Celebrating success: These are the winning start-ups at the Regional Finals
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 this competition!
“The competition was really high with excellent pitches and amazing Q&A. Everyone was really at the top of their game,” cheers Roxane Alizad from Bio-cm, the number one in Europe. “We’re quite surprised and honoured to win the Regional Final Europe.”
Daniel Michael Knight from Terraversa summed up the impact of this competition perfectly: “Being an entrepreneur is a real rollercoaster ride. Moments like this make you realise that what you’re doing is valuable and makes a difference. It regenerates my motivation to push forward and make an impact.”
The journey to the ClimateLaunchpad finals
“We actually signed up for ClimateLaunchpad spontaneously and were quite surprised by the excellent coaching we received on-site,” explains Katharina Porenta from Wattwise. “We’ve just started, and it really gave us a chance to sit down as a team and work on our vision, mission, and how we can get there. That was amazing.”
Also number 1 of the Africa & Asia Pacific Regional Final, Bùi Thị Hương Vân from Fuwa, found ClimateLaunchpad to be an valuable programme. “ClimateLaunchpad has been instrumental in our journey by providing invaluable insights into the climate impact of our operations. We really value all of the experience. We will use the lessons learned to grow in the future.”
Le Thi My Hanh, from AirX Carbon, echoes this sentiment: “We could really improve our marketing story on how big our impact is by joining this programme, and that makes it easier to find investors.”
Building the future: Start-ups reshaping construction
What stands out in the European Final is that two construction start-ups managed to reach the top 3: Bio-cm with their innovative insulation boards, and Terraversa with earth-based bricks. According to the jury, construction is an industry where they can have a massive impact.
“So, now it’s time to find partners in the construction industry who aren’t thinking like dinosaurs and want to move forward,” says Daniel. “It would be great if we could see more legislation and incentives in the construction industry as well,” adds Roxane from Bio-cm.
A worldwide focus
In the other final, the Africa & Asia Pacific Regional Final, start-ups are already flirting with the rest of the world. Fuwa is exploring partnerships in Korea and Canada, aiming to expand globally without losing sight of their environmental impact. AirX Carbon’s sustainable pallets are destined to be shipped worldwide, spreading their innovation across borders.
On the flip side, VerTechX is taking a more local approach. Their vertical strawberry farming technology is already proving successful in other parts of the world, but they are now focusing on how to maximise its benefits locally, while incorporating global learnings into their strategy.
Help needed: Learning the language of the financial minds
Daniel, an Aussie living in Spain, is working hard to master Spanish. But that’s entirely outside the scope of ClimateLaunchpad. Another language all start-ups need to learn is the language of investors.
The biggest challenge? Funding. It’s clear to the start-ups. They are eager to expand their skillset when it comes to securing financial support. “Getting into an investor’s mindset—how do you value a business, how do you talk shares, how do you present yourself to an investor?” asks Alma Akhavi from Bio-cm.
Big ambitions: start-ups dream of scaling up
Wattwise’s Katharina: “Our number one goal is to get as many customers on our platform as possible. Within a year, we want to be able to live off this idea.” Also AirX Carbon’s and Terraversa’s dream is to scale up very soon.
Fuwa is already doing that, but is unstoppable. They continue to expand their product range, adding new offerings to their assortment while steadily growing their presence around the world.
Supporting Climate Innovators: Help Them Grow
Well, we wish them all the best. We truly believe that these six start-ups will reach their full potential and make a tremendous impact on the climate.
Do you want to help them grow? Whether it’s through financial advice (or funding), guiding VerTechX in the Egyptian agriculture sector, or offering support in another way—your help can make a huge difference. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with them! Together, we can support their mission to create a more sustainable future.
Winners Regional Final Europa
Bio-cm repurposes agricultural waste into insulation boards for conventional building systems. Their mission is to add value to invaluable wasted resources through a fibre extraction process. This significantly cuts carbon emissions while also providing farmers with an extra source of income.
TERRAVERSA creates innovative earth-based solutions for sustainable and healthy construction. Terraversa not only benefits the environment but also helps combat Sick Building Syndrome, often caused by poor insulation and unsuitable building materials.
Wattwise offers innovative software solutions that enable people to share their solar-generated energy with local communities through cooperatives. This empowers households to make the most of local renewable energy, ensuring that no solar power goes to waste.
Winners Regional Final Africa & Asia Pacific
Fuwa Biotech harnesses pineapple peels to produce biological enzyme cleaning solutions. Their sensitive products are designed for homes, babies, cars, and pets, providing an eco-friendly cleaning alternative.
VerTechX utilises vertical farming techniques to produce ten times more strawberries while using just 10% of the normal water and chemicals. They also leverage collected data to advance scientific research, pushing the boundaries for a smarter, greener world.
AirX Carbon produces the NetZero Pallet, an ecological pallet made from recycled agricultural waste. Designed for a circular economy, it protect potentially millions of trees a year, promoting sustainability in logistics.
