Touchstone Partners and Temasek Foundation have announced the results of the three winning teams, receiving a non-convertible prize of VND15 billion (US$630,000) from the “Net Zero Challenge 2023” competition.
“This year is the first year the Net Zero Challenge has been held in Vietnam. As the first international competition on climate change technology in Vietnam, we were really surprised by the quantity and quality of the climate change technology solutions received. As an observer of capital sources, understanding the market and human resources, our Fund's main goal is to create a platform connecting technology ideas with suitable business partners. Moreover, we want to build a community and long-term support system for technology initiatives to address climate change in Vietnam,” said Ms. Ngo Thuy Ngoc Tu, Director of Touchstone Partners Fund.
The winners of the 2023 Net Zero Challenge are: Alterno, winner of the Renewable Energy and Carbon Neutrality category: Alterno produces a low-cost thermal energy storage system using sand batteries; Forte Biotech, winner of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems category: Forte Biotech produces rapid, on-site diagnostic tests to detect diseases in shrimp; AirX Carbon, winner of the Circular Economy and Waste Management category: AirX Carbon produces a cost-competitive alternative to plastic from bio-waste.
The three teams won the grand prize of VND15 billion in cash (not convertible to shares) to pilot climate change solutions in Vietnam. In addition, two investment prizes worth USD50,000 (each) from Touchstone Partners Fund (Vietnam) and East Ventures Fund (Indonesia) were also awarded to Alterno and AirX Carbon. All nine finalists of the Net Zero Challenge will also receive USD10,000 (each) from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Since its launch on August 21, the Net Zero Challenge has received more than 300 applications from 45 countries around the world in just 7 weeks of opening applications. More than 30% of these were from teams outside Vietnam. The category with the most applications was Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems.
In November 2023, the nine finalists of the competition underwent training sessions on project topics, presentation guidance with representatives from Touchstone Partners, Temasek Foundation, and experts in specific fields. In addition, Touchstone Partners directly connected the teams with strategic business partners for their technology in Vietnam.
Mr Lim Hock Chuan, Chief Program Officer of Temasek Foundation, expressed his excitement about the solutions presented: “Each of the finalists presented new and exciting technologies. The selected technologies all propose practical, highly applicable approaches to solving the problem of climate change on a large scale. We look forward to seeing these teams pilot their solutions in Vietnam.”
The competition received great attention from the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and in this competition, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) is one of the strategic partners of the Net Zero Challenge 2023 and will play a supporting role for the 3 selected green ideas in the pilot in Ho Chi Minh City in particular and Vietnam in general, to support the successful pilot implementation on a large scale.
KIM THANH
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