Deadline:
As soon as possible
Location(s)
Austria Worldwide
Global Grand Final to take place in Vienna Austria.
Overview
Our competition is your ticket to global success. Provided you have a green business idea and have what it takes to become an entrepreneur.
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.
Details
How it works
To enter the competition submit your idea or innovation with environmental impact. We’ll help you fast track that idea into a business and bypass all possible pitfalls along the way. You’ll learn how to get your idea funded and launched.
Once you are selected to join ClimateLaunchpad, the Boot Camp and coaching sessions will help you develop your idea to a rock-solid plan. You will pitch this during your National Final and the Regional Finals.
All entries will be reviewed and ideas that fit the bill of our competition get invited to join.
The programme
Once you’re accepted to join the competition, the games begin:
- Step 0: Mini-course: After your application teams are automatically invited first for participation in a CLP Mini-course to help National Leads to make a better selection or to prepare you for the Boot Camp.
- Step 1: Boot Camp: The top teams chosen by our National Leads take part in the ClimateLaunchpad National programme which kicks off with a multi-day digital Boot Camp. Our trainers will teach you all you need to know about jump-starting your business.
- Step 2: Intensive coaching and National Finals: The Boot Camp is followed by a period of intensive coaching. You’ll perfect your pitch, value proposition and business model. After that, you’re ready to rock your National Final where you’ll pitch digitally for a National Jury.
- Step 3: Regional Finals (online): The top teams of each country go to the Regional Finals where they pitch in front of the region’s best and brightest. The big prize? A bunch of new acquired skills & knowledge and networking opportunities to get your business thriving.
- Step 4: Global Grand Final in Vienna, Austria (physical): The top teams from each region process to the Global Grand Final to pitch it out in front of an expert panel. In 2025, we are proud to announce that for the first time since 2019, we are bringing back a physical Global Grand Final, to take place in Vienna Austria. .
Themes
We work with eight competition themes, representing a selection of the most pressing and relevant focus areas of our time in our fight against climate change.
This ensures that ideas are judged equally against their peers by industry experts, ensuring that the best of the best rise to the top.
The selected themes for this year:
- Adaptation & Resilience
- Blue Economy
- Circular Economies
- Clean Energy
- Food Systems
- Sustainable Mobility
- Urban Solutions
- The Next Big Thing
Competition Timeline
-
Applications Open: March 2025
-
Online Course & Boot Camps: May - July 2025
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National Finals: July 2025
-
Regional Finals (online): August - September 2025
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Global Grand Final (physical): October 23rd - November 7th 2025
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
Who can join ClimateLaunchpad?
Anyone with a promising cleantech idea who dreams of becoming an entrepreneur should join. You can be a new start-up, SME, researcher, student, public organisation, consultant, engineer, a combination of the above or something that doesn’t fit a job title. Don’t worry if you don’t have a business plan ready! We are here to help!
You can only submit your application in your own country. Check this page to find out if there is a ClimateLaunchpad competition in your country.
You can only apply in your own country and you can only enter if:
- You have not yet started a business or your company has been incorporated for less than two years (definition: your legal entity does not exist for more than 2 years);
- Your new venture has attracted less than € 200.000 in total funding (this includes all funding, like grants, government loans, angel and/or VC investments, et cetera)
- You have not yet sold products, solutions or prototypes on commercial terms.
You cannot enter ClimateLaunchpad if you have:
- Already been accepted into Climate-KIC (pre-/Clim)Accelerator with the same idea;
- Already been accepted into ClimateLaunchpad (or the former CleanLaunchpad) in a previous year with the same idea.
Dates
Deadline: As soon as possible
Cost/funding for participants
What can I win?
2025 Prizes
In 2025, we are proud to announce that the number one winner from each National Final and the Top-2 in each Regional Final will be awarded with a trip to Vienna, Austria for our Global Grand Final event.*
Additional Prizes in the National and Regional Finals may differ per country and region, and prizes for our Global Grand Final will be announced soon.**
The big prize? A bunch of new acquired skills & knowledge and networking opportunities to get your business thriving.***
*In the event that the same participating team wins both the National Final and finishes in the Top-2 in the Regional Final, only one prize will be awarded
**In the case of cash prizes, all prizewinners are responsible for any taxes, wire transfer costs and other possible costs related to receiving the prize.
*** Climate KIC reserves the right to withdraw or change prizes at any time at our discretion.
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