The final round of ClimateLaunchpad, the largest “cleantech” competition in the world, was held with the support of Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of Azercell. As a result, 3 startups gained an opportunity to represent Azerbaijan in Global Grand Finale. In total, 13 startups joined the competition at national level. It is the first time Azerbaijan has joined ClimateLaunchpad competition this year. The Global Grand Finale will take place in Limassol, Cyprus, on October 17-18, 2017. The winners of the ClimateLaunchpad 2017 competition in Azerbaijan are:

• 1st place: Co2atalyser

• 2nd place: EMWAES

• 3rd place: Sh2ower

The project “Rainergy” developed by two 14-year-olds became the winner in the nomination of “Audience Favorite Startup”. In addition, Leyla Taghizada was awarded Woman Philanthropist of the Year Award 2017 by Social Innovation Lab for her enormous support under the project.

13 teams from Azerbaijan have been involved in intensive training programs since May. The training programs were carried out by Hans Westerhof, ClimateLaunchpad team member from the Netherlands and expert in start-ups and innovative technologies, as well as local trainers. In these programs, the participants learned critical hands-on business skills for setting up a startup by applying them to their own projects. Following the two-day boot camp, the teams joined local coaching sessions for 14 weeks. During the sessions, the teams worked on essential business concepts determined by Climate Launchpad and got prepared for the final round.

Top 3 teams from each participating country will enter Grand Finale and pitch before European investors and entrepreneurs. Top 3 winners will receive the prize in the amount of EUR 10,000, EUR 5,000 and EUR 2,500, respectively. Furthermore, top ten startups will join 18-month Climate-KIC Accelerator program where small ideas turn into great businesses. During this problem, each project will receive a contribution in the amount of EUR 95,000.

The winning country will host Grand Finale next year. The international platform Climate-KIC which brings together innovative individuals was established in 2010 by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

Social Innovation Lab, being an official organizer for Azerbaijan ClimateLaunchpad arranged the event with the support of High Technologies Park of National Academy of Sciences (gold sponsor) and Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (bronze sponsor). The project is further supported by SUP Accelerator, Next Step Innovation Center, Global Startup Hub, Baku Engineering University Technopark and Youth Inc. Business Incubation Center.