• Posted 13-Jul-2021

EIT Climate-KIC and Irish Aid partnership supporting start-ups across Africa, Asia and South America News

Irish Aid enters its third year of collaboration with EIT Climate-KIC, bringing continued support to start-ups across Africa and in Vietnam and Colombia.

Since 2019, Irish Aid has supported entrepreneurs in emerging economies to bring innovative ideas to life through ClimateLaunchpad – the world’s largest green business ideas competition. This has focused on nurturing green innovation and entrepreneurship in seven developing countries in Africa and Asia – Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam, and support will also expand to Colombia this year. In addition, top teams will receive post-competition support to aid their emergence as viable start-ups.

Irish Aid first decided to team up with EIT Climate-KIC to help leverage private finance towards climate action. Ireland was quick to embrace the opportunity to invest in positive, innovative and forward-looking solutions to this global challenge. The programme’s investment in long-term development resonates with Ireland’s international development strategy by addressing climate change while simultaneously strengthening livelihoods.

Thanks to Irish Aid’s ongoing support, ClimateLaunchpad’s international competition continues to observe a rise in participation from the African continent. The initiative has proved to be a success with one third of the applications in 2020 coming from African countries. In fact, Leafy Ke, a clean fuel start-up from Kenya won the sixth edition of ClimateLaunchpad in 2019.

Irish Aid will be the key partner of the ClimateLaunchpad Finals in Africa taking place in September this year. The international competition invites aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch climate-positive ideas – from renewable energy solutions, to a sustainable transition in the food chain, to a mind shift in urban mobility.

Source: European Institute of Innovation & Technology (https://bit.ly/3wDXXVT)