Got a Green Business Idea? Apply for the ClimateLaunchpad 2025 Competition to gain global visibility
ClimateLaunchpad Green Business Ideas Competition is accepting applications for its 2025 cohort. ClimateLaunchpad’s mission is to unlock the world’s cleantech potential that addresses climate change.
Determined to address the negative impact of climate change, the competition’s focus is to support, train and coach new cleantech startups, SMEs, researchers, students, public organisations, consultants, engineers, or those who are just starting and don’t yet have a business plan. The ClimateLaunchpad Green Business Ideas Competition believes there are great ideas that could improve lives and reduce emissions, but they need the right help and some extra push, or else they wouldn’t see the light of day.
Over the years, the ClimateLaunchpad Green Business Ideas Competition has given startups a platform to learn, grow, and receive funding for their ideas.
Backed by Climate KIC, Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, they have supported over 5000 teams across 97 countries, delivered 500 training bootcamps, and have helped startups to raise over €500 million in investment for their ideas.
The ClimateLaunchpad Green Business Ideas Competition accepts solutions across the following thematic areas:
- Adaptation and Resilience: does your idea address the effects of climate change on the environment
- Blue Economy: are you building an innovative solution that helps protect the oceans by keeping them clean from trash that poses a threat to sea creatures
- Circular Economies: in a bid to reduce environmental pollution, this theme focuses on making valuable items out of waste
- Clean Energy: solutions that adopt the use of natural sources to generate power
- Food Systems: does your idea promote food production in a sustainable way
- Sustainable Mobility: this theme supports eco-friendly mobility solutions
- Urban Solutions: this area welcomes ideas on sustainable urban living
- The Next Big Thing: any new idea that doesn’t fit into any of the thematic areas, that tackles the impact of climate change
ALSO READ: Can $30,000 turn your climate idea into action? Apply for Youth4Climate Call for Solutions 2025
Benefits of applying
Participants will benefit from a series of trainings, bootcamps, and coaching sessions with unlimited access to a network of industry experts and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs. All winners at the national level and the top two regional winners will be rewarded with a trip to the final global event in Vienna, Austria. Besides these, winners also get an opportunity to win from a pool of prizes.
Eligibility
To apply for the ClimateLaunchpad Green Business Ideas Competition, you must:
- Be from the list of eligible countries
- Have no experience or less than 2 years of experience in starting out
- Be an entrepreneur who has received not more than €200,000 in funding
- Have little or no capital
What you need to know about the ClimateLaunchpad Process
Upon application, all teams are invited to participate in a mini-course, after which the outstanding teams will be selected to participate in an online or physical boot camp for a few days with access to experts who will train them on the fundamentals of starting a business. After the bootcamp, there’ll be a coaching session where all ideas will be refined to position you to pitch at the national final competition properly. After which, the emerging champion at the national level will then move on to compete at the regional competition.
The winners of all regional competitions will proceed to pitch to a global audience at the grand finale competition in Vienna, Austria
Competition timeline
- Applications open: March 2025
- Online course and bootcamps: May – July, 2025
- National Finals: July 2025
- Regional Finals: August – September, 2025
- Global Grand Final: October 23 – November 6, 2025
How to apply
To apply for the ClimateLaunchpad Green Business Ideas Competition, check the application deadline in your country, as it varies, and fill out the application form provided with the correct information.
Do you have an innovative business (small, mid-scale business or startup) that adds value, creates opportunities or solves bold problems? Then you`ve got a story worth telling? Shoot us an email with SUBJECT “Story Worth Telling (+Name of Business)” to editorial@smepeaks.com
