Verizon Climate Resilience Prize year 2: advancing innovation for climate-tech solutions

What you need to know:

• Verizon’s second Climate Resilience Prize will award a total of $500,000 to four climate-tech organizations innovating to reduce climate change impacts on communities

• The four winners will be selected based on whether they can demonstrate proven, tech-based solutions that are ready to scale for at-risk communities

• Verizon will support winners in scaling their businesses through consulting and guidance in addition to awarding prize money

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Today, Verizon announced that the Climate Resilience Prize, an initiative focused on recognizing and propelling climate resilience solutions, will continue for a second year in partnership with GreenBiz and Resilient Cities Network, a global nonprofit focused on knowledge, practice, partnerships, and funding to help cities build safe, equitable, and sustainable futures for all citizens. Applications for the Verizon Climate Resilience Prize open on March 7, 2023 for $500,000 in funding that will be awarded across four entrepreneurs and/or start-ups that demonstrate proven climate-tech solutions that are ready to scale and that focus on at-risk communities. This initiative is part of Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental and social advancement; which is underpinned by using leading-edge technology to drive social impact and create lasting change across communities.

“Verizon has a longstanding commitment to using innovation, rooted in next-gen technology, to help mitigate the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable communities,” said Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer for Verizon. “With the second year of the Verizon Climate Resilience Prize, our goal is to support entrepreneurs and start-ups in expanding their innovative solutions to ensure everyone has an equitable chance to thrive as the climate changes.”

Applications officially opened at the Aspen Ideas: Climate Conference in Miami, Florida and will close on April 23, 2023. Four winners will be announced at the VERGE annual conference in San Jose, California this October. A judging panel consisting of industry experts will select four prize winners based on newly updated criteria this year, with each receiving a cash prize of $125K and post-prize organizational development support:

• Resilience-based solutions that leverage 5G-enabled technologies

• Focused on climate-related impacts to vulnerable populations in U.S. communities

• The solution is ready to scale

The Verizon Climate Resilience Prize application is open to innovators that have demonstrated results in a real-world application, been active in the market and are ready to
scale their solution upon consideration. Interested participants can apply now at www.greenbiz.com/verizon-prize.

“Verizon’s support, including next-gen tech through Year One of the Climate Resilience Prize, has enabled us to further scale our water-level sensor technology across the Great Lakes region,” says Branko Kerkez, co-founder, HyFi. “Their guidance and counsel has been invaluable as we work with community leaders, partners and other organizations to build climate resilience in communities most impacted by flooding in the Midwest, and beyond.”

The application opening for Verizon’s Climate Resilience Prize follows the recent announcement of the final allocation of the company’s fourth $1 billion green bond, the net proceeds of which were fully allocated to virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs). Verizon is a leading corporate buyer of renewable energy in the U.S., entering into 26 VPPAs totaling nearly 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity. Verizon’s VPPA portfolio, funded by the green bond program, puts the company on track to exceed its target of generating or sourcing renewable energy equivalent to 50 percent of its annual electricity consumption by 2025, and the company is working towards a new target to source renewable energy equivalent to 100 percent of its annual electricity usage annually by 2030.

To learn more about Verizon’s climate protection efforts, visit CitizenVerizon.com.