Ben Guerir – Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) organized on October 20 the third edition of “Climate Launchpad,” the largest competition for clean tech and green business ideas, where start-up entrepreneurs showcase their creative projects and bring innovative solutions to climate change.
According to the organizers, the competition aims to prepare Moroccan project stakeholders and start-up initiators for “successful access” to global markets through extensive training, mentoring, and accelerated programs.
“We have some great talent. We get surprised every year with the talents that we see developing in Morocco,” Moroccan entrepreneur Ahmed Larouz told Morocco World News (MWN) in an interview on the sidelines of the event.
Larouz, who hosted the entire competition, also highlighted that Moroccan start-ups are capable of competing at the international level, and hopes that winning the regional finals will qualify them for the global finals in the Netherlands.
Entrepreneur & Marketing Manager Ahmed Larouz
Also speaking to MWN on the sidelines of the competition, the jurors spoke glowingly of the quality of the projects presented by Moroccan startups.
Farid Chaouki, Director at a research laboratory for New Management Practices (NPG) and one of the jury members, said, “My first impression regarding the projects is that there are some very good ones with great ideas.”
“I would say that there are a few original ideas, which are one of the selection criteria for this project in terms of uniqueness, innovation, impact on the climate, and the use of renewable energy,” he added.
Another jury member, Aness Fallahi, who was a start-up initiator and now an experienced and successful co-founder of Weego, said that “it was very interesting to see start-ups working on cleantech solutions” whose ideas impressed all the jury members.
Three winners of Climate Launchpad Morocco have been selected to represent the country on the global stage.
Read also: Start-Ups Showcase Innovations at UM6P’s ‘Solutions Village’
One of the winners is El Mahdi Aboulmanadel, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deepleaf, “a deep learning lab” dedicated to transforming the way crops are grown using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.
Having secured a spot in the upcoming competitions, Deepleaf is now looking forward to representing Morocco on the global stage.
“The next step will be to rework our presentation and make it clearer in terms of climate impact and how Deepleaf provides farmers with solutions,” enabling them to follow good farming methods like using fewer chemicals and releasing less CO2 into the air, Aboulmanadel told MWN.
The start-up winners alongside the jury members
Another rising entrepreneur is Soukaina Bellam, co-founder of Jodoor, an Agritech start-up aiming to “democratize controlled environment” farming in Africa, specifically the soilless cultivation termed “hydroponics.”
She also told MWN of her excitement to take her project to the next level, stressing: “This technology has a high potential for agriculture in Morocco and in Africa because it’s saving water, producing more, and securing the revenue for traditional farmers in general.”
When asked about a common challenge the start-ups faced in their efforts, Jonathan Lobe, another member of the jury that oversaw the competing startups’ innovative projects, mentioned “lack of experience.”
But this is “quite normal,” Lobe hastened to add, explaining that the majority of start-ups are run by students who have just started their entrepreneurial journey.
Connecting with experienced, larger companies “or people within their teams who have experience” is the best way to address this lack of experience, Lobe argued, stressing that this “definitely plays a big role in getting them to the next level.”
