The Earth Prize recently hosted the first edition of Sharks for a Sustainable Future, a live pitching session where top applicants and alumni presented their projects in front of a high-level expert jury.
The session is designed as an opportunity for young changemakers who are already in later stages of development to practice pitching in a real-world setting. Rather than competing for a prize, participants receive something equally valuable: direct feedback, strategic guidance and encouragement from experienced investors, operators and ecosystem leaders.
Selected teams - all finalists, winners or standout participants from previous Earth Prize cohorts - pitched solutions addressing urgent environmental challenges, from food systems and drought resilience to urban regeneration, digital climate engagement and energy efficiency.
- Kultibado (Philippines) - a food waste platform connecting farmers directly with restaurants and consumers to reduce waste and increase farmer income.
- Defying Drought (India) - a proposed biodegradable soil bead that captures humidity from the air and gradually hydrates crops in drought-affected regions.
- Preserve Our Roots (Nigeria) - a community-led initiative transforming underused waste spaces into green public parks built from recycled materials.
- Entropy (United States) - a platform helping data centres reuse waste heat by connecting it to district heating networks.
- Let’s Conserve (Nigeria) - a digital platform designed to help people learn, connect and take collective environmental action through community and gamification.
Each team delivered a four-minute pitch followed by a live Q&A, giving founders the chance to test their narrative, clarify their business model and explore next steps with expert guidance.
Projects were reviewed by a panel of experienced leaders across investment, technology and climate ecosystems:
- Snehal Deshmukh, Startups Community Manager at NVIDIA
- Louise Huterstein, CEO & President of Solo Holdings AG and President of the Young Investors Organisation
- Sally Kakar, Founder of Kach Capital
- Peter McGarry, Founder of The Earth Foundation
Across the session, teams received encouragement alongside constructive feedback on areas such as product validation, partnership strategy, scalability, business models and user adoption.
As Peter McGarry, Founder of The Earth Foundation, explained at the beginning of the event to the teams:
Sharks can be scary - but the sharks here today, we are on your side. This is part of your journey, a very small milestone, and we all want this to be a very positive, fulfilling experience for you.
The format reflects The Earth Prize’s broader approach: supporting young innovators not only with funding, but with real exposure to how ideas are evaluated in practice. By pitching to a high-level jury, the teams gained clarity on next steps, identified blind spots and built confidence presenting their solutions to external stakeholders.
Sharks for a Sustainable Future will continue as part of The Earth Prize ecosystem, creating additional pathways for alumni and advanced teams to move from promising ideas to real-world implementation.
Applications for The Earth Prize 2027 are now open. Students aged 13–19 with an idea to tackle environmental challenges are encouraged to apply early to gain access to mentorship, resources, community and opportunities such as Sharks for a Sustainable Future.
By joining The Earth Prize community, young people not only develop their projects, but they gain real opportunities to test them, pitch them and bring them to life. Find out more and apply at www.theearthprize.org.