Hyfi, the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, and Coral Vita share in the spoils of prize aimed at scaling solutions to reduce risks posed to communities from climate impacts
A clutch of US start-ups focused on climate disaster relief and prevention have snapped up more than $150k each from telecommunications giant Verizon, which unveiled the winners of its inaugural Climate Resilience Prize yesterday.
A company that has developed a platform that water levels in areas at risk of floods, a firm that recruits ex-prisoners for forestry work that can prevent wildfires, and a business that grows corals on land before planting them in degraded underwater reefs were named the award winners at the GreenBiz 22 conference taking place in Arizona.
Respectively, Hyfi took home first prize in next-gen technology category, while the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program came out top in the frontlien community-led solutions section, and Coral Vita took first place in the nature-based solutions award.
The $500k prize, which is designed to support next-generation solutions that have already demonstrated results in the real-world, according to Verizon. The prize was first announced at GreenBiz’s Verge 21 Conference in October, with the three finalists picked from a pool of applications by a panel of industry and subject matter experts, it explained.
The competition, held in partnership with GreenBiz and the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Climate Resilience Centre, was open to companies focused on protecting vulnerable communities most at risk from climate impacts.
“At Verizon, we feel it is our responsibility to not only address the impacts of climate change but to use our resources and technology to develop and implement innovative solutions that help advance society,” said Carrie Hughes, director of social innovation for Verizon. “Our Climate Resilience Prize winners have proven they are ready to bring positive change to at-risk communities immediately, and we’re proud to support and help scale these game-changing innovations for the betterment of our planet and for those who live in it.”
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