Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute host the 2026 competition
The "Environment Startup Competition," which has long sought out promising startups in the green industry, is expanding its scope this year under a new name — the "2026 Climate, Energy and Environment Startup Competition" — to include the decarbonization sector.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute said they will hold the 2026 Climate, Energy and Environment Startup Competition on Thursday at Big Place in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Since its launch in 2018, the competition has focused on identifying startups in the environmental sector. This year, it broadened its scope to include decarbonization technologies such as clean energy and carbon capture and storage.
A total of 25 teams made the winners' list — 12 in the Idea category, open to prospective founders, and 13 in the Star Company category, for businesses up to seven years old. The top four teams in each category, eight in all, will present before a panel of expert judges and a public evaluation committee to compete for the grand prize (one team per category), the excellence award (one team) and the merit award (two teams).
Winning teams will receive tailored capacity-building support including education, mentoring and investment attraction assistance, as well as bonus points for entry into startup and venture green convergence clusters and exemption from selection evaluations when applying for environmental startup support projects.
Ten teams in the Star Company category with a track record of three years or less will be recommended for the finals of "K-Startup 2026," a cross-ministry startup competition, giving them a chance to compete against promising startups from across all sectors.
Oh Il-young, director general of the Climate and Energy Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, said "the growth of companies with outstanding technology and active entrepreneurship are the key to the decarbonization transition," adding that the ministry would "actively support startups leading the way into the decarbonization era in their efforts to successfully commercialize and enter the market."
thlee@heraldcorp.com
