RELEASE: P4G to Award $4.7 Million to 17 New Partnerships to Scale Innovative Climate Solutions

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WRI’s Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) initiative will provide grants and technical assistance to help these startup businesses to become investment-ready.

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2025) — Today at the 2025 P4G Vietnam Summit, P4G’s Executive Director Robyn McGuckin announced $4.7 million in grant funding will be provided to 17 innovative startup partnerships in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. This financing will help early-stage businesses become investment-ready, enabling them to scale climate solutions like sustainable agriculture, food loss and waste, energy storage solutions and water security.

At COP29, wealthy nations agreed to increase climate finance for developing nations, setting a new target of $300 billion annually by 2035, an improvement from the previous $100 billion goal. However, this falls short of what’s needed. Global leaders emphasized that public and private sector actors, including governments, businesses and financial institutions, work together to mobilize $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

P4G’s model of providing early-stage funding and technical assistance aligns with this urgent need to mobilize climate investment. By bridging early-stage finance gaps, these startups can attract further capital and drive systemic change across key sectors. By 2027, these partnerships aim to collectively leverage $42 million in investments, create over 4,500 new jobs, benefit about 830,000 people and reduce or avoid around 450,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

“Startups can play a catalytic role in advancing the climate transition, yet they remain significantly underfunded,” said Robyn McGuckin, Executive Director, P4G. “With P4G’s specialized support, these startups will scale investable adaptation and mitigation solutions that will not only build resilience in climate-vulnerable regions but also create pathways for sustainable economic growth and private-sector investment.”

P4G connects early-stage startups to nonprofits and technical specialists who can help them strengthen their market understanding, business proofs and Environmental-Social-Governance strategies to make their solutions more attractive to investors. These new P4G partnerships will focus their efforts on Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa and Vietnam.

Startup partnerships also benefit from P4G’s National Platforms — national level public-private platforms— who gain real-world insights from the startups and connect them to relevant agencies, facilitate policy dialogues, and host workshops to create a more enabling market environment for climate businesses.

One of these partnerships, BATx – Fundación Socya, will use its funds to reduce e-mobility waste and scale sustainable energy storage in Colombia and Latin America. By refurbishing end-of-life lithium-ion batteries for reuse in energy storage systems, BATx is creating a circular economy that cuts waste and lowers environmental impact. 

“BATx is poised to become a leading provider of energy storage solutions in Latin America,” said Pablo Castellanos Ramelli, co-founder and COO, BATx. “P4G’s support will help us scale rapidly, deliver cost-effective, second-life battery systems and advance Colombia’s renewable energy transition.”

Some of the partnerships receiving funding include:

• Mobius Energy – Savant – solar-electric refrigeration system for commercial transport vehicles in South Africa.
• Waterlife - Max Foundation – safe drinking water through solar-powered and treated water hand pumps in Ethiopia.
• enfarm - CARE – IoT-powered soil sensors to improve soil health and crop yield for smallholder famers in Vietnam.

P4G received 150 applications for this round of funding. An Independent Grants Committee, comprising climate and impact investing experts, evaluated the shortlisted partnerships to select the final recipients.

Since its launch in 2018, P4G has evaluated over 1,000 applications and funded 119 partnerships that have mobilized over $526 million in total investment within their sectors, generated more than 14,000 jobs and prevented more than 11.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions. P4G partnerships focus on providing products and services in climate-smart agriculture, food loss and waste reduction, water resilience, zero-emission mobility and renewable energy.

View the full list of partnerships and their solutions.

About P4G 

P4G helps early-stage climate startups in emerging markets and developing economies become investment ready. We provide startups with grants and technical assistance, and partner them with national level public-private platforms to help navigate the marketplace. Through this approach, P4G strengthens market systems for climate entrepreneurs and accelerates just and resilient country economic transitions. Hosted by World Resources Institute and funded by Denmark, the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea, P4G accelerates food, water and energy partnerships in Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa and Vietnam. To learn more, visit www.p4gpartnerships.org.

About World Resources Institute 

WRI is a trusted partner for change. Using research-based approaches, we work globally and in focus countries to meet people’s essential needs; to protect and restore nature; and to stabilize the climate and build resilient communities. We aim to fundamentally transform the way the world produces and uses food and energy and designs its cities to create a better future for all. Founded in 1982, WRI has nearly 2,000 staff around the world, with country offices in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States and regional offices in Africa and Europe. Learn more at WRI.org and on X @WorldResources.