The 2023 Climate Solutions Prize, JNF Canada, The Climate Solutions Prize Organization, Start-Up Nation Central and KKL-JNF Join Forces to Award Prizes Worth over $2M to Israeli Solutions Combatting the Climate Crisis Through Innovation and Research

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Climate Solutions Prize (CSP), powered by JNF Canada in partnership with Start-Up Nation Central, and KKL-JNF, is an annual initiative to incentivize climate innovation and academia by granting over $2.3 million in prizes to researchers and startups developing solutions to help solve the global climate crisis. Launched in 2020, CSP is the most comprehensive initiative established to support Israeli research and innovation addressing climate change.

The Breakthrough Research Prize proposes to galvanize Israel, also known as the Start-Up Nation, to curb the climate crisis. It aims to support and inspire increased research and development for breakthrough climate solutions by awarding the best and the brightest not-for-profit researchers and/or organizations throughout Israel with the prize's funding and recognition. The prize of $1-Million USD will be granted to a maximum of three (3) researchers, annually, in recognition of their work on promising solutions to our climate crisis.

The Startup Track component of this initiative includes an investment of $1M from Capital Nature aiming for tomorrow's best-in-class Israeli Climate-Tech companies. In addition to the two main prizes, a series of challenges that offer investment, cash prizes, and exposure to Israeli tech companies are launched. Each Startup Challenge is led by a different industry leader including: Continental, E.ON, ESIL, Italgas, Takeda and The Temasek Foundation. Significant support to the initiative is provided by AWS, Bidra VC and Skipso who will be force multipliers in the process and in the value proposition for applicants.

Israeli companies are invited to submit their breakthrough, innovative solutions by applying here.https://climatesolutionsprize.com/competitions.asp?id=84 Applications will be accepted until July 31^st and the winners will be announced at the Climate Solutions Festival set to be held in Israel at the end of November.

This year's CSP Startup Track and challenges are:

• Capital Nature $1M Flagship Investment companies with innovative solutions validated outside the lab addressing climate needs in the fields of New Energies, Sustainable Mobility, Built Environment and Circular Economy. 
• Disruptive Decarbonization Prize led by Temasek Foundation looking for innovative decarbonization solutions to help urban cities remove carbon emissions at scale.

• Energy Solutions for Industry & Buildings led by E.ON looking for new and innovative solutions to help drive the decarbonization journey for the company's customers.
  
  
• Italgas Challenge: Decarbonizing Energy Distribution Infrastructure looking for innovative technologies to decarbonize distribution infrastructure, including analytics and data management tools, new materials and processes, network wide monitoring, sustainability and energy management, and more.

• Sustainable Materials for Automotive Applications Challenge led by Continental AG: looking for innovative sustainable plastics for automotive applications.

• Takeda Challenge: Addressing Plastic Waste in the Plasma Industry - looking for solutions that reduce single-use plastic waste, including both medical waste and non-hazardous waste.
  
  
• ESIL Early-Stage Funding Competition - for early-stage Climate Tech startups looking to scale. ESIL offers an initial NIS 1 million in investment with follow-on investment opportunities, pilot and POC opportunities, a funded visit to COP28, and more.

"We are proud to spearhead this concept and are incredibly pleased with the strong support from our partners in government, industry, and academia to make this a game-changing initiative," said Jeff Hart, Executive Chair of the Climate Solutions Prize.

Galith Levy, Chief Climate Solutions Prize Officer, added: "The world needs a diversity of solutions to reverse climate change, and we believe Israel can be a world leader in this area. The Climate Solutions Prize can help accelerate the development of Israel-made solutions that have a global impact."

"Our mission is to introduce and advance Israeli innovation to global leaders while responding to pressing challenges, including climate change. Currently, Israel is home to more than 850 technology companies that are already developing solutions for climate challenges, including energy transition, carbon tech, transportation, logistics, cleaner industry tech, food and land use, water solutions and many more," said Start-Up Nation Central CEO, Avi Hasson. "As a recognized leader in developing advanced solutions to global challenges, Israeli innovation is at the forefront of the fight against climate change. By offering diverse solutions, we aim to tackle one of the most urgent crises of our time."

"KKL-JNF has decided to be proactive in the battle against the Climate Crisis" said KKL-JNF's Chief Scientist, Dr. Doron Markel. "The Climate Solution Prize, a wonderful collaboration between JNF Canada and KKL-JNF, is part of these efforts. The prize will be awarded to break through research that has a significant impact on reducing Green House Gas emissions or increasing its absorption. Last year winners were at the highest scientific level internationally, I am waiting in anticipation to see who will win this year's prize and what contribution the winning research will have to the fight against the Climate Crisis". 

The 2023 Israeli Climate Tech Landscape Map details leading companies with solutions addressing the climate crisis. Full report on the activity of the climate sector in Israel is available here.

For all information about the Climate Solutions Prize, please visit www.climatesolutionsprize.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2102931/Climate_Solutions_Festival_Credit_Eliran_Avital.jpg

SOURCE Start-Up Nation Central (SNC)