This year’s Startup 4 Climate competition has received a fantastic response. A record-breaking 89 companies entered the competition, and almost 4,000 people cast their vote for their favourite startup.

The 2026 finalists have now been selected!

This year’s finalists are tackling several key challenges of the energy transition: storing renewable energy, making more efficient use of existing energy production, reducing energy consumption in industry and recovering valuable materials.

A huge thank you to everyone who voted! Thanks to your engagement, we are donating SEK 20,000 to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and their important work. 💚

Congratulations to the 2026 finalists, who will now pitch their innovations to the jury at the Startup 4 Climate final in Stockholm on 10 November.

🌟 DREV – circular battery production through particle recovery, Gothenburg
DREV has developed patented systems that capture hazardous but valuable microparticles generated during battery manufacturing and recycling. Through sealed capture, segregation and digital traceability, critical materials can be recovered and reused.

🌟 Engrate – simplifying access to Europe’s energy markets, Stockholm
Engrate has developed an AI-native integration platform that makes it easier for energy companies to access and operate across multiple European energy markets through one API.

🌟 Evora – automated operation of renewable energy and energy storage, Stockholm. Winner of the People’s Vote.
Evora has developed an intelligent operations platform for batteries, wind turbines and solar parks, enabling more autonomous and efficient operation of renewable energy assets.

🌟 Reselo – rubber made from forest industry by-products, Stockholm
Reselo has developed a high-performance rubber made from renewable forest industry by-products. The material is designed as a drop-in replacement for fossil-based rubber in existing production processes.

🌟 Rivus – metal-free battery electrolyte for large-scale energy storage, Gothenburg
Rivus is developing a metal-free, water-based organic electrolyte that can replace vanadium in flow batteries used for large-scale storage of wind and solar energy.

🌟 SeaPattern – generating more electricity from existing hydropower plants, Linköping
SeaPattern has developed modular floating hydrokinetic turbines that are installed downstream from existing hydropower plants, harnessing energy that would otherwise remain unused.

🌟 Occzendo – more energy-efficient paper production, Stockholm
Occzendo has developed and patented Smart Vacuum Pressing (SVP), a technology that removes significantly more water from paper pulp before it reaches the drying stage, reducing the amount of energy required for drying.

🌟 Solstice Storage – solar heat stored in sand for industry, Lund
Solstice Storage is developing technology that captures solar heat, stores it in sand and delivers process heat at temperatures of up to 1,000°C – providing high-temperature renewable heat for industrial processes.

Ellevio and GodEl’s innovation competition Startup 4 Climate has closed this year’s application period – with greater interest than ever before. A total of 89 startups have applied to this year’s competition. The People’s Choice vote is now open, giving the Swedish public the opportunity to vote for one of the eight companies that will advance to the final. Two winners will each receive SEK 1 million to further develop their solutions and contribute to the energy transition.

Among this year’s 89 competing companies are innovations in areas including energy production, energy storage, AI, electrification, circular materials and fossil-free industry. Several of the companies are developing solutions that combine climate benefits with energy security, resilience and self-sufficiency – ranging from smarter electricity grids and batteries to local energy production and the recycling of critical materials.

The 8 finalists will be revealed on October 6th.

Sara Kappelmark  is global co-CEO for Norrsken – a community of >100,000 founders, funders and enablers united by a shared belief in entrepreneurship and scalable technologies as powerful forces for positive change. Across Norrsken’s members and portfolio are startups & scale-ups in clean energy, energy storage and grid solutions, clean heating and cooling, electric vehicles, circular materials and much more. Before Norrsken, Sara was a partner at the management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.

Sara is interviewed on the Under 15 podcast about entrepreneurship, impact-driven companies, and her new role on the jury.

Are you ready to take on the challenge? Join our S4C Launch Event – May 21

We are currently facing one of humankind’s biggest challenges ever. Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases must be drastically reduced in order to limit global warming to 1,5 degrees and avoid causing irreversible damage to the planet we inhabit.

For the seventh year, GodEl and Ellevio are running the Startup 4 Climate competition in collaboration with THINGS.

https://thingstockholm.confetti.events/startup-4-climate-launch-event-2026

The winners of the sixth edition of Startup 4 Climate have been announced: Enairon from Halmstad and Zparq from Stockholm. Enairon’s energy-efficient industrial compressor and Zparq’s lightweight, portable electric boat motor impressed the jury. The winning companies each receive one million SEK.

On Thursday evening, November 13, the eight finalists presented their innovations to an impressed jury and audience.

“The competition this year has had a strong and evenly matched field. The winners, Enairon and Zparq, have great potential to contribute to the energy transition. Several previous winners have made significant progress after their Startup 4 Climate victory, and I’m convinced that this year’s winners have an equally promising future,” says Johan Lindehag, CEO of Ellevio and chairman of the jury.

Read full pressrelease here:

Ellevio and GodEl proudly present 62 startup companies in this year’s Startup 4 Climate challenge. You will find all the contestants along with a short description of their innovations. Pick your favorite by clicking “vote now.” You can only vote once. The contestant who receives the most votes will secure a spot on the finalist shortlist and will get to pitch their idea to the jury at the grand finale on November 13th.

As an extra treat, Ellevio and GodEl will donate 5 SEK per vote to Doctors Without Borders (Läkare Utan Gränser) for their project in Sierra Leone.

Vote now!

Two of the jury members in Startup 4 Climate  Challenge— Ellevio’s CEO Johan Lindehag and GodEl’s founder Stefan Krook — talk about the origins of the competition, who can apply, and what they look for as jury members. Listen to the podcast episode on Heja Framtiden with Christian von Essen.

To the pod cast session: 

We are currently facing one of humankind’s biggest challenges ever. Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases must be drastically reduced in order to limit global warming to 1,5 degrees and avoid causing irreversible damage to the planet we inhabit.

For the sixth year, GodEl and Ellevio are running the Startup 4 Climate competition in collaboration with THINGS and
We Don´t Have Time.

Are you ready to take on the challenge?

Join the challenge – Apply Now! 

One of Europe’s largest innovation competitions for climate benefits, the five-year-running Startup 4 Climate, has announced its results. This year’s winners, the startups Rebaba and Nordic Bio-Graphite, impressed the jury with their circular battery systems and fossil-free graphite. The winners will each receive one million SEK and coaching from the jury.

This year, 63 companies participated, and over 7,025 people voted for their favorite company in the People’s Vote. On Thursday evening, the eight finalists pitched live to a captivated audience and an extremely impressed jury.

Read the full press release here: 

Startup 4 Climate, the energy transition’s answer to Dragon’s Den, with a prize pot of 2 million SEK, has attracted no less than 63 entries and 7,025 votes from the public for its fifth-anniversary edition. Now, the competition management has selected seven of the eight finalists. Among the entries, we find everything from circulating showers and energy-efficient carbon capture to fossil-free graphite. The carbon footprint calculator, Climate Hero, won the “People’s Vote” and secured a place in the final. The 8 finalists will now move on to the final round on November 14, where they will pitch their innovation to the jury.

This year’s finalists are:
AirZyme Sweden – Biocatalysts for faster and more energy-efficient carbon capture
Hagnesia – Wind turbines with 10 times more power
Nordic Bio-Graphite – Fossil-free graphite
Rebaba – Circular batteries
MaMa Växtkraft – Local partnerships for district heating
Emission Twin – Digital twin supports companies’ climate efforts
EvoShower – Circulating shower reduces water and energy consumption by up to 90%
ClimateHero – Carbon calculator to understand and reduce your carbon footprint. Winner of the People’s Vote.

Read the full press relese here: 

Note: All votes in the People´s Vote have been run through a secure e-mail verification tool. Over 2000 email addresses were discarded in this process. The winning submission received 1882 votes.

Big congratulations to Flower for receiving a significant venture capital investment, with Northzone as a new major investor. Major owners from earlier, GodEl founder Stefan Krook and Karl-Johan Persson, also contributed to the investment round through 82an Invest, which is co-owned with the Wallenberg Foundation FAM. Flower is now valued at 1.1 billion SEK pre-money. Another new investor is Zebkei Invest. Flower opens the doors for all energy assets to actively contribute to stabilizing the uncertainties within the energy system—accelerating the energy transition.

Hurry up & listen to Maria Erdmann, CEO at  GodEl i Sverige AB – that donates all profit to charities – in the Feminvest podcast. She will talk about entrepreneurship, building companies and our green tech innovation challenge Startup4Climate.

Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dJZvMvU8

Johan Lindehag was interviewed in Under 15 podcast, talking about innovation and energy transition. Right now Swedish companies can apply to one of Europe´s biggest energy challenges. 2 million SEK is at stake.

Listen to the episode here:

This challenge is open for Swedish startups who, like us, want be part of accelerating the energy transition.

Join the challenge – Apply Now! 

For the fourth year in a row, Swedish entrepreneurs have been awarded in one of Europe’s largest innovation competitions for climate impact, Startup 4 Climate. The winners of this year’s competition, startups Cemvision and Novige, convinced the jury with fossil-free, circular, and energy-efficient cement; and a combined wave-, sun-, and wind power solution, respectively. The winning companies will receive SEK 1 million each and coaching from the jury.

Read the full story here: https://startup4climate.com/press/

Startup 4 Climate, the energy transition’s answer to Dragons Den with four times as much prize money as Robinson, has attracted a record number of contributions and an unprecedented interest from the public ahead of this year’s edition of the competition. Now the jury has named seven out of eight finalists with submissions covering everything from fossil-free cement, fusion energy and organic batteries, to AI for buildings. Climate gaming also gets a chance after the game Climatopia received the most votes out of 8,200 in The People’s Vote.

The eight finalists will now proceed to the final round on November 15, where they will pitch their innovations to the jury. Here you can find Johanna Mossberg from the Swedish Energy Agency, angel investor Jane Walerud, professor Lina Bertling Tjernberg, Stefan Krook who founded GodEl and Kivra, and Johan Lindehag CEO of the energy company Ellevio.

To the Shortllist

Note: All votes in the People´s Vote have been run through a secure e-mail verification tool. 684 email addresses were discarded in this process. The winning submission received 1087 votes.

It is fantastic to see how many people are engaging with the voting process on our website. We have now passed a milestone by exceeding 5000 votes, and will now hand over 25 000 SEK to Doctors Without Borders and their solar panel project in Sierra Leone.

But the People’s Vote does not stop here, it stays open until 24th of September! Pick your favourite by clicking “vote now”.  You can only vote one time. The contestant who gets the most votes will win a spot on the finalist shortlist and will get to pitch their idea to the jury at The grand finale November 15th.

Vote now !

Yesterday evening female entreprenur network Feminvest gathered their EXPAND members for an evening of mingling and exciting networking opportunities. Startup 4 Climate was there and talked about our most urgent initiative to date.  We sincerely hope that we will see more female entrepreneur applicants this year. ✨ Thanks for having us! 

Feminvest – Accelerating female ownership

The energy company Ellevio Energy Solutions AB doubles its shareholding in the young energy technology company Flower Technologies,
which specializes in flexibility and support services in the electricity system. The market for new energy services is growing
explosively, and Flower has had strong growth during the year.

Read the full article here:

Our jurymember and angel investor Jane Walerud participated in Under 15 podcast. Hear her story and learn why you shall apply to Startup 4 Climate innovation challenge.
Listen to the episode here.

Professor Lina Bertling Tjernberg, one of our jury members participated in the Under 15 podcast. Listen and learn more about energy transition, energy supply and electricity grids.
Listen to the episode here.