Abu Dhabi's CLIX 2019 Receives 100% Growth in Startups Applications

CLIX – which is an initiative from ADSW’s flagship event, the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), and hosted by the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and in strategic partnership with UAE Space Agency – aims to connect entrepreneurs with investors so that they can partner to accelerate the development of innovative and commercial climate change solutions.

In 2018, CLIX received over 364 submissions from entrepreneurs and startups, with 27 finalists selected to pitch their ideas to investors on the CLIX stage.

A Marketplace to Accelerate Commercially-Viable Innovations in Space, Energy, and Food

For its 2019 edition, CLIX has received more than 750 submissions from over 70 countries and plans to increase the number of selected finalists by 80 percent, up to a total of 48 startups and pre-startups. CLIX ’19, which is scheduled from 14 to 17 January 2019, expects to attract over 3,000 entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, industry experts, young professionals and students to be a part this unique sustainability marketplace gathering.

The inaugural edition of CLIX was focused on innovations that solve challenges in air pollution, clean mobility and agriculture. While CLIX ’19 will focus on innovations that address challenges in space, which includes technologies traditionally used in space to support sustainable development here on Earth; energy, which includes innovations in energy storage, energy efficiency, and renewable energy generation; and food, which includes technologies aimed at enhancing sustainable agriculture systems like vertical farming, biotechnology, and drones and robotics.

CLIX finalists will be able to leverage WFES’ standing as a global industry platform to network with over 33,000 decision makers, policymakers, experts, and investors, and showcase their innovations at the WFES Expo.

Engaging, Empowering and Educating Youth at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2019

CLIX ‘19 will be a major segment of the Youth 4 Sustainability Hub, a new ADSW initiative aimed at empowering and mobilizing youth to accelerate sustainable development. With CLIX aimed at supporting startups with commercially viable products to realize the next phase of development, other programmes at the Youth 4 Sustainability Hub will cater to students and young professionals seeking to advance their skills and future careers in the sustainability sector.

The Future Skills 2030 programme will take students on a comprehensive journey to explore how advancements in digital technologies are driving transformative change in government, academia, and business. Beyond preparing and equipping young people with insights on the skills needed to succeed in future high-priority sectors, Future Skills 2030 aims to empower young people to become entrepreneurs that are able to leverage emerging technologies to contribute their own innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges.