The Verizon Climate Resilience Prize, in collaboration with GreenBiz and Resilient Cities Network, is a call for scalable solutions to accelerate an equitable, climate-resilient future. The Prize empowers early stage companies with funding, ongoing support and networks to scale their solution for climate-resilience.
Congratulations to the winners!
Verizon Climate Resilience Prize Finalists
Floodbase provides global reinsurers, brokers, and governments with the flood data required to underwrite parametric flood insurance policies.
As extreme weather increases, Sesame Solar Inc. is breaking the dirty cycle of fossil fuel-powered generators that further contribute to climate change—replacing them with renewable, mobile energy solutions that are durable, easy-to-use and flexible for a variety of use cases.
Tiami Networks’ air quality forecasting solution conducts GHG inventories, detects pollution hotspots, and can be leveraged to assesses the effectiveness of policies designed to reduce air pollution and GHG emissions.
Clarity Movement’s ambient air quality monitoring solution allows government agencies and communities to understand when their air quality is at unhealthy levels, and gives them the tools to inform regulators and leaders about these incidents — driving positive health outcomes for residents.
The Babylon Micro-Farm helps businesses and communities grow their own food in a reliable, safe, and convenient way using remotely managed vertical farms.
Burge Environmental, Inc. has developed sensor technologies to measure the electrical signals generated by microbes in aquatic and unsaturated environments (soils), and within plants to better understand changes in the environment.
10Power’s renewable energy projects create climate resilience through on-site energy generation and for many projects, energy storage.
Raincoat's mission is to protect every person on the planet from the financial disruption of natural disasters. They collaborate with insurers, financial institutions, nonprofits, and governments to underwrite parametric flood insurance policies.
ElectricFish’s locally distributed storage assets enable rapid deployment of emissions-free EVs, lower the cost of reliability, and promote the integration of renewable energy in the local distribution grid.
The Perimeter Platform is a solution that supports information sharing and collaboration, making real-time evacuation management software accessible to all types of first responders and the public.
Climate resilience is a community’s ability to survive, adapt and thrive in the face of climate-related shocks and stresses. As a community builds its climate resilience, it can withstand these challenges while breaking silos, unlocking co-benefits that address the intersectionality of its risks and maximizing the value of every dollar spent in reducing and helping to prevent the impact of future shocks and stresses.
We aim to accelerate the most promising solutions to create the resilient future we want to see.
Judging Panel
Judging Criteria
Submissions will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Climate Resilience Solution: Impactful solution, implementation, or value prop that specifically targets climate-related risks and increases community resilience against climate change. The solution should also respond to shifting customer demand or unlock new business opportunities across the value chain.
- New solution, implementation, or value prop that creates a climate future we want to see.
- Impact: Clear demonstrated impact with specific metrics and company has mitigated negative or unintended consequences of solution.
- Financial Model: Clear business model with ability to scale.
- Traction & Market Opportunity: Has a developed product or service with 2+ paying customers or projects and stands on its own commercially.
- Team: Team contains experts or specialists in their field with a variety of backgrounds including those that are excluded or marginalized.
- Inclusive Design: The solution incorporates inclusivity in every step of the design process, and thoughtfully works with frontline or marginalized communities.
Following an interview, finalists will be evaluated and scored by the Judges based upon the following criteria:
- Overall excellence in advancing climate resilience in the United States
- Exceptional impact
- Ability of the team to deliver results and scale for even greater impact
Four (4) Winners will be selected to receive a cash prize from a pool of $500,000 that will be divided equally.
Prize funds will be administered directly to winners upon receipt of relevant tax documentation. Winners are responsible for applicable taxes.
FAQ
Who is eligible to apply?
Any US project, for-profit, or non-profit organization and their affiliates that meets the minimum requirements of
- At least 4 full time employees or full time resources
- Have demonstrated results in a real world application
- Registered in the United States
- Technology must be a central part of the solution
Additional Climate Prize Solution Criteria:
- On-the-ground community-based resilience solution
- Support for vulnerable populations
- Ready to pilot and/or scale
*Government entities are not eligible to apply. Employees, officers and directors of Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc. (“Verizon” or "Sponsor") and its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, dealers, agents, advertising and promotion agencies, and vendors (who are related to the administration of the Accelerator) are not eligible to enter. GreenBiz and Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities) are not eligible to enter.
What happens after I submit my idea?
The application process and timeline can be found here.
When will I know if I’ve been selected as a winner?
We intend to select and inform those companies selected for the cohort on or around July 31, 2023. Winners will be notified via the email address used in their submission form.
Do I get to keep ownership of my product’s code and IP?
Yes. The entrant remains the sole and exclusive owner of the submitted solution.
Can I submit more than one application?
Your application should represent one innovative climate resilience solution with demonstrated results in a real world application. Multiple applications may only be submitted from the same organization if each submission represents a distinct project. If there was an error in your submission, please reach out to [email protected].
If I’m selected, what’s next?
Selected winners will be awarded prize money from a pool of $500,000 and ongoing consulting support. This is unrestricted funding, and we reserve the right to request additional information on progress, fund use, and growth following selection.
How do I apply for the Verizon Climate Resilience Prize?
Complete Round 1 Application by May 7, 2023
What is the timeline for the Verizon Climate Resilience Prize?
- Submissions Open - March 7, 2023
- Submissions Close - May 7, 2023 - Date extended!
- Notification to Finalists - June 2023
- Finalist Interviews and Reference Checks - Mid July 2023
- Winners Notified - Late July 2023
- Winners Publicly Announced - End of October 2023 at VERGE 23
Will you accept submissions from organizations outside the United States?
Yes, as long as the entity is also registered in the United States.
Our company is based/headquartered in US, but our project is outside of the US. Do we qualify?
Any projects based outside of the US do not qualify for the prize.
Our headquarters are based in a US territory. Do we qualify?
Yes
Can companies in previous Verizon Challenges/Accelerators apply?
Yes
Who won last year?
What are the rules of the contest?
See Terms & Conditions here.