Pioneering young companies honored at the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2025

Power2Polymers from Germany wins top prize

From innovative chemical recycling and more sustainable polymers to renewable fuels, clean energy technologies and low-carbon building materials: the most promising innovators in the field of sustainable chemistry presented their ideas at the final of the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2025. The sixth edition of the start-up competition of the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) took place as part of the ISC3 Investor Forum at the Impact Festival on November 26 and 27, 2025 in Frankfurt. This year's focus topic "Sustainable Chemistry and Climate Change" presented practical, scalable solutions that contribute to reducing emissions and promote sustainability in various industries and regions.

After a close jury decision, Power2Polymers from Germany secured the ISC3 Innovation Challenge Award 2025, endowed with 15,000 euros, for more sustainable and high-performance polymer products for specialty applications that can reduce the product carbon footprint by up to 40%.
"Receiving the ISC3 Innovation Challenge Award 2025 is a great success for us. The competition has given us valuable visibility and connected us with many people who are interested in our solutions. The feedback from the pitch sessions was incredibly helpful, and ISC3 provides a fantastic platform for sustainable start-ups to present their innovations to an international audience," explained Dr. Guido Schroer, founder and CEO of Power2Polymers, full of enthusiasm. The Impact Festival jury was also impressed by the innovation: Power2Polymers came out on top against 74 competitors and also won the Impact Award in the Innovation category.

One of the two Special Impact Awards of the ISC3 Innovation Challenge, each endowed with 5,000 euros, was presented to AC Biode (Luxembourg/Japan) for its "Plastalyst" solution, which enables the chemical recycling of plastics that are difficult to recycle at low temperatures and completely without solvents. The second Special Impact Award went to the women-led company ClimEtSan-OnTheGround GmbH (Germany) for its circular climate solution, which integrates clean cooking, ecologically oriented sanitary solutions and the production of biochar fertilizer in countries of the Global South, while also enabling carbon offsetting and insetting.
The Impact Festival participants also selected Theseus Development from Ghana as the winner of the ISC3 Audience Award 2025 via a live digital vote among the ten presenting ISC3 start-ups.

Investor Talk: Financing climate protection solutions
On November 27, the ISC3 Investor Forum continued with an Investor Talk, opened by Dr. Thomas Wanner, Managing Director of ISC3, who called on industry, politics and investors to work together to drive innovation in the field of sustainable chemistry that supports climate-friendly measures.

In the session "Financing Innovative Start-Ups in the Chemical Sector", Simon Dierks, Country Lead Germany at Carbon13, spoke with Astrid Ewaz, Project Manager at the ISC3 Innovation Hub. Dierks shared insights from one of Europe's leading impact-oriented venture builders and made it clear to innovators and the Investor Forum audience why tackling climate change remains crucial: "It will come back to us like a boomerang. Then policy makers will push big companies not only to find and test new solutions, but also to implement greener and more sustainable processes - through regulation and carbon pricing - and they will be lining up for your solutions."

As part of the annual ISC3 event, the Impact Festival also hosted a masterclass on "Identifying Sustainability in Chemical Innovation". It was led by Dr. Alexis Bazzanella, Director of the ISC3 Innovation Hub, and Dr. Dorota Bartkowiak, Innovation Manager at the ISC3 Innovation Hub. Using practical examples, the participants discussed the application of the ISC3 Key Characteristics to assess the actual environmental and social impact of start-up solutions in the chemical sector.

The festival also provided an opportunity to meet the start-ups in person at the ISC3 stand.

Winners of the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2025
The finalists, who presented their solutions to investors and the Impact Festival audience, were selected from almost 100 start-ups from over 30 countries. The international jury was made up of 36 experts representing the leading areas of climate-focused sustainable chemical companies and other relevant fields.

The main prize of 15,000 euros went to Power2Polymers. The start-up from Germany impressed the jury with its more sustainable and high-performance polymer products for special applications, including lubricants, industrial adhesives and coatings for industries ranging from wood and furniture to electronics and the automotive industry. Their key innovation lies in the integration of POM, a versatile, stable but normally inactive building block, into new polymers in the liquid state. These improved polymers offer higher performance, better material compatibility and a realistic, PFAS-free alternative to conventional solutions.

In addition to the main prize, two Special Impact Awards, each worth 5,000 euros, were presented to AC Biode (Luxembourg/Japan) and ClimEtSan-OnTheGround GmbH (Germany). AC Biode was recognized for its Plastalyst solution, a chemical catalyst that makes even difficult-to-recycle plastics recyclable at low temperatures and converts them into monomers for plastics production. Plastalyst offers a cost-effective and scalable alternative as it combines the benefits of mechanical recycling with the ability to process a wide range of plastics instead of incinerating them or sending them to landfill. ClimEtSan-OnTheGround convinced the jury with circular climate projects that integrate clean cooking, ecologically oriented sanitation solutions and the production of biochar fertilizer in the Global South. At the same time, their approach enables carbon offsetting (compensation of CO? emissions through external projects) and insetting (reduction of emissions within the company's own supply chain) for international companies. The Audience Award went to Theseus Development, chosen by the festival participants via live digital voting. The start-up from Ghana wowed the audience with its geopolymer-based concrete, which provides low-carbon, high-performance building materials for affordable and resilient housing.

Outlook
ISC3 will further strengthen global entrepreneurship in the field of sustainable chemistry. The theme of the next ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2026 is "Sustainable Chemistry and Electronics". The application phase will start in December 2025. Further information will follow shortly on the ISC3 website https://isc3.org/page/innovation-challenge

Finalists of the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2025:

AC Biode's "Plastalyst" (Japan/Luxembourg) enables chemical recycling of difficult-to-recycle plastics at low temperature and without solvents. This produces valuable starting materials such as monomers, hydrogen and methanol.

CLIMASEL (Azerbaijan) is developing bio-based phase change material panels that absorb heat during the day and release it again at night. They stabilize indoor temperatures and reduce the energy required for cooling.

ClimEtSan-OnTheGround GmbH (Germany) implements circular climate projects that combine clean cooking, ecological sanitary solutions and the production of biochar fertilizer. Companies can offset emissions externally (offsetting) or reduce them along their supply chain (insetting).

ETB Global B.V. (Netherlands) has developed a process to produce bio-butadiene, a key building block for plastics, rubber and other chemical products, from bioethanol with a high conversion rate and selectivity.

Palki Motors Limited (Bangladesh) develops and produces electric long-distance vehicles with innovative quick-change battery technology for affordable and sustainable urban mobility in Bangladesh.

Power2Polymers (Germany) develops cost-efficient, more sustainable high-performance polymers based on a novel building block (POM), reducing the carbon footprint by up to 40%.

Spark e-Fuels GmbH (Germany) produces renewable, CO?-neutral synthetic fuels from renewable electricity and CO? to drive the defossilization of aviation.

Theseus Development (Ghana) produces geopolymer concrete that is low-carbon, high-performance and enables affordable, resilient housing solutions.

VerdiSol (United Arab Emirates) processes waste from the agricultural and food industries into nanofibers that improve soil quality, water retention and sustainable agriculture in arid regions.

Virgin Green Renewable Energy Limited (Zambia) converts biomass waste into charcoal briquettes, improved cooking stoves and wood vinegar. The company empowers local women entrepreneurs while reducing CO? emissions and deforestation.

konsequent PR

Osnabr?ck
Germany

Herr Ren? Sutthoff

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About the ISC3
The International Competence Center for Sustainable Chemistry promotes sustainable chemistry for a sustainable world. The ISC3 supports the chemical industry and chemical-related sectors in their transformation process through sustainable innovative approaches from sustainable chemistry. The aim is a circular economy that integrates the various aspects of sustainability across the entire life cycle of products and promotes a change in the behavior of all those involved. To advance the dialog between different sectors and actors worldwide, including Europe and other regions as well as emerging and developing countries, the ISC3 pursues a multi-stakeholder approach with the networking of political decision-makers, public and private sectors, education, science and society. It contributes to international chemicals policy, develops professional and academic training programs, advises companies and promotes start-ups and research. Founded in 2017 by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the center is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft f?r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA e.V.) as the ISC3 Innovation Hub. www.isc3.org

This release was published on openPR.