EIT Climate-KIC announces winners of the world’s largest climate business ideas competition

Amsterdam, 2 October 2020 – Green start-ups Cassetex from Bangladesh, Sosei from Uruguay and Carbon Craft Design from India win the seventh edition of ClimateLaunchpad, a global green business ideas competition which awards the world’s most innovative climate entrepreneurs.

More than 3,000 entrepreneurs from 56 countries participated in the ClimateLaunchpad 2020. This year’s global climate competition took place online from 30 September to 2 October. The winner, Cassetex, is a solar-powered battery swapping service for electric 3-wheelers in Bangladesh. The team hopes to transition more than one million vehicles and save 0.47 megaton of CO2 per year. “Being amongst the top start-ups in the world is a tremendous recognition for Cassetex and Bangladesh. The transport sector is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and one of the toughest sectors to bring change to. We are humbled by this award, and we hope it will help us solve the critical challenges in the transport sector in Bangladesh,” says Gopal Kumar Mohoto, Co-Founder and CTO of Cassetex.

Second prize goes to Sosei, from Uruguay, a company that provides tailored solutions to help farmers and agricultural companies ease into regenerative agriculture while optimizing profits and minimizing risks. In third place comes Carbon Craft Design, a Mumbai based design and material innovation start-up building architectural and interior products by upcycling carbon emissions.

In an opening video broadcasted on Thursday, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said the climate crisis was the defining task of our generation, and that there was no time for short term fixes. “Investing in green growth pays back and will help to build back better,” he added, also highlighting the holistic approach of ClimateLaunchpad. 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.

“The winners of this year’s ClimateLaunchpad Grand Finale are absolutely inspiring,” says Kirsten Dunlop. “The competition shows how many entrepreneurs have the expertise, the ingenuity and the dedication to help us tackle the biggest climate challenges. ClimateLaunchpad offers green entrepreneurs from all around the world the chance to transform their best ideas into a company, a product, and jobs for people in their community. The programme was able to flourish once again this year and I look forward to seeing this innovation community continue to grow and become stronger in the coming years.”

A total of 972 entrepreneurs completed a self-paced online learning curriculum this year, while 780 start-ups participated in a full training programme globally. 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.

Celebrating outstanding climate innovators, ClimateLaunchpad winners were chosen by an international 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 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 start-ups.

More detailed information on all finalists and their start-ups can be found on https://globalfinal.climatelaunchpad.org/

 

Note to editors:

For more information about ClimateLaunchpad, the Global Grand Final, press and interview requests, please contact:
Anne-Sophie Garrigou
Corporate Communications Manager, Media Relations at EIT Climate-KIC
Anne-sophie.garrigou@climate-kic.org

About ClimateLaunchpad

ClimateLaunchpad is the world’s largest green business ideas competition. Its mission is to unlock the world’s cleantech potential that addresses climate change. A green future demands thousands of innovations challenging current business models and skilled and impassioned entrepreneurs to drive these innovations forward. The competition supports aspiring and promising cleantech entrepreneurs with training, coaching, access to networks and links to early-stage accelerator programmes. ClimateLaunchpad operates on a global scale with programme activity in 56 countries. ClimateLaunchpad was established in 2014 and is part of the Entrepreneurship offerings of EIT Climate-KIC.
www.climatelaunchpad.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/climatelaunchpad
LinkedIn: ClimateLaunchpad

About EIT Climate-KIC

EIT Climate-KIC is the EU’s climate innovation initiative, working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon and resilient world by enabling systems transformation. Headquartered in Amsterdam, it operates from 13 hubs across Europe and is active in 39 countries. EIT Climate-KIC was established in 2010 and is predominately funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. As a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), it brings together more than 400 partners from business, academia, the public and non-profit sectors to create networks of expertise, through which innovative products, services and systems are developed, brought to market and scaled-up for impact.
www.climate-kic.org

About the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

The EIT strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body which is an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The Institute supports the development of dynamic pan-European partnerships – EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities – among leading companies, research labs and universities. 
Together with their leading partners in Europe, the EIT Community offer a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurial education courses, business creation and acceleration services and innovation-driven research projects. 
https://eit.europa.eu