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 winners.
Overall winner, SMDPower Solutions from India is about AI driven IoT designed for existing air conditioners to cool a room sensibly. The team aims to reduce wastage of electricity.
Zambia based Entomo Farm came in second during the nerve wrecking Global Grand Final. Their idea is all about turning organic household waste into livestock feed.
Winner of third place is Qaptis from Switzerland with their innovation that transforms conventional trucks into low-emission vehicles with a plug-in carbon capture kit.
In a video message broadcast on Friday, EIT Climate-KIC’s Chief Executive Officer Kirsten Dunlop had an inspiring request to everyone: “Help us to understand how to expand and how to spread, how to partner and how to embrace new opportunities from different locations and regions and working across the world. Please do join our mission to work together to support climate entrepreneurs and to help everyone to grow and build ecosystems that are valuable for climate impact”.
The ClimateLaunchpad programme, powered by among other things Europe’s main climate innovation initiative EIT-Climate KIC, offers aspiring cleantech entrepreneurs in 55 countries a pathway to business success and global impact in the fight against climate change. This year, the programme attracted more than 2,000 green start-ups from all over the world who competed in six Regional Finals across all continents.
These entrepreneurs are unlocking the world’s cleantech potential with breakthrough solutions in emissions reduction and climate adaptation that can revolutionise the way we consume, move and live.
A total of 680 teams completed the online and hybrid learning curriculum this year. Winning teams of National and Regional Finals were invited to compete in the Global Grand Final, resulting in 70 teams pitching in semi-finals last Wednesday. The Top 16 teams that came out of the semi-finals were selected to pitch in the final round during the Global Grand Final.
The three global ClimateLaunchpad winners were chosen by an expert jury that looked at the business potential of the finalists’ idea as well as the social impact, job creation, climate impact and the quality of their pitch. They were categorised in seven main themes: Adaptation and Resilience, Circular Economies, Urban Solutions, Clean Energy, Sustainable Mobility, Food Systems and The Next Big Thing.
All start-ups in the top 16 will get direct access to the ClimateLaunchpad Accelerator programme for climate positive start-ups.
More detailed information on all finalists and their start-ups can be found on https://globalfinal.climatelaunchpad.org/winners
Tags: cleantech, Global Grand Final, global impact, start-ups
