1 Nov 2020
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500 Global, one of the world’s most active venture capital firms and The Earthshot Prize, the world’s most prestigious and impactful environmental award, are announcing today a new strategic partnership to accelerate climate innovation in Emerging Markets, as climate finance is more relevant than ever before.
500 Global intends to develop and implement an investment strategy designed to de-risk early-stage investments, unlocking private capital for a pipeline of high-impact climate solutions ready for growth, targeting H1 of 2026. Alongside its own pipeline, 500 Global will leverage The Earthshot Prize’s portfolio of climate solutions, drawn from five years of Prize nominations – 40% of which are based in the Global South – to create new opportunities to scale innovations.
Emerging Markets face 75% of global climate risk but receive only 15% of the capital to confront climate challenges. Through their partnership, 500 Global and The Earthshot Prize intend to address this imbalance and accelerate inclusive growth by supporting community-driven, future-focused initiatives that traditional funding often overlooks.
Thematically focused on the intersection of climate impact and commercial viability, they will prioritise supporting:
Digital input and distribution systems, post-harvest storage and logistics, soil/carbon analytics, ag-fintech for access and risk, seed innovation.
Off-grid and distributed energy platforms, EV and micro-mobility infrastructure, clean cooking and industrial process tech, demand response and energy efficiency tools.
Oceans and coastal resilience, forest, land, and water restoration tech, MRV (measurement, reporting, verification) platforms, biodiversity marketplaces and carbon project enablers, regenerative land use models.
2024 Finalist, MYCL, buy crop waste and palm oil waste from farmers to create sustainable leather alternative
2024 Finalist, MYCL, use mycelium to create an innovative alternative to leather for clothes and shoes to cars to furniture
2024 Finalist, MYCL's innovative bio-engineering technique uses mycelium to produce MYLEA
500 Global has invested in 140+ companies focused on sustainable innovation across 27 countries including Mexico, Egypt, India and Indonesia, as well as 2024 Earthshot Prize finalist, MYCL.
MYCL used the funding to establish a raw material hub in Indonesia to empower smallholder farmers and transform agricultural waste into value-added products to be scaled across Indonesia.
Building on this momentum, 500 Global and The Earthshot Prize will work together to channel risk capital to innovators, helping them overcome barriers to scale. The blended finance strategy will attract support from Development Finance Institutions, foundations, philanthropies, and private investors.
Alongside this – as part of a global hub strategy that has seen 500 Global establish innovation hubs across Emerging Markets – 500 Global’s next destination will be Rio de Janeiro, to deepen its presence in Latin America and create a new wave of climate innovation.
For too long, communities across the Global South have carried the greatest climate burden while receiving the least climate capital, training, and support. Our partnership is about shifting that dynamic – amplifying local leadership, supporting community-driven solutions, and ensuring that the entrepreneurs closest to the challenge are equally close to the opportunity.
With 500 Global’s deep emerging-market expertise and The Earthshot Prize’s global platform, we’re bridging inspiration and investment, moving from promise to practice, and actioning the collective need to redefine and align the climate ecosystem to accelerate solutions that deliver for both people and planet.
Access to capital, training, and support is one of the biggest barriers our Finalists and portfolio projects face when trying to scale their impact operationally and across geographies. It is for this reason that 500 Global, The Earthshot Prize, and its partners are building a powerful platform for climate innovation, training, and investment, reshaping how climate capital flows and accelerating solutions that protect people and the planet while delivering real-economy impact.
The Earthshot Prize community is an unprecedented network of organisations, corporates, philanthropists, and leaders working together. In 2025 – the halfway point in the Earthshot decade – we are excited to see support go where the climate crisis is most urgent, and where the innovation gap is widest.
Innovative investment and support strategies have a crucial role to play in tackling the climate crisis, and 2025’s cohort of The Earthshot Prize Finalists – selected from nearly 2,500 nominees – includes:
Find out more about The Earthshot Prize Finalists 2025 and learn more about 500 Global’s Sustainable Growth practice on their website.
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Feature image: 2021 Winner, Takachar, has developed a cheap, small-scale, portable technology that converts crop residues into sellable bio-products like fuel and fertilizer.
