Heaptalk, Jakarta — Venture capital firm East Venture and Singapore’s non-profit philanthropic organization Temasek Foundation have launched Indonesia’s climate tech innovations competition, Climate Impact Innovations Challenge (CIIC) 2024.
CIIC 2024 continues to empower tech innovators to showcase their sustainable solutions. The applicants will compete for a total prize pool of US$635,760 (around Rp10 billion) to pilot their solutions in Indonesia to tackle various ecological challenges and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
“Climate Impact Innovations Challenge 2023 has presented us with abundant enthusiasm and tangible impacts in the climate sector. As a strong believer in startup and digital ecosystems, we believe climate tech innovators are pivotal in creating solutions that address today’s problems and pave the way toward a resilient and sustainable future,” Partner of East Ventures, Avina Sugiarto said.
This year, CIIC 2024 focuses on three tracks, including:
- Energy transition, new innovative ideas, and solutions that drive the adoption of renewable energy and contribute to reducing and removing carbon emissions, helping communities and industries shift towards energy transition in a low-cost and inclusive manner.
- Sustainable agriculture, enhancing food production (plant, cultivate, harvest, process), improving agricultural practices due to climate change, and nature-based solutions that involve sustainable and replicable business models to enhance farmers’ livelihoods and food security while reducing soil degradation and carbon emissions.
- Circular economy, enhancing waste management processes and transforming into valuable materials, resources, and energy, thereby reducing waste sent to landfills and for incineration and plastic.
Held from March to September 2023, participants of the CIIC 2024 are required to follow multiple steps, spanning the application period (March – June), application review (June – July), announcement of finalists in July, mentorship in August, and Grand finale in September this year.
The CIIC, inaugurated in March 2023, has been a driving force in fostering innovation and accelerating the development of sustainable solutions. Last year, this competition received over 330 applicants and concluded with the grand finale, part of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2023 sideline event. Last year’s event awarded four startups as winners, including AfterOil (renewable energy), BANIQL (mobility), Qarbotech (food and agriculture), and Waste4Change (ocean).
As is known, East Ventures continues to back Indonesia’s startup development by enriching its portfolios. In 2023, the firm noted that around 90% of its portfolios are in the growth-stage startups, 30% are on the path to profitability, 60% are already profitable, and the remaining 10% are still striving to adapt.
