Whales washing up on the shores, starving polar bears, deadly wildfires, and much more! The destructive effects of climate change are undeniable. The earth’s climate has changed drastically over the years, placing nature’s flora and fauna at risk.
Governments across Europe have started taking initial steps to combat climate change; beginning with emission reduction targets for 2030. Several startups are also doing their best to tackle both the upstream causation of climate change and the downstream effects.
While some startups may have an innovative green business idea, they may lack funds to scale their businesses or take it to the next level.
Check out the winners!
In this regard, ClimateLaunchpad is a key climate innovation initiative focussing on unlocking the world’s cleantech potential that addresses climate change. As a part of the Entrepreneurship offerings of EIT Climate-KIC, ClimateLaunchpad’s competition creates a stage for those ideas.
EIT Climate-KIC is a European knowledge and innovation community, working towards a prosperous, inclusive, climate-resilient society founded on a circular, zero-carbon economy.
Recently, the winners of this year’s ClimateLaunchpad finale have been announced that took place online from 30 September to 2 October. The winners are:
First place – Cassetex (Bangladesh)
This Bangladeshi startup offers a solar-powered battery swapping service for electric 3-wheelers in Bangladesh. As per the company, customers will never have to repair or replace these batteries. They will only pay for the energy they use, through popular mobile financial services. “Our service will increase the daily operating range of these vehicles, leading growth in income. Our technology is more efficient due to lightweight batteries that require no maintenance,” says Gopal Kumar Mohoto, co-founder and CTO of Cassetex.
Second place – Sosei (Uruguay)
The company offers tailored solutions to help farmers and agricultural companies ease into regenerative agriculture while optimising profits and minimising risks. It’s services include soil health monitoring, one on one mentoring through the process, and retailing required bioinoculants and cover crop seed mixes.
Third place – Carbon Craft Design (India)
The Mumbai-based startup founded in 2016 is harnessing air pollution to make carbon tiles. According to the company, each carbon tile is equivalent to cleaning 30,000 litres of air. Also, these tiles consume only one-fifth of the energy required to manufacture vitrified tiles.
3,000 entrepreneurs from 56 countries
More than 3,000 entrepreneurs from 56 countries participated in the ClimateLaunchpad 2020. It’s worth mentioning that the winning teams of National and Regional Finals were invited to compete in the Global Grand Final, resulting in 68 teams pitching in front of expert jury panels this week.
Potential to become a leader in Europe
According to the jury, each of these startups has the potential to become a leader in Europe when it comes to providing commercial solutions to climate change.
The winners were chosen by an international jury based on various factors including the business potential of the finalists’ idea, social impact, job creation, climate impact, and the quality of their pitch.
They were categorised in eight main themes: Resilient Regions, Climate-Friendly Food, Healthy Clean Cities, Circular Economies, Clean Energy Systems, Sustainable Mobility, Cleantech, and The Next Big Thing.
The top 16 teams selected by the jury to perform in the Final Round of the Global Grand Final will get direct access to the EIT Climate-KIC Accelerator programme for climate positive startups.
Accelerating green recovery
Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries believes that the climate crisis was the defining task of our generation, and that there was no time for short term fixes.
Rowan Barnett, Head of Google’s philanthropy Google.org EMEA and APAC, and David Pistoni, Co-Founder of Spanish hyperloop company Zeleros also participated in a discussion with EIT Climate-KIC’s CEO Kirsten Dunlop on how to harness the power of technology, systems innovation, and entrepreneurship to accelerate the green recovery.
Main image credits: ClimateLaunchpad
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