ANZ startups vie for PepsiCo APAC Greenhouse Accelerator grant

Three Australian startups and one startup from New Zealand are among the ten finalists vying for a US$100,000 grant from PepsiCo’s APAC Greenhouse Accelerator Program 2024.

The program, launched in January this year, provides support to startups in the food and beverage sector to develop sustainable solutions, connecting them with mentors, industry experts, and resources. This framework aims to foster development, accelerate market readiness, and enhance the scalability of their solutions.

Participants of the APAC Greenhouse Accelerator Program initially receive a grant of US$20,000 to help launch or scale their innovation. At the end of the program, the winner is awarded a US$100,000 grant.

Australia-based ELIoT Energy, Wildfire Energy, X-Centric and New Zealand-based Captivate Technology are among the finalists for the 2024 grant program and were selected by PepsiCo leaders. The startups were judged on their ability to deliver innovative solutions in sustainable agriculture, circular economy, and climate action.

“We’re proud to be supporting startups that are playing an active role in driving innovation within the sustainability space and are thrilled to see finalists from both Australia and New Zealand in our Greenhouse Accelerator Program 2024,” said Brent Gapes, national EHS & sustainability manager, ANZ at PepsiCo.

“The commitment of these brands, in driving impactful and sustainable solutions, aligns with our vision of driving a more resilient and environmentally conscious future for people and the planet. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with such innovators to create real change and tackle pivotal issues within the circular economy, sustainable agriculture, and climate change,” Gapes added in a statement.

Based out of Victoria, ELIoT Energy was founded by David Hauser in 2023 to revolutionise the way energy is consumed in the refrigeration system. The startup aims to decarbonise the food and beverage industry by tackling Scope-3 emissions through its cutting-edge energy-shifting devices. This is done through its plug-and-play batteries which users can control through an app.

According to the startup’s website, its energy storage solution lets users power their appliances with cheap and clean energy from renewable sources.

Founded in Brisbane in 2016, Wildfire Energy is developing technology for gasification and waste-to-energy applications. The startup — co-founded and led by CEO Greg Perkins, CTO Denis Doucet and general manager Jamie Roodenrys — is said to have developed a novel, proprietary gasification process to convert low-value biomass and waste feedstocks into high-quality syngas for electricity generation and production of fuels and chemicals.

According to the startup, testing is currently underway at a pilot plant located in Brisbane prior to the scale-up and commercialisation of the technology.

Sydney-based X-Centric was co-founded by CEO Roozbeh Ravansari and Junghyun Lee to develop “X-ray” instruments that can assess the health of soil correctly. These high-performance soil testing instruments are field portable and use proprietary technology to provide accurate, precise and low-cost soil characterisation in real-time to farmers and agronomists. Coupled with its mobile app and dashboard, the technology can help farmers use the planet’s limited resources more efficiently.

New Zealand-based Captivate Technology has developed a porous, solid-state material that is a sponge for carbon dioxide. According to the startup, this novel metal-organic framework (MOF) has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by selectively sieving carbon dioxide out from industrial off-gases. The process is continuous and recyclable, thereby allowing to generate an uninterrupted stream of carbon dioxide that can be stored or used. Founded in 2022 by professor Shane Telfer along with business development manager Nigel Campbell, the startup is said to be rapidly moving to pilot and demonstration scales in collaboration with partners and end-users.