Africa-Press – Rwanda. . Glassland Inc, Second Life Storage, and Serenis Technologies are the winners of the ClimateLaunchpad national final competition in Rwanda organized by Impact Hub Kigali. The competition is supported by the Climate-KIC International Foundation and German Development Cooperation to accelerate climate tech solutions for a net-zero Africa. The winning teams will advance to the ClimateLaunchpad Regional Finals at the end of the month in Mozambique.
Dr. Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC commented:: “ClimateLaunchpad is now taking on the dimensions of a global movement, and we see that in the quality of what’s coming through and the extent to which people are building on the shoulders of what’s gone before, learning from each other, and picking up where the biggest needs are and what we need to address.
“All of the participants are winners in their own right and represent the next generation of green leaders in the world. ClimateLaunchpad is in many ways a development programme that connects these brilliant minds and their solutions on an international stage. The exposure for the businesses and the teachings they absorb throughout the process help equip them for leadership in their own countries and communities.”
Three winners from each country will be competing in the African Regional Finals on 28 September in Mozambique, where a total of 18 teams from Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Rwanda will have a chance to compete at the Grand Finals.
This year, the jury has selected 3 national winners from the competition: Glassland Inc, a start-up specializing in recycling glass waste into unique products like countertops tiles, vanity shelves and more.
Second Life Storage builds energy systems from batteries salvaged from e-waste and or retired from electric vehicles to power buildings – they aim to replace conventional power back-up systems.
Serenis Technologies aims to develop a Liquified gas metering system which will allow users to prepay the amount of cooking gas they need via mobile phone or online.
These 3 startups will have the opportunity to represent Rwanda in the African Regional Finals in Mozambique. In addition, they will have 2 months free access to Impact Hub Kigali’s coworking space as they develop their solutions, as well as several individualized coaching sessions from the Climate Launchpad experts.
The entrepreneurs have been supported by Impact Hub Kigali providing training and coaching by local as well as international experts. This competition is part of a continental programme managed by the Climate-KIC Foundation. It aims to identify the best climate-positive businesses and support them on the journey towards commercial viability.
Thanks to the national leads of the competition, Climate Innovation Centers, YouThinkGreen, Make Sense Africa, and the Impact Hubs in Africa, the programme can expand the entrepreneurial ecosystem to support start-ups with training, mentorship and access to funding via incubation and acceleration programmes, such as EIT Climate-KIC ClimAccelerator and ClimateLaunchpad. With GIZ’s funding support, the Climate-KIC International Foundation’s diverse portfolio of entrepreneurship offerings in Africa is set to scale. This partnership adds to GIZ’s portfolio of initiatives on the continent to offer a new response to climate change challenges.
About the Climate-KIC International Foundation
The Foundation’s entrepreneurship portfolio covers the development pipeline that starts at the activation and ideation stages, and offers innovators the opportunity to incubate solutions into successful climate-positive start-ups. The work of the Foundation builds from the EIT Climate-KIC ClimAccelerator, the main climate innovation solution provider in Europe with a 10-year track record. Read more at: https://www.climatekicfoundation.org/about/
The Foundation has entered into an agreement supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to accelerate climate tech solutions for a net-zero Africa.
About ClimateLaunchpad
ClimateLaunchpad is considered the world’s largest green business ideas competition. In the past six years with a slogan of “saving the world one start-up at a time”, ClimateLaunchpad has generated more than 6,700 ideas that resulted in the creation of over 8,000 jobs within 1,900 start-ups. Read more at: https://climatelaunchpad.org
About Impact Hub Kigali
Impact Hub Kigali is a community centered innovation lab offering a unique ecosystem of resources, inspiration and collaboration to grow positive impact. Impact Hub Kigali has vast experience in implementing programmes that support entrepreneurs, startups, and the whole entrepreneurial ecosystem. Established in 2015 and based in Kiyovu, Impact Hub Kigali is the Rwanda National Lead for the ClimateLaunchpad competition.
