Norberto Hosaka, director of Emprende UP, announced the launch of the ClimaTech project, through which the Universidad del Pacífico seeks to position itself as a benchmark in climate entrepreneurship in Peru. The initiative, developed in partnership with ProInnóvate and CleantechHUBs, will incubate startups that aim to tackle climate change through innovation. “The confluence of academic knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit, and environmental awareness is what makes initiatives such as Emprende UP's ClimaTech project particularly powerful,” Mr. Hosaka noted during the event.
Martha Zúñiga, deputy director of Emprende UP and general coordinator of the ClimaTech project, officially launched this initiative, which seeks to promote innovative solutions to climate change through entrepreneurship. Backed by ProInnóvate, CleantechHUBs, and other strategic partners, the project will develop incubation programs, mentoring, and financing for startups that look to make a positive environmental impact. The first call, made in partnership with CleantechHUBs, attracted more than eighty initiatives, of which ten will be selected to join the incubation program. Ms. Zúñiga stressed the urgency of acting in response to this crisis: “This is no longer a matter for the future; it is a matter for the present. The challenges of climate change have to be addressed now and can no longer be left to technical reports but transferred into action.”
“The role of innovation is as a fundamental driver to generate these climate change actions and support us in the transition towards cleaner and more resilient systems,” said Fernando Ponce Gómez, executive from the ProInnóvate monitoring unit during his contribution to the launch of the ClimaTech project. Mr. Ponce added that the national technological development and innovation program seeks to reinforce climate actions through entrepreneurship, technological development, and extension, supporting companies of all sizes with approaches such as the circular economy, clean energy, sustainable fishing, and resilient wellbeing. He also highlighted cases such as Leather Lab, which creates bio-leather from fruit residues, and SunKuu Pro, a software developed in Amazonas that allows SMEs to reduce their carbon footprint and save up to 10% in energy consumption.
For her part, Silvana Caro, executive director of Joint Solutions, reflected on entrepreneurial challenges in the current context of climate change, technological innovation, and the need to create a real impact. She stressed the urgent need to build sustainable proposals from a collective perspective and through robust alliances, leaving transactional logics behind. “The theory of change will help us to measure what we are addressing ... and design an alternative form of future to the one where we are already heading with current practices,” said Ms. Caro, with reference to the importance of planning with purpose and evidence.
.png)
Finally, Jennifer González, growth leader of CleantechHUB Colombia, shared her experience and vision, underlining the importance of replicating climate entrepreneurship models in Latin America. “We know that combating climate change is not a matter of a magic solution but thousands of small and local solutions that make up a global impact,” she explained. Ms. González, who has led CleantechHUB for two years, added that the initiative seeks to connect key actors in each country to strengthen the climate entrepreneurship ecosystem through incubation, acceleration, and training programs in partnership with universities and other regional partners. During her presentation she highlighted CleantechHUB's achievements, noting that they already operate in eight countries and have supported more than a thousand climate solutions.
The model, first introduced in Colombia in 2019, has successfully created green employment and empowered entrepreneurs with a sustainable purpose. “In Latin America we have enormous potential that sometimes we don't see. If we manage our ideas here, we can create many valuable solutions for the region and the world,” concluded the entrepreneur, with an emphasis on the importance of fostering a local mentality of action and collaboration to face climate challenges.
As part of the strengthening of international alliances for this initiative, on Tuesday, May 6, representatives of the Universidad del Pacífico attended a cocktail party at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Peru on the occasion of the launch of the new hub in Peru, developed in partnership with the UP. This event focused on publicizing the incubation and acceleration processes for green startups, in line with the priority areas of sustainability promoted by the embassy.
With the launch of ClimaTech Peru, the Universidad del Pacífico reaffirms its commitment to the country's sustainable development, driving academic initiatives that promote concrete solutions to climate change. Through articulation with strategic allies, the project seeks not only to incubate environmental-impact startups but also to bolster a climate innovation ecosystem that inspires and transforms the future of entrepreneurship in Peru and Latin America.