Earthshot Prize launches global online platform to connect climate startups with investors

Launchpad currently spotlights 25 solutions from six continents.

Founded by Prince William in 2020, the Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize and platform designed to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet.

The Launchpad, introduced just four months ago, has already garnered significant attention, attracting 135 investors and philanthropists from across the globe.

This online match-making platform currently spotlights 25 solutions from six continents, with funding needs exceeding £400m. Its pilot phase aims to provide investors and philanthropists with access to a curated database of scalable environmental solutions and their current funding needs, allowing them to browse and discover potential matches.

Speaking at a launch event in London on Monday evening (11 March), Prince William said: “We are in a critical decade right now and that is why to have real impact we must focus on supporting and developing as many solutions as possible and scale them to speed.

“It is not an easy task. We must overcome the challenge of getting capital to the right sectors, solutions and communities. Through Launchpad, we can now catalyse funding on an even greater scale.

“We need investors and philanthropists to join our community and be vital peers in this journey. It is only through collective action that we will achieve the ambitious 2030 targets we have set to save our planet.”

To further support Earthshot innovators and catalyse funding on a larger scale, the platform will include standout nominees from the Prize process who may not make the final 15. This expansion is planned for later this year.

Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Earthshot Prize trustee Jacinda Ardern said: “The Earthshot prize probably sounds like it’s a prize to individual innovators or entrepreneurs, but actually the prize is for our planet and our kids.

“The challenge of Earthshot members, trustees and communities is not just to find these ideas that will scale up the solutions that we need, but to invest in them.”

Impact so far

Earthshot Prize Winner Notpla has already received an additional £3.9m commitment towards its recent £10m funding round through the online match-making platform. Additionally, ROAM, an electric vehicle (EV) startup based in Kenya, secured £19m to meet increasing demand and support the production of 1,000 electric motorcycles monthly.

Moreover, Boomitra, a soil carbon marketplace, forged an exclusive partnership with Terra Carbono, to introduce regenerative agriculture practices across 1.5 million acres of Brazil and offer carbon finance opportunities to farmers and ranchers.

Meanwhile, SeaForester signed a deal with Nestle-Purina, earmarking efforts to restore 1,500 hectares of marine habitat.

The Earthshot Prize’s chief executive officer Hannah Jones said: “Launchpad marks a significant step forward for The Earthshot Prize on its journey to scaling innovative solutions from around the globe and becoming a global platform for impact.

“Over the last four years, the Prize has scoured the planet for the best environmental innovations. Now, with the knowledge we’ve gained from our annual nomination process, we are empowering investors and philanthropists to discover the incredible solutions in our network, while opening doors for promising innovations to further scale.”