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Tencent today announced the top 50 finalists, coming from 12 countries and regions around the world, for its CarbonX Program 2.0 (CarbonX 2.0), a landmark initiative to accelerate next generation climate technologies and the essential capabilities needed for a net-zero world by 2050.

These innovators, selected from more than 660 applicants across 54 countries and regions, are competing for a share of RMB200 million (approximately US$28 million) in catalytic funding. Winners will also receive technical resources, expert mentorship, and opportunities to pilot their solutions in real-world environments, including in climate vulnerable regions such as Kenya, the Maldives, and Serbia.

Bridging the “Valley of Death” in Climate Innovation 

The path from breakthrough discovery to real-world impact is often blocked by what experts call the ‘Valley of Death’ – the critical gap between early-stage innovation and large-scale deployment. Many climate technologies fail to progress due to limited funding, partnerships, and testing environments.

The CarbonX Program was created to close this gap. It does this by building a global ecosystem where scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders work together to accelerate the scaling of climate solutions, offering comprehensive support beyond mere financing.

“The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our time and tackling it demands both bold innovation and collective action across the global ecosystem,” said Davis Lin, Senior Vice President of Tencent. “With CarbonX, we are not only investing in groundbreaking ideas, but also creating the pathways to turn them into real-world solutions. By bridging the gap between research and deployment, we aim to accelerate technologies that can store, transform, and reduce CO₂ emissions at scale, laying the foundation for a truly low-carbon future.” 

Scaling Climate Innovation Across Borders

Building on the success of its inaugural program focused on China, CarbonX 2.0 has expanded globally to identify and support promising early-stage climate technologies. The 50 finalists represent a diverse mix of universities, research institutes, and startups working at the forefront of four key areas:

1. Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): Supporting pilots in Kenya to accelerate scalable, cost-effective solutions for permanently removing historic CO₂ emissions, with the potential to reduce direct air capture (DAC) costs substantially.

2. Industrial Decarbonization (CCUS for Steel): Advancing breakthrough approaches to reduce lifecycle emissions in steel production with pilots in Serbia. The focus is on developing cost-effective and scalable industrial carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) solutions for hard-to-abate industries.

3. Carbon Capture and Utilization (CarbonXmade): Transforming captured carbon into chemicals, and ultimately into consumer products. This creates a circular value chain that turns waste into consumer goods, with early market adoption supported by brand premiums in China.

4. Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Providing real-world scenarios in the Maldives to refine and validate emerging technologies, to meet the growing demands of renewable energy expansion – with flow batteries showing strong promise for commercially viable, long-duration storage.

In early 2026, a global panel of multi-disciplinary experts will evaluate and select the winning teams to receive grants and other resources to pilot their technologies in those regions and create measurable impact.

CarbonX Summit 2025: Inspiring Collective Action

The announcement was made at the CarbonX Summit 2025 in Shenzhen, a convening of finalist teams and leaders from business, academia, and policy to explore how innovation ecosystems can accelerate climate action globally. The Summit spotlighted the role of catalytic finance, inclusive deployment, and multilateral collaboration in achieving the Paris Agreement targets. 

“Sustainability can only be achieved through innovation,” said Hao Xu, Head of Climate Innovation at Tencent. “By supporting the world’s brightest climate entrepreneurs, we aim to harness technology as a force for good — addressing one of humanity’s most urgent challenges while creating shared value for future generations.” 

For more information about CarbonX 2.0, please visit the program website.

Appendix: List of Top 50 Finalists of CarbonX Program 2.0

Anomaly detection use case will be demonstrated live with partner Q-KON at AfricaCom 2025

Herndon, VA, 28 October 2025 – ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satellite communications, today announced its AI-powered network analytics platform proof of concept that enables operators to anticipate and resolve network issues before they escalate. This underscores how real-time insights, predictive analytics, and anomaly detection are reshaping satellite network operations. 

ST Engineering iDirect’s platform leverages both historical and real-time data—such as weather patterns—to predict throughput, identify anomalies, and drive proactive interventions. By minimizing downtime and maximizing network reliability, it empowers operators to meet customers’ expectations and deliver exceptional service by ensuring uninterrupted connectivity. The platform will help operators cut operating expenses, streamline resource management, and transition from manual to autonomous workflows, driving greater customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

“Our strategy goes beyond connectivity. We’re developing value-added applications that help our customers run smarter, more resilient operations and create a true competitive edge,” said Sridhar Kuppanna, CTO and SVP of Engineering at ST Engineering iDirect. “By enabling operators to resolve issues early, optimize resources, and boost workforce efficiency, our network analytics platform advances both business outcomes and customer satisfaction.”

The platform was recently validated in a real-world use case. Q-KON, a leading provider of satellite communication solutions in Africa, utilized ST Engineering iDirect’s platform to detect anomalies affecting network performance. The early identification of a recent installation error allowed Q-KON to take corrective action and avoid service degradation, directly improving customer experience and operational performance.

“The insights gained from ST Engineering iDirect’s network analytics platform will be transformative,” said Dr. Dawie De Wet, CEO of Q-KON. “The ability to predict and prevent issues before they impact service will raise our operational standards, ensure reliable connectivity for our customers and enable us to offer advanced service packages.”

Live demonstrations of the platform will be hosted at Stand C63 during AfricaCom 2025, Nov 10-13, 2026. Register today.

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Media contact:
Martyn Gettings Tank PR
Email: martyn.gettings@tank.co.uk

Toronto, October 29, 2025 – Today, the Catalytic Climate Finance Facility (CC Facility) announced it has awarded USD 870,000 to its new cohort of grantees. The selected projects include the Southeast Asia Blue Innovation Facility (SEA-Fund), the Regenerative Capital Fund (ReCa), and the FTB Green Credit Facility.  

The CC Facility, a partnership between Climate Policy Initiative and Convergence, provides working capital grants of up to USD 500,000 to help scale early-stage financial solutions that mobilize private capital for climate action in developing economies.  

The Facility and its team of experts also provide up to 18 months of tailored technical assistance to address barriers and maximize opportunities to increase the investment pipeline. 

The three vehicles were selected following a rigorous review process from a pool of more than 500 submissions worldwide. Each vehicle addresses investment barriers in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, supporting projects in maritime decarbonization, climate-resilient agriculture, and the clean energy transition. 

“These three vehicles stood out for their rigor, creativity, and strong potential to mobilize private capital for climate impact,” said Joan Larrea, CEO at Convergence. “In an era of diminishing foreign aid, blended finance initiatives like the CC Facility are proving indispensable, by fast-tracking climate solutions that not only deliver impact but also attract the capital needed to sustain it.” 

With support from three anchor donors – The Gates Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – the CC Facility targets a main obstacle to scaling blended climate finance: the challenging acceleration stage, when promising financial vehicles try to attract investment across diverse markets.  

SELECTED VEHICLES: 

The Southeast Asia Blue Innovation Facility (SEA-Fund) will be structured as a USD 450 million sustainability bond or asset-backed security to finance infrastructure projects with a focus on maritime decarbonization, alongside a USD 50 million venture capital fund dedicated to early-stage ocean and climate-tech startups.  

The Regenerative Capital Fund (ReCa) is a USD 400 million blended equity vehicle that mobilizes institutional investment to scale regenerative agriculture and nature-based solutions across Sub-Saharan Africa through long-term, climate-aligned, and inclusive agrifood investments.

FTB Green Credit Facility is a USD 160 million program offering affordable, long-term loans and guarantees to help Cambodian banks and businesses invest in green projects.  

QUOTES 

“We applied to the CC Facility to accelerate the structuring and launch of the SEA Fund—a blended finance vehicle addressing the maritime decarbonization and climate adaptation gap in Southeast Asia—by leveraging the Facility’s catalytic capital and technical support. We aim to gain catalytic validation, structuring expertise to mobilize concessional and institutional investors, shorten time-to-market, and unlock the first wave of investable projects across the region,” said Vicky Lay, Partner & Head of Impact of Artesian. 

“We applied to the CC Facility to strengthen the ReCa Fund’s impact frameworks, enhance our investor readiness, and build confidence in a scalable blended finance model for regenerative agriculture and climate adaptation across Africa. We hope to gain targeted technical assistance to refine our impact and gender KPIs, and catalytic grant support to accelerate due diligence, capital raising, and the successful launch of the ReCa Platform,” said Duncan Vink, Joint Managing Director of Signature Agri Investments. 

“Our participation in the CC Facility marks a strategic commitment to pioneering the future of green finance in Cambodia. We are honored to collaborate in developing robust financial products and governance frameworks designed to mobilize private capital at scale. Through this Facility’s unique combination of grant funding, expert technical assistance, and a collaborative network, we will launch investable blended-finance models that directly address both climate mitigation and adaptation and improve critical services for Cambodia,” said Dith Sochal, CEO of Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia. 

ABOUT THE CATALYTIC CLIMATE FINANCE FACILITY 

The Catalytic Climate Finance Facility (CC Facility) is a solution to scale climate finance by filling a market gap in mobilizing private capital. The CC Facility provides a range of services to market-ready blended finance vehicles in developing economies to help them expand their reach. Through grant funding, technical support, and a learning hub, the CC Facility accelerates the implementation of high-impact financial structures while providing resources to the broader ecosystem on how to best catalyze climate finance. The initiative is a partnership between Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and Convergence. 

MEDIA CONTACTS 

Sijia Yi
Head of Communications
Convergence Blended Finance
sijia.yi@convergence.finance   

Annie Woscoboinik
Communications Associate
Climate Policy Initiative
annie.woscoboinik@cpiglobal.org 

Anomaly detection use case will be demonstrated live with partner Q-KON at AfricaCom 2025

Herndon, VA, 28 October 2025 – ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satellite communications, today announced its AI-powered network analytics platform proof of concept that enables operators to anticipate and resolve network issues before they escalate. This underscores how real-time insights, predictive analytics, and anomaly detection are reshaping satellite network operations. 

ST Engineering iDirect’s platform leverages both historical and real-time data—such as weather patterns—to predict throughput, identify anomalies, and drive proactive interventions. By minimizing downtime and maximizing network reliability, it empowers operators to meet customers’ expectations and deliver exceptional service by ensuring uninterrupted connectivity. The platform will help operators cut operating expenses, streamline resource management, and transition from manual to autonomous workflows, driving greater customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

“Our strategy goes beyond connectivity. We’re developing value-added applications that help our customers run smarter, more resilient operations and create a true competitive edge,” said Sridhar Kuppanna, CTO and SVP of Engineering at ST Engineering iDirect. “By enabling operators to resolve issues early, optimize resources, and boost workforce efficiency, our network analytics platform advances both business outcomes and customer satisfaction.”

The platform was recently validated in a real-world use case. Q-KON, a leading provider of satellite communication solutions in Africa, utilized ST Engineering iDirect’s platform to detect anomalies affecting network performance. The early identification of a recent installation error allowed Q-KON to take corrective action and avoid service degradation, directly improving customer experience and operational performance.

“The insights gained from ST Engineering iDirect’s network analytics platform will be transformative,” said Dr. Dawie De Wet, CEO of Q-KON. “The ability to predict and prevent issues before they impact service will raise our operational standards, ensure reliable connectivity for our customers and enable us to offer advanced service packages.”

Live demonstrations of the platform will be hosted at Stand C63 during AfricaCom 2025, Nov 10-13, 2026. Register today.

*****

Media contact:
Martyn Gettings Tank PR
Email: martyn.gettings@tank.co.uk