Start-up Yuon Control wins European green business competition

Delft / The Netherlands, November 17, 2023 – Start-up Yuon Control from Switzerland has emerged as the winner at the European Regional Final of ClimateLaunchpad 2023. ClimateLaunchpad is one of the world’s largest green business competitions for climate solutions, powered by Europe’s leading climate innovation agency, EIT Climate-KIC and supported by Bank of America.

Yuon Control AG participated alongside 339 other teams from 17 European countries with its cleantech idea: a predictive and intelligent heating control system that optimises district heating networks and reduces energy consumption.

Yuon Control addresses a key energy consumption challenge
According to the ClimateLaunchpad jury, Yuon Control earned first place for its innovative solution to address the challenges of managing energy consumption and greenhouse gases in a sustainable way. Yuon Control has strong market potential and an idea that could create a lasting, positive impact.

“ClimateLaunchpad has been a great journey,” says Sebastian Hersberger, co-CEO of Yuon Control. “We aim to make our heating control system the new European standard for heat management. Winning this green competition encourages us to realise that ambition.”

Runner up and third place
The runner-up was Simpl Energy from the Netherlands. The company uses a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to tackle electricity grid congestion by optimising the generation, storage and transport of electricity for business customers. Start-up Reaforma, from the UK, came in third place with its idea to transform construction waste into durable low-carbon building materials, reducing the reliance on natural resources.

Prizes for the Top 3
The winner, runner-up and third place will receive a cash prize, as well as tailored industry support and access to peer-to-peer networking, to help grow their businesses.

8 teams on an international stage in the Regional Final Europe
The finalists represent the top three ideas out of the 339 green start-up applications submitted from 17 European countries. Each of the teams received support through Boot Camps and world-class business training, before competing in a series of highly competitive National Finals, to select the top 42 teams to advance to the European Semi Finals. In the Regional Final Europe held on 17 November, the top eight cleantech teams battled on an online stage, pitching their ideas live to an expert jury.

Broader benefits
The programme aims to enable all participating start-ups to make a positive impact. Through ClimateLaunchpad’s training, all the entrepreneurs, not just those landing on the podium, had the opportunity to develop their idea, business case and their confidence, ultimately providing them with tools to help scale their businesses.

Over the past decade, ClimateLaunchpad has attracted applications for 15,222 business ideas, resulting in the development of 4,487 teams to become green entrepreneurs, and creating more than 15,000 full-time jobs.

Unlock world’s cleantech potential
ClimateLaunchpad’s goal is to inspire creative entrepreneurs to unlock the world’s cleantech potential with breakthrough innovations in emissions reduction and climate adaptation, to transform the way we consume, move and live.

Bank of America has supported the ClimateLaunchpad’s European programme since 2020. Alongside financial support, Bank of America teammates have mentored start- ups, hosted networking events and served as jury members in the European Finals.

Where to (re)watch the Finals
Want to see more competitive start-up ideas that can change the world? Rewatch the battles held earlier this month: Regional Final Africa (3 November), Regional Final Asia Pacific (10 November), and Regional Final Latin America & Caribbean (16 November).

The full list of Finals can be accessed at: https://finals.climatelaunchpad.org/regional-finals/.

Partners & organisation of ClimateLaunchpad
The competition is organised by ClimateLaunchpad, based out of the Innovation & Impact Centre of Delft University of Technology, in The Netherlands. This Final was broadcasted from The Green Village, a field lab for sustainable innovation in the urban environment.

Emilie Bronsing, Programme Lead, ClimateLaunchpad:

“It’s an honour to facilitate this European Regional Final in close cooperation with all of our 17 participating European Countries, Bank of America and EIT Climate-KIC. It’s so inspiring to see more than 50 start-ups pitching their ideas to tackle climate change! I was impressed by the level of the participating teams. We witnessed teams with so much potential and spread over different pain points within our climate challenges. I am proud that after ten editions of this programme, the quality of the teams still continues to grow. We will see a significant number of them turn into profitable businesses that create lasting impact, like many of their alumni predecessors over the past ten years. We wish these European teams every success.”

Kirsten Dunlop, CEO EIT Climate-​​KIC:

“For all its intense challenges, confronting the climate emergency is an opportunity to draw inspiration from the natural world and innovate for positive change. For the last ten years, ClimateLaunchpad has been a vibrant platform for individuals who care to make a difference to seize this opportunity and take the first steps towards developing climate solutions through entrepreneurship across the spectrum of adaptation and resilience, blue economy, circular economy, clean energy, food systems, sustainable mobility and urban transformation. As we applaud this year’s winners, we encourage all aspiring and passionate innovators to connect, collaborate and build a fair, beautiful, and climate-resilient society together.”

Andrea Sullivan, International Executive, Social & Environment Group, Bank of America:

“ClimateLaunchpad, in cooperation with Climate-KIC, has a track record of nurturing creative entrepreneurs to deliver positive social and environmental impacts.  The innovation is inspiring, and Bank of America is proud to be a longstanding partner in this progress.  We are committed to mobilising capital to support the transition to a secure and sustainable low-carbon economy and our partnership with Climate-KIC enables that goal for us all.”

More detailed information on all 2023 finalists: https://climatelaunchpad.org/finalists/

About ClimateLaunchpad

ClimateLaunchpad, the world’s largest green business ideas competition, celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2023. Its mission is to unlock the world’s cleantech potential that addresses climate change. A green future demands thousands of innovations challenging the current business models. The competition supports aspiring and promising cleantech entrepreneurs with training, coaching, and networking opportunities. ClimateLaunchpad operates on a global scale, currently in 49 countries. ClimateLaunchpad was established in 2014 and is part of the entrepreneurship offerings of EIT Climate-KIC.

Since its start, ClimateLaunchpad has attracted up to 15,222 ideas that resulted in 4,487 teams trained to become a green entrepreneur. The ClimateLaunchpad programme is run in close collaboration with local partners (National Partner Organisations). It is organised by the ClimateLaunchpad team, based out of the Innovation & Impact Centre of Delft University of Technology, in The Netherlands.

About EIT Climate-KIC

EIT Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, using a systems approach to shape innovation to support cities, regions, countries and industries meet their climate ambitions. Together with partners across the globe, EIT Climate-KIC acts to bridge the gap climate commitments and current reality by enabling decision makers to investors to act. They find and implement solutions in integrated ways and mobilise finance. They build skills to accelerate learning and explore innovation, opening pathways to shift mindsets and behaviours. Through radical collaboration, EIT Climate-KIC orchestrates large-scale demonstrations that show what is possible when cycles of innovation and learning are deliberately designed to trigger exponential decarbonisation and build resilient communities.  www.climate-kic.org

About Bank of America 
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centres, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).