Alterno, Forte Biotech, AirX Carbon Win the Net Zero Challenge 2023

Touchstone Partners and Temasek Foundation have announced the results of the three winning teams, receiving 15 billion VND (630,000 USD) in non-convertible shares from the “Net Zero Challenge 2023” competition.

Team Alterno won the Renewable Energy and Carbon Neutral category.

“This year is the first year the Net Zero Challenge has been held in Vietnam. As the first international competition on climate change technology in Vietnam, we were really surprised by the quantity and quality of the climate change technology solutions received. As a capital observer, understanding the market and human resources, our Fund's big goal is to create a platform connecting technology ideas with suitable business partners. Moreover, we want to build a community and long-term support system for technology initiatives to address climate change in Vietnam,” said Ms. Ngo Thuy Ngoc Tu, Director of Touchstone Partners Fund.

The winning teams of the competition

The winners of the Net Zero Challenge 2023 are: Alterno, winner of the Renewable Energy and Carbon Neutrality category: Alterno produces a low-cost thermal energy storage system using sand batteries; Forte Biotech, winner of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems category: Forte Biotech produces rapid, on-site diagnostic tests to detect diseases in shrimp; AirX Carbon, winner of the Circular Economy and Waste Management category: AirX Carbon produces a cost-competitive alternative to plastic from bio-waste.

The three teams won the grand prize of VND15 billion in cash (not convertible into shares) to pilot climate change solutions in Vietnam. In addition, two investment prizes worth USD50,000 each from Touchstone Partners (Vietnam) and East Ventures (Indonesia) were also awarded to Alterno and AirX Carbon. All nine finalists in the Net Zero Challenge will also receive USD10,000 each from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Since its launch on August 21, the Net Zero Challenge has received over 300 applications from 45 countries worldwide in just seven weeks of being open for applications. Over 30% of these were from teams based outside Vietnam. The category with the most applications was Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems.

Team Forte Biotech, winner of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems category.

In November 2023, the nine finalists of the competition underwent training sessions on project topics, presentation guidance with representatives from Touchstone Partners Fund, Temasek Foundation, and experts in specific fields. In addition, Touchstone Partners Fund directly connected the teams with strategic business partners for their technology in Vietnam.

Team AirX Carbon, winner of the Circular Economy and Waste Management category.

Mr. Lim Hock Chuan, Chief Program Officer of Temasek Foundation, expressed his excitement about the solutions presented: “Each of the finalists introduced new and exciting technologies. The selected technologies have proposed practical, highly applicable approaches to solving the problem of climate change on a large scale. We look forward to seeing these teams pilot their solutions in Vietnam.”

The competition received great attention from the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and in this competition, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) is one of the strategic partners of the Net Zero Challenge 2023 and will play a supporting role for the 3 selected green ideas in the pilot in Ho Chi Minh City in particular and Vietnam in general, to support the successful pilot implementation on a large scale.

KIM THANH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/alterno-forte-biotech-airx-carbon-chien-thang-cuoc-thi-thach-thuc-net-zero-2023-post717616.html