Impact Pioneers‘25 convenes in Stockholm to boost climate tech entrepreneurship globally

United by the work of enabling entrepreneurship and by a shared ambition to advance climate tech solutions, 62 leaders from 25 countries have shared an eight-week long journey as participants of Impact Pioneers'25. In late October they gathered in Stockholm for a week of networking with eachother and with the Swedish ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. The goal of the exchange is to strengthen the nurture, growth and impact of climate tech entrepreneurship globally.
Impact Pioneers’25 gathered at Epicenter Stockholm for a lunch with representatives from Swedish government agencies supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, both in Sweden and globally. Photo: Rickard Kilström Foto : Rickard Kilström Foto: Rickard Kilström

Impact Pioneers ‘25 is an initiative that sets out to promote international partnerships and exchange across ecosystems for entrepreneurship and innovation. It is developed by the Swedish Institute in collaboration with Swedish embassies and a network of partner organisations. The programme is designed to explore systematic solutions for enabling climate tech entrepreneurship, and invites participants representing the public and private sector as well as academia and civil society.

In response to the global call for applications in April earlier this year, nearly 1,200 individuals applied to join the programme. After a rigorous selection process that evaluated applicants based on experience, networks, and motivation, 62 participants from 25 countries across four regions were invited to form this year’s cohort.

Impact Pioneers ’25 brought together participants from different countries and sectors, all united by their work to strengthen the conditions for entrepreneurship in their countries. Pictured here, from left to right: Omar Abdelalem, National Officer of GEN Egypt (Egypt), Saif Eddine Laalej, Operations Manager at Enactus Morocco (Morocco), and Yomna Sany Mohamed Ahmed Elnahas, Head of Startups Acceleration at Nile University (Egypt). Photo: Rickard Kilström

Enabling Climate Tech entrepreneurship: digital sessions and Sweden Week

Throughout the programme, participants have exchanged experiences and knowledge around the overarching theme of ‘Enabling Climate Tech Entrepreneurship’. Different facets of the topic has been explored throughout an 8-week-long programme, running from August to November, with weekly digital sessions leading up to a Sweden Week component, with a gathering in Stockholm (19-24 October). The digital sessions have featured guest speakers from the Swedish ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation and has covered a range of topics, from personal leadership development to the sharing of practical frameworks and tools for climate tech business ideation, measurement, growth, and scaling.

Pictured here, from left to right Sandiswa Qayi from the Technology Innovation Agency in South Africa (South Africa), Omolayo Oyelakin, from GreeningUp Africa (Nigeria), Wangechi Wahome from Anza Village (Kenya). Photo: Rickard Kilström

The Sweden Week gathered all participants to an immersive week of learning and sharing in Stockholm. The week included networking with local entrepreneurship and innovation actors such as Epicenter, Norrsken, STING and KTH Innovation. Through interactive sessions, strategies for nurturing and scaling climate tech startups were shared, compared and benchmarked. The exchange during the week also included opportunities for Swedish startup founders, with ambitions to scale internationally, to pitch their ideas for the global participant audience.

The networking component was further highlighted with participants attending the TECHARENA Zero event and joining networking lunches, among others connecting participants with Team Sweden members such as Business Sweden, VINNOVA (Sweden’s Agency for Innovation), SIDA (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), Swedfund, The Swedish Energy Agency and the Swedish International Board of Trade.

When asked about the experience, participant Omolayo Ayomikun Oyelakin, Director of Environmental Strategy, Climate Innovation and Sustainability at Greening Up Africa in Nigeria shares:

‘As someone deeply passionate about sustainability and circular solutions, listening to Karin Ruiz (CEO at STING), and seeing how STING empowers entrepreneurs to turn bold climate ideas into scalable impact left me inspired. Engaging with founders buildling real solutions for a sustainable future reminded me why innovation and collaboration are the heart of lasting change”.

Experience sharing with the CEO of STING Karin Ruiz and some of promisting Climate tech startups in the STING community, was part of the tour of the ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation in during the Impact Pioneers week in Stockholm. Foto : Rickard Kilström

Iurii-Volodymyr Blavt, Partner at Civitta Ukraine, was among the participants representing the Ukrainian startup ecosystem. He shared his thoughts on what the programme offers him and his work of supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ukraine:

’Impact Pioneers is a program that offers a unique opportunity to learn from the Swedish model of collaboration between business, government and academia – where the ecosystem works exceptionally well. For me, this is more than an exchange of experience. It’s a platform that offers the opportunity to apply global best practises, establish long term institutional partnerships and give Ukrainian startups more room to scale globally.” 

Visible from left to right: Iurii-Volodymyr Blavt Partner at Civitta Ukraine (Ukraine), and Arƫnas Jurgelaitis, Head of Procurement at Litgrid (Lithuania) at the study visit at STING. Photo: Rickard Kilström

Looking ahead: future possibilities and new partnerships

As the week concluded, the sentiment among the participants was one of hope and anticipation. Through the exchange of ideas and firsthand experiences, they have shared networks, inspiration, and practical tools to support their work back home. Discussion on new concrete collaborations has already started, both among participants and with organisations in the Swedish ecosystem.

Impact Pioneers sets out to inspire regional collaboration, from left to right: Hoang Ngoc Nhung from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology HUTECH (Vietnam), Kotchakorn Khwamchareon from New Energy Nexus (Thailand), Ashwinkumar Wasnik from Atal Innovation Mission AIM (India), Ryan Alvin Mercado from Ateneo de Naga University (Philippines), Kasper Sermsuksan from SEA Bridge Thailand (Thailand), Pranjal Konwar from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (India), Siti Hawarina Simbolon Mulia from EduVation (Indonesia), and Sheryl George Crasto from Qubit Capital (India). Photo: Rickard Kilström

So what’s next? Filippa MalmegĂ„rd, Programme Manager for Impact Pioneers explains: “This is the second year of the programme and we look forward to listening to participant and partner feedback to see how to best develop the concept further. We are very thankful for all fantastic contributions of insights and experiences from both the international cohort, and the Swedish ecosystem who have both co-created and co-hosted this experience with us.”

Read more: SI Launches new Open Call for Impact Pioneers ’25

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