• Winners will be part of an extensive network and introduced to various partners, mentors, and service providers to help them achieve their expansion goals.   
• They will also have access to an exclusive learning community where they can exchange ideas with their cohort peers in the cohort and other Regional Innovation Hubs through regular workshops and meetings.

• Receive support to expand the business to other geographies, products, or services 
• Attract and secure external investors by working with S/SEA RIH’s Brokering Unit.
• Examples of support categories:
  • Investment readiness
  • Commercial expansion
  • Marketing and communication
  • Digitalization and technology enhancement

Select organizations may qualify for grants to help achieve scaling goals, funding size ranges from $25,000 to $200,000 USD.

WE4F is open to legally incorporated/registered for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations or academic institutions which are responsible for generating revenue and maintaining a self-sustaining operational budget. 

Applicants must be legally incorporated in one of 15 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam.

If expansion into a new country is a key part of an applicant’s business plan, they must already have partners in place in that country to be considered.  

Applications responses must be written in English.

Applicants must contribute matching funds to the overall award, if a grant is awarded.

Applicants’ innovations must have a direct, tangible linkage to water-food, energy-food, or water-energy-food. In addition, innovations must directly or indirectly impact poverty reduction and gender equality, and  have a positive impact on the environment and avoid negative environmental effects.

OVERVIEW

The Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Asia Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy (EDGE) Ag-Energy Prize seeks business owners and entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia with game-changing innovations operating at the nexus of renewable energy, and agriculture.

The prize competition will spur, recognize, and reward outstanding enterprises from both youth innovators and mid-stage businesses in the Southeast Asian footprint. The prize competition aims to:

1. Identify and fund promising innovators at the nexus of renewable energy and agriculture;
2. Explore market activity about the nature, progress, and scale of small and growing enterprises in the region; and
3. Improve awareness of WE4F and Asia EDGE development initiatives among the business community.

The Prize is open to mid-stage businesses and youth innovators. Applicants will be judged on their understanding of the problems within the sector, the potential social impact of their innovation, the viability of their business model, and their ability to target markets at the base of the pyramid.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

The Prize includes a $345,000 cash prize purse for winners and runners-up, travel sponsorship to participate in the Clean Asia Energy Forum in Manila, the Philippines in June 2020, and customized acceleration services from the WE4F Asia Regional Hub.

In addition, 10 mid-stage and 5 youth innovator prize finalists will benefit from recognition on the WE4F website, communications materials, and travel support to participate in a co-creation workshop in Bangkok, Thailand in May 2020 to discuss challenges and opportunities in the renewable energy, and agriculture nexus in Asia.

ELIGIBILITY

Mid-Stage Enterprises Eligibility 

• To be eligible for the mid-stage prize, enterprises must have existing services or products in the renewable energy – agriculture nexus. Enterprises with unit costs of $100 or less must have a minimum of 2,500 customers; while enterprises with a unit cost of greater than $100 must have a minimum of 1,000 customers to be eligible.

Youth Innovators Prize

• For the Youth Innovators Prize, applicants must be under the age of 30 with a pre-revenue or post-revenue business model innovation in the renewable energy – agriculture nexus. The company must have a working prototype or minimum viable product along with a demonstrated BOP market segment being targeted, and be registered and operating within the countries in section.

CRITERIA

Applicants will be judged on:

• Understanding of the problems within the sector
• Potential social impact of their innovation
• Viability of the business plan
• Ability to target markets on the base of the pyramid

TIMELINE

APPLY

The open application period for the WE4F Asia EDGE Ag-Energy Prize has now closed.

RECORDED WEBINAR  

To access the recording of the Informational Webinar that was hosted on January 7th, click the following link for the recording.

To access the transcription of the Informational Webinar that was hosted on January 7th, click the following link for the transcript. 

RESOURCES

• Prize Rules
• Prize Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Lean Canvas Worksheet

WHO WE ARE

WE4F is a joint international initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Announced at World Water Week 2018 and launched at Social Capital Markets 2019 signature event in San Francisco, California, WE4F aims to: 

• Increase food production along the value chain through a more sustainable and efficient usage of water and/or energy. 
• Increase income for base of the pyramid women and men in both rural and urban areas.  
• Sustainably scale innovators’ solutions to meet the challenges in the WE4F nexus. 
• Promote climate and environmental resilience and biodiversity through the sustainable, holistic management of natural resources and ecosystems.

CONTACT DETAILS

WE4FAgEnergyPrize@gmail.com