Climate Launchpad UK: Supporting Early-stage climate startups
Organised by Climate-KIC, Climate Launchpad is the world’s largest green business ideas competition, dedicated to transforming promising climate innovations into successful, scalable start-ups.
Active in 51 countries in 2026, the programme empowers entrepreneurs to explore, validate, and pitch their green solutions with expert support. It provides a structured pathway for early-stage innovators, from testing initial concepts to competing on a global stage.
Participants benefit from hands-on learning through online courses, intensive bootcamps, personalised coaching, and access to a global network of mentors, partners, and fellow innovators. The competition offers a supportive, expert-led environment where impactful climate ideas can be developed into viable businesses.
Nexus and the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures
Nexus and the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds have joined forces to act as the UK national lead for Climate Launchpad 2026. The goal is to connect our world-leading climate research with the innovators developing tomorrow’s solutions.
This year, Climate Launchpad UK received a record-breaking number of applications, with nearly 100 entries from across the UK and more than 4,000 applications worldwide from 51 countries.
A panel of judges from Nexus and the Priestley Centre selected 11 early-stage start-ups from across the UK to join the programme. The cohort represents a diverse range of entrepreneurs, spanning deep-tech and data-driven solutions, as well as innovations in advanced materials, energy efficiency, food systems, and agriculture.
The 11 finalists
BlueBiome Ltd
BlueBiome is precision microbiome medicine for coral reefs. We detect invisible stress weeks before bleaching appears, diagnose the cause, and prescribe targeted probiotic treatment. Every user trains our AI.
PalmPro Enzymes Ltd
We are using AI to engineer enzymes for vegetable oil processors, to enable extraction of more oil from their existing process. Simultaneously, this translates to a 20% less CO2eq emitted per kg of oil extracted.
FORAGER
FORAGER is developing Hyro, a biodegradable biochar-based soil additive that helps farms buffer drought, restore soil health and store carbon. It fits existing drill- seeder workflows, giving farmers climate resilience without new infrastructure.
ANN.Energy
ANN.Energy helps energy operators cut unplanned electrical downtime by using novel AI system, and component replacements, saving revenue and emissions while boosting clean energy output from existing wind assets.
Planetary Minds
Planetary Minds is building a governed environmental intelligence platform that uses specialist AI agents, structured debate, and human review to tackle complex climate and sustainability challenges. The platform is designed to turn fragmented expertise
SilicaLabs
A passive cooling roof for high-temperature regions, reducing reliance on energy-intensive systems while improving thermal comfort in industrial spaces. Combining reflective, radiative, and insulating properties for a scalable, low- cost solution.
Finkele
Finkele is an AI-driven climate risk and resilience company focused on helping infrastructure and asset owners better understand, anticipate, and respond to flood risk. Our work combines data, mapping, and predictive insight to support earlier actions.
VaprTech
VaprTech is building a physics driven AI control layer for data-centre cooling. Our controller sensor retrofit uses digital twins and predictive optimisation to reduce cooling energy use by up to 30%, without replacing existing infrastructure.
Garni Bio
Garni Bio is working on a major environmental problem in a practical way. We are developing a cleaner alternative to the toxic, oil-based dyes used in fashion and textiles which are a big source of pollution and carbon emissions.
Vanadion
Vanadion recovers high-purity vanadium from industrial waste streams such as spent sulfuric acid catalysts. It enables low-cost, low-waste production of battery-grade vanadium for flow batteries, strengthening critical material supply chains for clean energy.
Nela Intelligence
Nela Intelligence builds climate data infrastructure for agriculture. We combine field methane measurements, satellite Earth observation, and AI to deliver audit-ready emissions data for rice supply chains, helping food companies, carbon projects, and regulators.
The Road to the Global Final
For the UK finalists, the programme includes a two-day bootcamp followed by a series of ongoing expert coaching sessions designed to refine both the business proposition and investor pitch.
The UK National Final will take place on 10 August in London, hosted at the offices of Bank of America, one of the competition’s principal sponsors.
Successful teams will progress to the European Final in September, with the Global Final taking place in Singapore, where winners from different regions around the world will pitch their innovations to investors, industry leaders, and climate experts.
Get Involved
Are you developing innovative climate solutions?
Next call of Climate Launchpad for early-stage innovations will take place in April 2027.
Contact the Priestley Centre at [email protected].