East Ventures, a pioneering and leading sector-agnostic venture capital firm that has supported over 300 tech companies across Southeast Asia, and Temasek Foundation, a Singapore-based non-profit philanthropic organization that supports sustainable development initiatives, announced the finalists of the Climate Impact Innovations Challenge (CIIC) 2024, Indonesia’s largest climate innovation tech competition. This year, the challenge focuses on finding climate solutions to be implemented in Indonesia based on three tracks: Energy Transition, Sustainable Agriculture, and Circular Economy. 

After the close of submissions on 11 June 2024, CIIC 2024 received overwhelming interest from innovators from around the world, with over 500 applicants from 50 countries worldwide – the largest number of submissions since its launch in 2023. These submissions went through a rigorous evaluation process and were carefully assessed by East Ventures, Temasek Foundation, and 14 other shortlisting committees of field experts, including:

• Joko Tri Haryanto, President Director, Indonesia Environment Fund 
• Tri Hadimasyar, Vice President, PLN
• M. Irawan Kusuma, Forest Protection & Prevention Department Head, Triputra Agro Persada
• Reza Andhika, Senior Investment Associate, MDI Ventures
• Zahra Damariva, Partner, Impactto 
• Fadel Muhammad, Carbon Project Manager, PT Astra International Tbk 
• Widharmika Agung, Partner, Systemiq
• Lesly Goh, Bellagio Center Resident, The Rockefeller Foundation 
• Sheila Teta Carina, National Platform Liaison, P4G Partnership
• Ramzi Rinaldhi, VP Environmental, Social, Governance and Sustainability, Sinar Mas Land 
• Febrianne Hadikrisno, Sustainability, GoTo Group
• Rio Jon Piter Silitonga, Senior Research Analyst, ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE)
• Angela Tay, Senior Investment Associate, AgFunder 
• Chandni Jaga, Senior Ventures Associate, Plug and Play Tech Center 

“Congratulations to the finalists of the Climate Impact Innovations Challenge 2024. We are grateful for the overwhelming enthusiasm from over 500 remarkable applicants, and we are thrilled to witness a surge of innovative solutions this year. Sustainability has always been part of East Ventures’ DNA. This challenge stands as a testament to our unwavering commitment to fostering meaningful and lasting impact on society and the environment. As we embark on the next phase, we are excited and hopeful to see these innovative solutions flourish and scale in Indonesia and beyond,” said Avina Sugiarto, Partner at East Ventures.

Here are the finalists of the Climate Impact Innovations Challenge 2024:

Energy Transition track:

• ENWISE (China) – Builds and operates onsite bioenergy stations to fuel a zero-carbon industry.
• Renewable Metals (Australia) – 95% recovery of Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, Copper, and Manganese from lithium-ion batteries at 30% lower cost.
• SunGreenH2 (Singapore) – 200% hydrogen production with 20% higher energy-efficient electrolyzer with landed cost of hydrogen at US$3/kg. 

Sustainable Agriculture track:

• DayaTani (Indonesia) – Improving smallholder farmers' livelihoods through input financing, best-in-class agriculture practices, and farm intelligence to boost crop yields. 
• Hydrogen Refinery (UK) – Low-cost production of ammonia-based fertilizers via plasma electrolysis of waste to reduce up to 11 tonnes of GHG emissions per tonne of fertilizer. 
• JALA Tech (Indonesia) – Empowers the shrimp industry with end-to-end solutions for optimized production, efficient cultivation, and traceable high-quality seafood

Circular Economy track:

• AC Biode (Japan) – Scalable chemolysis of mixed organic waste to produce syngas for green energy generation.
• Mushroom Material (Singapore/New Zealand) – Offering a groundbreaking solution that replaces expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) with a sustainable alternative derived from mushrooms.
• Parongpong RAW Lab (Indonesia) – Converting ocean plastics waste and ghost nets through coastal community-based micro-factory to produce high-quality sustainable building materials

In the coming months, the finalists will receive mentorship from ecosystem leaders to gain insights into building partnerships, go-to-market and commercialization strategy, and public speaking.

Ultimately, the finalists will compete to win a total of Rp10 billion prize pool and other exclusive perks to help scale up their businesses within Indonesia. They will deliver their final pitch at the Climate Impact Innovations Challenge 2024 Grand Finale on 6 September 2024, as part of the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum (ISF) 2024 in Jakarta. Registrations can be accessed at climateimpactinnovations.com/gf.

Climate Impact Innovations Challenge 2024 is supported by several partners, including Strategic Partner: PLN, and many others.