Two Egyptian startups and one from Tunisia are among the eight MENA-based ventures selected for the Saudi-based climate-focused Mega Green Accelerator to advance innovative climate solutions.
Launched by PepsiCo, SABIC and AstroLabs, among other partners, the Mega Green Accelerator aims to help innovators develop and scale sustainable solutions to address climate change. The accelerator will nurture the next generation of innovators as they develop solutions to address both regional and global sustainability challenges.
Over the course of the six-month programme, the selected startups will receive funding, mentorship with industry experts, and market access to scale their innovative solutions. At the end of the programme later this year, one winning company will be awarded US$30,000 in funding to continue its expansion.
Alongside startups from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, two Egyptian and one Tunisian venture have been selected to join the programme, picked from 363 submissions from sustainable startups across the region.
From Egypt are Viridia Tech, which offers a platform for crop analytics at scale for industrial agricultural companies; and P-VITA, a biotechnology hub that specialises in producing natural raw materials for the cosmetics and food and beverage industries using AI and IoT technologies. The Tunisian startup selected is Kumulus, a water-tech venture that turns air into fresh drinking water through innovative AWG machines.
The other five chosen startups are Mrüna and The Surpluss from the UAE, Mirai Solar and Ahya Technologies from Saudi Arabia, and YY ReGen from Lebanon.
“With solutions spanning agriculture, water, and the energy sectors, this is an opportunity for us to accelerate the development of practical climate technologies crucial to address the MENA region’s challenges and strengthen our position as a testbed for climate innovation globally. Startups can act as epicentres of innovation, and reshape, disrupt, and define our future. The Mega Green Accelerator provides the incentive to bolster this through cross-sector collaboration and nurture the region’s next generation of entrepreneurs by providing the needed mentorship, funding, and market access,” said Eugene Willemsen, CEO for Africa, Middle East, and South Asia at PepsiCo.
