ClimateLaunchpad

Name of the business/organisation:

Indalo Inclusive SA NPC

Description of the ideation programme:

ClimateLaunchPad (CLP) is a global green business ideas competition. Its mission is to address the negative impacts of climate change through innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship.

The competition supports aspiring and promising cleantech entrepreneurs by providing them with training, coaching, and networking opportunities. Founded in 2014, it operates on a global scale in more than 50 countries and across five continents.

CLP South Africa started in 2019 and welcomes innovation in renewable energy, energy efficiency, food and agriculture, water, transportation, industrial technology or other sectors with solutions to tackle the challenges of climate change.

CLP is part of the Entrepreneurship offerings of EIT Climate-KIC, the European Union’s innovation programme for climate change.
The lead organisations responsible for CLP South Africa are Indalo Inclusive, Water Financial, and Behold SA.

How does the competition work?
Green entrepreneurs submit their ideas or innovations addressing the challenges posed by climate change to CLP South Africa. The CLP programme supports selected entrepreneurs to fast-track these ideas or innovations into business models and guide participants to avoid or manage possible pitfalls along the way. Entrepreneurs learn how to get their business models funded and launched.

Competition criteria:
• have not started a business yet or started a business less than a year before entry;
• have no substantial revenue yet;
• have not attracted more than €200,000 in investment up to date; and
• have not yet sold products, solutions, or prototypes on commercial terms.
Once selected, contestants will attend a boot camp and coaching sessions where their ideas will be developed into workable business models.

Location of the programme:

Entirely virtual – South African based

Duration of the programme:

5 months

Application windows:

1 March to 3 May

Breakdown of the programme structure:

The CLP South Africa programme
The programme comprises the following main steps:
• Step 1: Online Course and Boot Camp
ClimateLaunchpad kicks off with the three-day boot camp CLP trainers will provide information about business development to contestants.
• Step 2: Coaching
The boot camp will be followed by a coaching phase where contestants will be supported to perfect their presentation, value proposition, and business model and to prepare for the national final.
• Step 3: National Final
Contestants will present their ideas to the national jury. The Top-3 at the national final will go through to the Africa Regionals where they will compete against contestants from other african countries.

• Step 4: Global Grand Final
The top 10 contestants at the Global Grand Final obtain direct access to the Climate-KIC Accelerator and receive prize money.
The overall winner of the Global Grand Final receives €10,000, while the runner-up and contestant placed third receives €5,000 and €2,500 respectively.

Type of support offered to participants:

There are a lot of great ideas out there for improving lives and reducing emissions. Some of them remain in the idea stage, never taking the next step and becoming viable. Some of them need an extra push. They need a bit of mentoring. Some training. The benefit of experience. They need lessons from entrepreneurial failures and successes. With coaching and support, a number of ideas can become reality.

This is where we come in. The team at ClimateLaunchpad supports new cleantech startups. We do this with partners around the globe. ClimateLaunchpad offers training, coaching, and support.

Resources available to programme particiapnts:

Technical support – Sessions with a mentor to help refine your business model. We expose you to a global market, you get to interact with other entrepreneurs around the globe.

No financial support at this stage.

Eligibility criteria of applicants:

Your idea can be an innovation in renewable energy, a sustainable transition in the food chain, a mind shift in urban mobility or any other way to tackle climate change. As long as it’s in the cleantech domain: “a scientific innovation that uses existing technology to do more with fewer resources, and has a commercial driver.” Check out this video from Simply Science for a thorough explanation of the cleantech space.
Even if your idea is still on the back of a napkin, you’re most welcome to join. Not sure if your idea fits the bill? Contact us, we’re happy to help.

Competition criteria:
• have not started a business yet or started a business less than a year before entry;
• have no substantial revenue yet;
• have not attracted more than €200,000 in investment up to date; and
• have not yet sold products, solutions, or prototypes on commercial terms.

Application costs:

No costs in applying for this programme

Application procedure:

Interested applicants can apply by submitting an online application : https://climatelaunchpad.org/application-form/