The Earthshot Prize and 500 Global Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Climate Innovation in Emerging Markets

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.

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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:

1. Agtech – digital input and distribution systems, post-harvest storage and logistics, soil/carbon analytics, ag-fintech for access and risk, seed innovation.
2. Clean Tech – off-grid and distributed energy platforms, EV and micro-mobility infrastructure, clean cooking and industrial process tech, demand response and energy efficiency tools.
3. Nature Tech – 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.

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.

Dr Alaa Murabit, Managing Partner, Sustainable Growth, 500 Global, said: “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.”

Jason Knauf, CEO, The Earthshot Prize, commented: “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:

• Re.green (Protect and Restore Nature category): Brazil’s largest forest restoration platform for the Atlantic Forest, home to 150 million people - pioneering cutting-edge technology and finance that turns degraded land into thriving ecosystems, creating carbon sinks, restoring biodiversity, and generating sustainable livelihoods.
• ATRenew (Build a Waste-Free World category): China’s leading circular economy platform giving new life to millions of electronic devices each year - scaling reuse, reducing e-waste, and building a blueprint for zero-waste cities.
• Matter. (Revive Our Oceans category): A UK company whose simple filters captures microplastics from washing machines and textiles factories before they reach our oceans - helping turn the tide on invisible pollution through cutting-edge filtration technology.

To find out more about this year’s Earthshot Prize Finalists, please visit the website. To learn more about 500 Global’s Sustainable Growth practice, please visit the website.

About The Earthshot Prize:

For more information about The Earthshot Prize, visit: www.earthshotprize.org.

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Founded by HRH Prince William and incubated in the The Royal Foundation in 2020 for a year before becoming an independent organisation, The Earthshot Prize is the world’s most prestigious and impactful award designed to identify, back and celebrate groundbreaking leadership in environmental action. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize is designed to mobilise a decade of action for the planet. The five challenges are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.

The Earthshot Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism by championing inspiring leadership and helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions. It will discover 50 Winners over 10 years with the power to repair the planet.

More than an award, The Earthshot Prize works in partnership with a Global Alliance of Partners to support the scaling of the solutions discovered and selected each year. The Global Alliance Founding Partners are a group of leading global organisations and philanthropists, which act as strategic funding partners to the Prize, including Aga Khan Development Network, Allen Family Philanthropies, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Builders Vision, Coleman Family Ventures, DP World, Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation, Eleven Eleven Foundation, Giving Grousbeck Fazzalari, Holch Povlsen Foundation, Law Family Charitable Foundation, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Rob Walton Foundation, Sandy and Paul Edgerley, Standard Chartered Bank, Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, Temasek Trust, and Uber. Global Alliance Partners are non-profit environment and sustainable development organisations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organisations each year. For a full list of our Global Alliance Partners, visit: https://earthshotprize.org/people-partners/global-alliance/

Global Alliance Members are some of the world’s largest and most influential companies and brands that will support The Earthshot Prize, implement ambitious changes within their businesses and accelerate the advancement of the solutions of The Earthshot Prize Finalists and Winners. They are Arup, Bloomberg L.P., British Airways, Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Hitachi, Ingka Group (IKEA), Microsoft, The Multichoice Group, Natura &Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom Group, and Walmart.

About 500 Global

500 Global is a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.1B in assets under management (as of March 31, 2025) that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. We focus on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can unlock long-term value and drive economic growth and development. We work closely with key stakeholders and advise governments on how best to support entrepreneurial ecosystems and economic development in emerging markets.

500 Global established its Sustainable Growth practice to build on our expertise in emerging market ecosystem development. We aim to partner with sovereign funds, governments, DFIs, the private sector, and philanthropies to replace fragmented development with coordinated public–private finance strategies that enable lasting economic transformation and human capital growth.

500 Global has backed over 5,000 founders representing more than 3,000 companies operating in 80+ countries. We have invested in more than 35+ companies valued at over $1 billion and 160+ companies valued at over $100 million (including private, public, and exited companies). Our 175+ team members are located in more than 25 countries (as of September 2025) and bring experience as entrepreneurs, investors, and operators from some of the world’s leading technology companies.

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