Young entrepreneurs display sustainable energy solutions

Eight teams with innovative ideas on sustainable energy solutions have qualified for the cohort phase of Impact Hub Fellowship Program on Sustainable Energy Solutions.

Impact Hub Manila, World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines and Peace and Equity Foundation teamed up to search for ideas on sustainable energy solutions.  

After an application period of five weeks, 16 teams were pre-selected by the experts through a grueling deliberation on July 28, 2016.  The chosen entrepreneurs were then given the opportunity to pitch before a jury panel. Judges awarded eight teams and gave them the opportunity to be part of the cohort phase.

The selected teams are the following:

Cleverheat aims to provide heat-driven refrigeration and air-conditioning system in order to significantly reduce costs by cutting electric consumption.

HiGi Energy converts water hyacinth and agricultural waste into cooking energy like briquettes for low-income communities. 

RE Analytics provides highly accurate energy forecasts through machine learning and superior climate analytics. 

Solar Sari-Sari Store provides solar energy station or facility focused on empowering local communities.

Juan Generators makes kinetic wind sculptures that produce electricity. 

Kitchen Energy for Island Communities provides a home biogas systems to be used to decompose kitchen wastes to provide energy for cooking and fertilizers as by-product.

Big Mike Bike provides bicycles that convert the rotatory motion into electrical energy.

Team Triad / Electric Motorbikes offers an logistical solution for deliveries by use of electric motorcycles and a battery swapping station at key location points.

“With the teams now proceeding to the cohort stage, we look forward to their outputs for the Fellowship,” said first Mobility Fellowship winner Matthew Cua, who served as one of the judges.

The Pitch Day on Aug. 6, 2016 at one of Impact Hub Manila’s newest locations at KMC Solutions, Uptown Tower in Fort Bonifacio brought together some of the most innovative ideas on energy.

“As an incubator and the goal bringing entrepreneurs further, it is inspiring to see all the applicants get better in such a short period of time,” said LizAn Kuster, co-founder of Impact Hub Manila.

The winning teams will undergo an intensive bootcamp, called kick program. The training will include topics on business model canvas, customer discovery and targeting, business strategy and lean methodology with a day-by-day schedule, daily exercises and a full online/flipped educational course access. 

“Through the cohort stage, the teams will be guided on building the business aspect of their enterprise and at the same time this allows us to determine which teams deserve the seed funding the most,” said Robert Calingo, executive director of the Peace & Equity Foundation.

The teams will have the chance to win more than P2.5 million worth of fellowship prizes including the business training in the cohort stage. The rest includes P1.5 million seed funding, other forms of training, mentorship, access to Impact Hub Manila’s flexible work spaces and valuable network.

A rigorous training for six weeks await the teams that aim to further refine their business models, preparing them for the final pitching day where two to three ideas will be awarded as Impact Hub fellows. 

Set on Oct. 6, 2016, the final pitch day will propel the winners to even greater stakes as they go through the incubation phase from November 2016 to April 2017. During this phase, the fellows will undergo further training to make sure they are investment and scaling ready.