SparkLabs Group and its sustainability-focused initiative SparkLabs True Zero have opened applications for a $75,000 global prize targeting startups and organisations developing solutions in sustainability, regenerative technology and planetary health, with the winners due to be announced during the United Nations climate conference COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, in November. The competition comes as climate technology becomes an increasingly important investment category in Africa, where startups raised about $1.5 billion in climate-related funding in 2025 but capital remained concentrated among a relatively small group of companies and applications.
The True Zero Global Prize will award $50,000 to the first-place winner and $25,000 to the second-place winner. Beyond the grants, SparkLabs said the competition is intended to connect founders with investors, policymakers, technology companies and industry executives, reflecting a growing effort to move climate innovations beyond early-stage development and towards commercial deployment. Applications are open globally to startups and organisations, including nonprofits, working in areas such as carbon reduction, renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage and transportation. The organisers have also identified emerging markets as an area of interest, creating a potential route for African climate-tech companies to gain access to international investors and networks.
The competition is being launched ahead of COP31, which will take place in Antalya from November 9 to 20. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has confirmed the dates and venue, while the conference agenda is expected to place significant attention on implementation, climate finance and the mobilisation of private capital for climate action. For African founders, the timing is significant. Climate technology has moved from a relatively specialised investment theme to one of the continent’s largest areas of venture funding. A 2026 report by Briter, produced with Catalyst Fund, FSD Africa and BFA Global, found that African climate-tech companies attracted $6.35 billion in disclosed funding between 2016 and 2025. Climate-tech accounted for nearly 40% of disclosed venture funding in 2025, overtaking fintech as the largest investment category by that measure.
The headline growth, however, masks a significant concentration of capital. Briter’s analysis found that the 20 largest companies accounted for about 60% of climate-tech capital deployed since 2016, while adaptation solutions received only 16% of funding compared with 84% for mitigation. Women-only founding teams received less than 1% of climate-tech funding over the period studied. That distribution is important because many of Africa’s climate challenges are not confined to emissions reduction. Farmers require technologies that improve resilience to drought and changing rainfall patterns. Cities need more efficient transport and waste systems. Businesses require reliable energy and cooling, while communities need solutions for water access, food security and climate-related risks.
The financing requirements of these businesses can also differ sharply. A distributed-energy company may require asset finance and working capital, while an agricultural technology startup may need patient capital to establish its model across fragmented rural markets. A carbon-market company may require investment in verification, digital infrastructure and regulatory compliance before it can generate meaningful revenues.
The True Zero competition therefore enters a market where the question is increasingly not whether African climate innovation exists, but whether financing structures are capable of supporting different types of businesses through different stages of development. SparkLabs said the prize will provide more than grant capital by connecting participants to operators, policymakers, venture capitalists and industry leaders. That ecosystem component could be particularly relevant for startups seeking to move from proof of concept to commercial scale, where technical performance alone is often insufficient to attract investment.
Africa’s wider venture market also remains challenging for early-stage businesses. The African Private Capital Association said Africa recorded $3.9 billion in venture deal value across 506 deals in 2025, while venture debt reached $1.8 billion, representing a significant increase from the previous year. Climate-related ventures accounted for about $1.5 billion, or 40% of total venture deal value. The data suggests that investors are becoming more willing to finance climate businesses, but it also points to a more selective market. Capital is increasingly directed towards companies with demonstrable commercial models, infrastructure links and clearer routes to scale. For startups still developing those characteristics, grants, accelerators, concessional finance and strategic partnerships can remain important bridges to larger pools of capital.
That is where the True Zero initiative could have relevance beyond the size of its prize pool. A $50,000 grant is modest compared with the amount required to build energy infrastructure, manufacture hardware or expand across several African countries. Its potential value lies in helping early-stage companies strengthen their technology, establish commercial credibility and gain exposure to investors and strategic partners.
SparkLabs Group says it has invested in more than 500 startups across six continents, giving the organisation an established international accelerator and investment network. The True Zero initiative is intended to build on that network through a sustainability-focused platform. Taha Saran, founding partner of SparkLabs True Zero, said the competition represents an early step towards the launch of SparkLabs True Zero in Türkiye. The choice of timing places the initiative alongside one of the world’s largest annual gatherings of governments, investors, businesses and climate organisations.
Tyrese Gibson, the actor, recording artist, author and entrepreneur, will serve as co-chair of the prize alongside entrepreneur Kevin Chou. Chou previously co-founded Kabam and later established Bright Saver, a nonprofit focused on expanding access to plug-in solar technology. Their participation gives the competition a broader public profile, while a judging panel comprising leaders from climate, artificial intelligence, energy, finance and government is expected to assess participating ventures.
The organisers have set September 28 as the application deadline, according to SparkLabs and supporting ecosystem announcements. Finalists are expected to engage with the judging process before the winners are announced during COP31. The connection to COP31 could also matter for African startups because the conference is expected to provide a major platform for discussions around climate finance and implementation in developing economies. The official UNFCCC information confirms that COP31 will be held at the Antalya EXPO Center from November 9 to 20, while the COP31 presidency has identified finance and implementation among the central issues surrounding the conference.
Africa enters that conversation with a growing but uneven climate innovation ecosystem. Energy remains the largest destination for climate-tech investment, while water, mobility, agriculture and other applications are developing at different rates. The Briter research argues that climate-tech should not be treated as one homogeneous market because companies operating in different applications require different forms of capital and policy support. For African entrepreneurs, access to international competitions such as the True Zero Global Prize can therefore provide an additional channel into the global climate-finance ecosystem. The more difficult task will remain converting visibility into investment, commercial contracts and long-term market access.
That distinction will be important as climate-tech funding expands. Record investment figures indicate that investors increasingly see climate solutions as commercially relevant businesses rather than solely as environmental projects. But the concentration of capital shows that the sector has yet to develop evenly across countries, technologies and founder groups. The True Zero Global Prize is consequently small in financial terms compared with Africa’s broader climate-finance needs, but its significance lies in the ecosystem around the funding. If competitions, accelerators and investors can help more African companies establish credible technologies, business models and market relationships, they can contribute to widening the pool of ventures capable of attracting larger amounts of private and development capital.
With the winners set to be announced at COP31, the competition will place early-stage sustainability innovation alongside global negotiations over how climate action is financed and implemented. For African startups, the opportunity is not simply to compete for a grant, but to enter a wider international conversation over which technologies can translate climate challenges into commercially viable solutions.
The central test for the next phase of Africa’s climate-tech market will be whether rising investment reaches beyond a small number of established companies and supports a broader pipeline of businesses addressing the continent’s energy, mobility, agricultural, water and resilience needs. The True Zero competition is one small addition to that financing ecosystem, but its timing places it within a much larger shift in how climate innovation is being valued and financed.
