Successful innovations from across the world can win more than S$2 million in funding – double the amount offered by the Challenge in previous years.
Singapore, 27 April 2023 – The Liveability Challenge (TLC) has unveiled the eight finalists shortlisted for the 2023 Grand Finale, after a rigorous selection process involving a record number of over 600 submissions received from 82 countries.
This year’s edition included ocean ecosystem solutions as a focus area for the first time and features the highest number of finalists in its six-year history.
Presented by Temasek Foundation and organised by Eco-Business, TLC is a global platform that convenes investors and innovators to scale disruptive solutions tackling sustainability challenges.
Since the first edition in 2018, TLC has grown to become Asia’s largest sustainability solutions platform convening an ever-growing ecosystem of private and public sector partners. In 2023, more than 60 partners offered their networks to crowdsource start-ups and solutions across the globe relevant to this year’s themes.
The sixth edition of TLC saw a doubling of the grand funding to $2 million – with a million-dollar prize each for two tracks: climate change and food & nutrition.
The two tracks of TLC 2023 are:
- Climate Change
Disruptive innovations that can decarbonise energy generation and industries, as well as capture and utilise carbon to create scalable products for global markets. Solutions that address ocean challenges such as restoring and regenerating coastal and marine ecosystems in Southeast Asia. - Food & Nutrition
Disruptive innovations that can establish a circular urban agriculture or aquaculture or alternative protein system. Breakthrough technological solutions to maximise production efficiency and minimise resource requirements.
This year, TLC attracted a record number of submissions from the greatest number of countries to date. The eight finalists include technologies turning captured carbon dioxide into building materials and renewable natural gas, automating mangrove carbon feasibility assessments, and manufacturing alternative proteins with the same nutritional content as animal-based products. More details on the finalists are in the Annex.
This also marked the first time in TLC’s history that a team from the Philippines has been shortlisted as a finalist.
The shortlisting panels are represented by AgFunder, Blue Action Lab, Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat, New Energy Nexus, Nurasa, Peak Sustainability Ventures, SeaAhead, Singapore Food Agency, SMART Innovation Centre, Trendlines, and Wavemaker Impact.
“We’re thrilled to have received a record number of high-quality submissions this year across the globe. The final eight teams who have been selected by our steering committees feature a wide range of solutions that have the potential to significantly address the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, from decarbonising the economy, to improving the food and nutrition systems that Asia so heavily depends on,” says Jessica Cheam, founder and managing director of Eco-Business.
“We also decided to focus on ocean ecosystems as it is an under-funded area critical to addressing climate change, especially against the backdrop of the United Nations High Seas Treaty and ongoing negotiations for a plastic pollution treaty. The shortlisted solutions in this category are working to restore marine ecosystems and develop credible blue carbon projects both of which have huge potential in further decarbonising the region.”
Apart from the grand prize of $1 million each from Temasek Foundation, other prizes include a minimum of S$100,000 investment each from impact investment firm PlanetRise, impact-focused family office Rumah Group, and venture capital funds Quest Ventures and TRIREC.
The Liveability Challenge 2023 Grand Finale will take place on 8 June 2023, hosted alongside Ecosperity Week at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, where the eight finalists will pitch their solutions to a team of Asia’s most sought-after investors.
For more information, visit The Liveability Challenge website at www.theliveabilitychallenge.org.
-Ends-
Notes to Editors:
All media coverage should include a mention of The Liveability Challenge, presented by Temasek Foundation and organised by Eco-Business.
For enquiries or photos, contact:
Gabrielle See, Eco-Business
gabrielle.see@eco-business.com
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About Temasek Foundation
Temasek Foundation supports a diverse range of programmes that uplift lives and communities in Singapore and beyond. Temasek Foundation’s programmes are made possible through philanthropic endowments gifted by Temasek, as well as gifts and contributions from other donors. These programmes strive towards achieving positive outcomes for individuals and communities now and for generations to come. Collectively, Temasek Foundation’s programmes strengthen social resilience, foster international exchange and regional capabilities, advance science, and protect the planet.
For more information, visit www.temasekfoundation.org.sg.
About Eco-Business
Established in 2009, Eco-Business is Asia Pacific’s leading media organisation on sustainable development. Its independent journalism unit publishes high quality, trusted news and views that advance dialogue and enables measurable impact on a wide range of sustainable development and responsible business issues. Eco-Business is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Manila, Beijing, and correspondents across major cities in Asia Pacific. Visit www.eco-business.com
Annex
Finalists for the theme of Climate Change:
1. Carbix Corporation (United States)
Solution: Capturing point-source emissions to produce raw materials for use in a wide range of products, including building materials.
2. Seabound (United Kingdom)
Solution: Capturing up to 95% of ships’ carbon emissions with pebbles that can be sequestered or utilised.
3. Susteon (United States)
Solution: Capturing point-source carbon and utilising waste hydrogen to produce low-cost methane.
4. Nika.eco (Singapore)
Solution: An analysis tool that automates mangrove carbon feasibility assessments with Artificial Intelligence for improved restoration, conservation, and blue carbon projects.
5. Seaforestation.Co (Philippines)
Solution: Using deep-sea marine permaculture to scale regeneration of seaweed forests to remove atmospheric carbon and provide bio-material for a variety of uses.
Finalists for the theme of Food and Nutrition:
- Plantae Bioscience (Israel)
Solution: Cultivating high-yielding, nutritious tomatoes in vertical farms with shorter harvest cycles.
- Proteomax (Singapore)
Solution: Increasing protein yield by at least two-fold in the biomanufacturing process for alternative foods.
- TeOra (Singapore)
Solution: Developing an orally delivered vaccine to prevent and treat scale-drop disease virus for aquaculture.
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