Turning a climate tech idea into reality is a long journey. Along this way, a supportive community that asks the right questions at the right time matters just as much as capital. Operating since 2014 to fill this exact gap, ClimateLaunchpad is the world’s largest green business ideas competition. To date, active in 97 countries, the program has connected thousands of early-stage climate startups with the market.
At Helios, we joined ClimateLaunchpad Turkey this year with our work in carbon capture and advanced materials technologies.
What is ClimateLaunchpad?
ClimateLaunchpad operates under the umbrella of Climate-KIC, the European Union’s climate-focused innovation community. It aims to bring early-stage sustainable business ideas to the global market by offering awards, mentorship, training, and access to international networks for entrepreneurs in fields like energy efficiency, circular economy, cleantech, and climate-friendly product development.
The numbers speak for themselves: operating in 97 countries since 2014, ClimateLaunchpad has supported nearly 5,000 ideas to date. Receiving thousands of applications each year, the program gives the top 10 global finalists access to significant investment opportunities.
How Does ClimateLaunchpad Work?
The program follows a clear roadmap. It begins with the application period, where startups submit their ideas. Selected teams then undergo intensive training on their business model, impact story, and pitching skills during the bootcamp. The journey continues with the national final, where the top ideas from each country compete. Ultimately, national champions connect with entrepreneurs worldwide in the regional and global finals.
This structure ensures that a startup is tested not just technically, but also in terms of its business model, go-to-market strategy, and scalability. Moving a technology from the lab to the field often requires early answers to the right questions, rather than just more R&D. This is precisely what makes ClimateLaunchpad so valuable.
Helios and ClimateLaunchpad Turkey
At Helios, our focus centers on two key areas: carbon capture technologies and the advanced materials that make these technologies possible. For carbon capture to truly scale, it depends not only on the efficiency of chemical processes, but also on the durability, cost, and manufacturability of the materials used. We approach our work by addressing both of these aspects together.
This year, we joined the ClimateLaunchpad Turkey journey and completed the bootcamp on July 4-5. During this two day training, we refined our business model, backed our impact story with data, and practiced communicating a complex technical topic to different stakeholders. However, the most valuable part for us was becoming part of this broad ecosystem. In particular, connecting with teams working on diverse climate solutions offered a great opportunity for cross-learning.
What’s Next in ClimateLaunchpad Turkey?
According to the ClimateLaunchpad Turkey timeline, the bootcamp will be followed by the national final. As the Helios team, we are integrating the feedback we received into our business model, preparing both our technology and our story for the next stage.
As a startup operating in carbon capture and advanced materials technologies, ClimateLaunchpad is much more than a competition for us. It is a key milestone in our journey toward turning climate solutions into viable real-world businesses, and one of the most important gateways into the cleantech competition ecosystem in Turkey.
