€1M green startup challenge

It is time to apply for the 2020 edition of Europe’s €1 million Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge. Open to early stage companies from Norway, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany and Sweden, the annual competition is searching for the top five startups developing innovations designed to deliver a more sustainable world.

Last year’s overall €500k winner was Swedish Algae Factory, a young company selling ‘high-tech silica shells’ as a sustainable alternative material to harmful chemicals used in solar cells and personal care products. For a chance of following in its footsteps, applications must be in by 1 April.

“This year we hope to be inundated once again with concrete plans from entrepreneurs to tackle the challenges facing our world,” said Margriet Schreuders, Head of Charity at the Dutch Postcode Lottery. “In the field of green energy, for instance, or strengthening biodiversity, restoring ecosystems, sustainable food and alternatives to plastic. It is inspiring to see entrepreneurs thinking in terms of solutions instead of problems, working on the solutions that our planet needs most today.”

The €1 million pot is shared among the top five, with the winner walking away with €500,000. Apply by 1 April 2020 12:00 CEST (noon).

The top five will go forward to the final in Amsterdam on 30 September.

Who can apply? Startups with solutions that are:

• contributing to a sustainable planet
• developed enough to execute
• realisable as a usable product or service within the next two years
• located in one of the countries in which there is a Postcode Lottery: Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway or Sweden