TheVentureCity, an international, operator-led venture accelerator designed to make the global entrepreneurial ecosystem more diverse, today announced its strategic partnership with World Bank, an international financial institution that provides loans and grants that fight poverty, climate change, and worldwide sustainability issues. The partnership designates TheVentureCity as the official accelerator of World Bank’s annual Innovate4Climate event that brings together business, finance, policy and technology leaders to accelerate action on financing climate-smart development, and highlights startups making global change.

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Led by CEO and founder Laura González-Estéfani, TheVentureCity will train startup finalists from Innovate4Climate’s Pitch Hub Competition, placing special emphasis on product, growth, engineering and data, as well as on fundraising strategy, internationalization, and media relations.

The World Bank team leading Innovate4Climate explains that they are “delighted to work with TheVentureCity as a partner of the World Bank’s I4C Pitch Hub Competition acceleration program in support of finalist companies from around the world. TheVentureCity designed and virtually facilitated a Pitching Bootcamp, Bootcamp Incubation and Mentoring Program for our Pitch Hub finalists. With their experience, they designed these programs to provide our finalists with useful knowledge and experiences that each startup can apply to their business practice. TheVentureCity’s global reach, grassroots knowledge of business building, and investor perspective helped startup founders continue to build their businesses in the hands of capable mentors. The team brings great experience, knowledge but also empathy as entrepreneurs.”

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This year’s Innovate4Climate Pitch Hub Competition took place virtually on June 18 and focused on companies with well-defined, innovative and smart climate solutions that help cities reduce emissions and increase resistance to climate impacts. The five startup finalists were: A2P Energy, Carbon Checkout, Freshbox, Life Pack and Sadeem.

  • A2P Energy (India): A2P is focused on biomass waste fuels, solving problems with open field paddy straw burning by converting the straw into useful and sustainable products.
  • Carbon Checkout (Spain): Carbon Checkout is a carbon offset software application for the retail industry that seamlessly integrates into e-commerce stores.
  • Fresh Box (Rwanda): Fresh Box develops a mobile cold room that aims to reduce post-harvest loss of agricultural products in Rwanda, increasing value across the produce supply chain.
  • Lifepack (Colombia): Lifepack creates biodegradable plates made of natural fibers and seeds that give disposable plates a second life.
  • Sadeem (Saudi Arabia): Sadeen is a proprietary wireless detection system for flood warnings and flood mitigation.

“It was very inspiring to work with this unique set of mission-driven founders, solving meaningful problems,” says Andy Areitio, Fund Partner at TheVentureCity. “They are building companies that will ultimately shape the evolution of our current world and of generations to come. It was also very refreshing to have such an amazing diversity of international founders.”

“Working with the World Bank on the Innovate4Climate Pitch Hub startup acceleration program has allowed us to interact with brilliant entrepreneurs from around the world solving the most difficult problems caused by climate change,” adds Jimena Zubiria, VP of University at TheVentureCity. “I was so inspired by the five finalists and their passion to build a better world for all of us. From Sadeem’s winning flood monitoring team to Lifepack’s eco-friendly packaging, I believe it is thanks to entrepreneurs like them that our planet has the opportunity to overcome the effects of climate change.”

Since the beginning of 2020, TheVentureCity has added more than 20 startups to its five-month acceleration program, including an investment of $100,000 per startup. This is the inaugural year of TheVentureCity’s custom World Bank program. However, TheVentureCity’s program has been running for three years. Now, the experience has been tailored to global recognition and climate change impact in order to support Innovate4Climate companies.

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