“Engineers have an optimism bias,” dr. Gerdien de Vries said in her keynote : It’s hard to be green. Reality check. Of course we – climate innovators – are thrilled about our green innovations and ideas. But how do we convince people to buy or use our inventions? Even if we know our customers want… Read more »
The ClimateLaunchpad Quarterly is a periodic global update on all things climate & cleantech. Sharpen your mind and get yourself up to speed with just one read. World leaders are setting the course During the largest virtual gathering of world leaders to date, the US-hosted climate summit last April saw 40 countries discuss their objectives… Read more »
Bridging the gap from ideation to enterprise A green and clean future demands thousands of innovations challenging old business models. That is why it is our mission to unlock the world’s cleantech ideas. We support the teams behind those ideas. With our local partners around the globe we offer training, coaching, skills and networking opportunities. Creating impact… Read more »
Nima Tisdall and Christine Hebert want to change the way fish is bought and sold. With their app Blue Lobster, the co-founders and Climate Launchpad 2019 alumni enable fishermen to cut out middlemen and sell directly to restaurants and consumers. Their digital marketplace is catching on. “On average”, says Nima, “there are six handling stages between… Read more »
How to succeed as a start-up in these digital times The pandemic has presented the global business landscape with enormous challenges. Even though of course we all crave the ‘old normal’, there is also a lot of energy and creativity in the ways we see start-ups adapt to the ‘new normal’. The pandemic is used… Read more »
How local solutions fix climate change Climate change is caused locally and cumulates into a global problem. For a large part the answers can be found locally and cumulate into global impact. That is why we support early-stage entrepreneurs across the globe and why we partner up with local initiatives to run our competition. Global… Read more »
By Catherine Early. (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #4. Michael Liebreich was one of the speakers at ClimateLaunchpad Global Grand Final, 2 October 2020) Clean energy tech guru Michael Liebreich tells ClimateLaunchpad Daily about the early years of setting up his business, and what being an entrepreneur has in… Read more »
The tailored roadmap to regenerative farming During our 2020 Global Grand Final they pitched themselves to win 2nd place. An amazing accomplishment considering the fact that the project was only born last June. We are of course talking about SOSEI from Uruguay. What they do? SOSEI provides tailored solutions to help farmers ease into regenerative… 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 »
By Lucy Woods. (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #3. Michelle Winthrop was on the jury for ClimateLaunchpad Global Grand Final, 2 October 2020) ClimateLaunchpad Daily talks with Michelle Winthrop, Director of Policy at Irish Aid – a part of Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs. “If you are serious about… Read more »
‘Made with carbon emissions’ Carbon Craft Design creates tiles by upcycling carbon emissions They won third place during our 2020 Global Grand Final. Mumbai based start-up Carbon Craft Design works on upcycling solutions for architects, businesses and consumers. They launched the Carbon Tile this year, as their first product where design meets sustainability. With every… Read more »
By Catherine Early. (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #3) Start-ups should measure the impact of a product in the early stages to test assumptions and evolve their thinking. Product design, marketing, business plans, investment potential…there are many things occupying an entrepreneurs’ thoughts in the early days. Measuring their start-up’s… Read more »
It takes 816 fish to put one salmon on your plate Synthesea is putting a stop to that with their sustainable alternative to fish oil Fish need omega-3 to grow rapidly and be nutritious. For farmed fish the source of omega-3 comes from wild-caught fish oil, which is made by squeezing fish caught from the… Read more »
‘It is like a time machine. The competition helped us travel to our future.‘ A profile story on the ClimateLaunchpad 2020 global winner Cassetex “Representing Bangladesh for the first time in this competition, and competing with more than 50 countries. We are humbled and mind blown to achieve this recognition. Not only have we won… 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 »
The EU’s flagship environmental policy combined with its COVID-19 green stimulus could be a boon for start-ups who are quick off the mark. By Catherine Early (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #4.) The European Commission needs entrepreneurs – their ideas and their inspiration. One of the commission’s most senior… Read more »
By Catherine Early. (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #1. Sid Vollebregt was one of the speakers during our Global Grand Final 2020) Sid Vollebregt, Managing Director of Elemental Watermakers, describes how a surf trip inspired him to create technology that makes seawater safe to drink using renewable energy. “A… Read more »
By Catherine Early. (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #2. Diederik Samsom was one of the speakers during our Global Grand Final 2020) Start-ups provide an important source of inspiration to politicians looking for new policy ideas, says Diederik Samsom. With a senior role in the European Commission as head of… Read more »
(Image via Openclipart) BY LUCY WOODS (This article originally featured in our event magazine the CLP Daily #4) One inescapable difference between ClimateLaunchpad 2020 and previous years has been the monumental challenge of hosting an international event almost entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic is scary, confusing, and fraught with anxieties… Read more »
By Stella Damstra (This article was also published on CleanTechnica) The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives all targeted at transforming the 27-country bloc to a climate neutral economy by 2050. At the same time, wellbeing and prosperity need to be guaranteed through cleaner air and water, improved health, and a boost… Read more »
Celebrating 5 years of ClimateLaunchpad in Ukraine — the challenges, the achievements and the start-ups ClimateLaunchpad has been fueling the growth of Ukrainian green startups since 2016. As the national lead in Ukraine, Greencubator has organised five national selection cycles and boot camps, and held four National Finals in most creative settings – from one… Read more »
Positive leadership paying off for Nigerian ClimateLaunchpad team This is Tosin Ajide’s second year running ClimateLaunchpad in Nigeria, and, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition is still growing stronger. “It keeps getting better every year. This year we had over 300 applications!” says Ajide. Just like the rest of the world, climate change has had… Read more »
Bridging the gap between corporate need and locally sourced potential If there is one woman in Pakistan working relentlessly to encourage Pakistani public and private spaces to take a more integrated sustainability approach, it is Hira Wajahat. Hira is National Lead for ClimateLaunchpad and Programme Manager at consulting firm Stimulus. Her aim is to bring… Read more »
This week, six years ago, ClimateLaunchpad saw its first light of day in this world. We have been growing ever since. Time to take a closer look at regional differences. What does it take to create impact with a cleantech start-up on one continent or the other? What stories can be shared from across the… Read more »
Our competition has been running on a global scale for several years in a row now. Being the curious lot we are, we figured it is time to take a closer look at regional differences. What does it take to create impact with a cleantech start-up on one continent or the other? What success stories… Read more »
We all feel the impact of the current situation. Regional differences aside we are all affected, all of our lives are affected and all economies are affected. We got in touch with two of our alumni to find out how they and their start-ups are dealing with COVID-19. Pedro Silva Humbert from ECO2Blocks (2018 global… Read more »
Pakistan joined ClimateLaunchpad in 2019 and created a huge success with over a 100 applications by green start-ups from across all regions. Our National Partner Stimulus created quite a buzz around their National Finals and attracted a lot of corporate leaders and sustainability experts. Hira Wajahat, Project Lead Stimulus: “What we created here was an… Read more »
We just wrapped up yet another mind blowing Global Grand Final which was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on November 14 and 15. 2019 showed a record number of 2,601 cleantech entrepreneurs applying for National Competitions in 53 countries and 70 Boot Camps across the globe. And now we have our winners… Leafy Ke from Kenya… Read more »
Guest blog written by Cassie Pierce A growing concern for sustainability has transformed how companies are designing their products and marketing them to an increasingly green public. But these initiatives are just the start, as many have also begun making adjustments behind the scenes with regards to their supply chain — and rightly so, given… Read more »
The EIT Climate-KIC entrepreneurship offerings: innovation for global climate action Stimulating the energy and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs to lead the charge with new climate-positive business models is a powerful way to address climate change across sectors and systems. That is why EIT Climate-KIC identifies, supports and invests in (aspiring) entrepreneurs in every stage of innovation:… Read more »
