second thought could be worth so much more. Just take a look at the finalists in ClimateLaunchpad, the global green business competition. Within the competition, all kinds of ideas come forward, such as extracting energy from the sea, using deep tech to monitor agricultural factors, or… Read more »

Yay, our Regional Finals are about to kick off . Can you predict this year’s winners? Join the event in your region (or in all regions for that matter) and find out. Lots of you have already RSVP’d, but FREE tickets are still available. Allow yourself a breath of fresh, green air and secure your spot while… Read more »

2022 marks ClimateLaunchpad’s 9th year of tackling climate change and we can’t wait to get started again #9yearsstrong Applications open March 1st Mark your calendars – at 12PM CET on March 1st, we are open for applications. This year’s programme runs from March to November. The world needs climate-smart entrepreneurs – is that you, or… Read more »

A profile story about the ClimateLaunchpad 2021 global third place winner Qaptis “During the competition we learned how to structure our idea and turn it into a potential business and how to communicate it to others. We learned how to master building a good pitch deck. It was a safe environment to learn from our… Read more »

A profile story about the ClimateLaunchpad 2021 global runner-up Entomo Farm “Before I applied, I knew my business could make a difference in terms of climate change, but I didn’t know to what extent. ClimateLaunchpad was eye-opening and enlightened me to the greater impact I could make in the reduction of CO2 emissions and water… Read more »

A profile story about the ClimateLaunchpad 2021 global winner SMDPower Solutions “I never expected to win the Global Grand Final, the other 15 finalists were much further with their product and market activities. I will never forget being selected out of all of the teams from India, and then a few days later to be… Read more »

Meet the climate entrepreneurs and their start-ups that are set to tackle climate change. AI driven IoT designed for  existing airconditioners to cool a room sensibly. Turning organic household waste into livestock feed. Transforming conventional trucks into low-emission vehicles with a plug-in carbon capture kit. Those ideas won our 2021 competition. Out of the incredible… Read more »

The Netherlands, 29 October 2021 – Over 2,136 climate tech start-ups from 55 countries applied for the 2021 edition of ClimateLaunchpad, the global green business ideas competition. After months of intense Boot Camps, training and coaching, 70 finalists made it to the Global Grand Final that took place online from 27 to 29 October. Today the competition announces its… Read more »

Connect with the world’s most promising cleantech start-ups Our 2021 Global Final will see 70 finalists from 55 countries compete. They will pitch their socks off in one of the 7 green business themes. Expert juries select the Top-16 teams to battle it out for the global win during the Grand Final on the last… Read more »

Wanted: Green business ideas to fix climate change Delft, The Netherlands, 1 March 2021 – Starting today, the seventh edition of global green business ideas competition ClimateLaunchpad opens for applications. The programme, supported by EIT Climate-KIC and TU Delft, helps aspiring entrepreneurs grow their cleantech ideas into global businesses. Think of innovations in adaptation, renewable… Read more »

We are extremely proud of the way we’ve been able to keep our ClimateLaunchpad show on the (digital) road this year. We never expected to grow our impact in 2020. But somehow we did: over 3,000 ideas were entered in 56 countries. Due to some regional reshuffling and the Zoom format the amount of Boot… Read more »

All change starts small. That is why we believe in fixing climate change, one start-up at a time. It is also why we are constantly looking to add more regions and countries to our global community of green entrepreneurs. Local and regional changes can shape the globe. The world is an ecosystem in which we… Read more »