SparkLabs Opens $75K True Zero Global Prize to Korean Climate Startups Ahead of COP31

There’s a tremendous challenge commonly faced by Korean climate-tech founders: proving that a solution that works in Korea can also scale internationally. A successful domestic pilot may still leave investors asking whether the technology can cross borders, win customers overseas and attract global capital.
Today, as Korea expands support for climate-tech commercialization and proof-of-concept projects in 2026, SparkLabs is offering another path forward through the $75,000 True Zero Global Prize. The competition, held ahead of COP31, offers sustainability ventures a rare shot of visibility in front of an international judging panel.

Korea’s Climate-Tech Pipeline Is Moving Past R&D

South Korea has added more structure around climate-tech commercialization in 2026. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups expanded its carbon-neutral commercialization support with tracks covering technology commercialization, field validation and investment-linked projects.

In June, MSS also opened the climate-tech edition of its public-private “Everyone’s Challenge” program. Eight corporate and public-sector demand organizations presented 82 collaboration challenges, with around 60 startups targeted for selection and up to KRW 140 million available for prototype development and proof-of-concept (PoC) work.

Yes, Korean climate ventures are gaining more opportunities to demonstrate their technologies to domestic buyers under real-world deployment conditions. But companies aiming to scale globally face another question: will that proof eventually hold up beyond Korea?

True Zero Adds a Global Stage Ahead of COP31

SparkLabs Group and SparkLabs True Zero opened applications for the True Zero Global Prize on September 1. The worldwide competition is open to startups and organizations, including nonprofits, developing solutions in sustainability, regenerative technology and planetary health.
The prize pool totals USD 75,000, with USD 50,000 awarded to the first-place winner and USD 25,000 to the second-place winner as grants.

Not only that, but the finalists are also scheduled to present on October 5, and the winners will be announced on November 15 during COP31, which runs November 9 – 20 in Antalya, Türkiye.

The prize focuses on carbon reduction, renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage and transportation. And True Zero also highlights emerging markets and nonprofit innovation among its primary areas.

The Panel Brings More Than Climate Investors

The exciting prize pool may be one reason to pay attention to True Zero. But beyond the prize itself, the startups selected as finalists will have the opportunity present to a 34-member judging panel with expertise spanning climate and energy, artificial intelligence, agriculture, finance, policy, law, media and venture capital.

After all, Korean climate-tech companies may be able to build strong technical credentials and validate products through domestic R&D and PoC programs. But international expansion will certainly raise a different set of questions:

Will overseas investors understand the economics? Can the technology fit corporate procurement needs? How does the business case change under another regulatory system? Can the company explain its value clearly to decision-makers outside Korea?

Now, several of the True Zero judges work directly in areas connected to those questions.

Investors and Corporate Partners

• Albert Chung, Managing Principal and Head of Climate Investments at Allstate, brings an institutional-investor perspective focused on carbon emissions, climate resilience and adaptation.
• Brendon Kim, Managing Director of Hyundai CRADLE, adds experience in corporate innovation and early-stage investment across mobility, smart infrastructure, energy and sustainability.

For a Korean startup preparing to approach global strategic investors or corporate partners, their backgrounds represent two audiences climate-tech companies frequently encounter as they expand: institutional capital and corporate innovation teams.

Technology Commercialization and Deployment

Technology expertise on the panel adds another perspective for companies trying to move beyond technical validation.

• Laura Modiano, OpenAI’s Head of Global Founder Experience, works with founders, venture firms, accelerators and startup teams globally.
• Duncan Anderson, who leads the developer ecosystem for NVIDIA Earth-2, works with researchers, startups and industry partners around AI-accelerated climate and weather simulation.
• Kathiresan Ramprakash of NTU’s Energy Research Institute leads technology translation efforts and works across industry, startup and government stakeholders to move early-stage ventures toward commercialization.

Their backgrounds point to a practical commercialization question: how does a technically strong solution become something industries can deploy and scale?

After all, for Korean technology companies, engineering strength is only part of that case. They also need to show how the technology fits existing industries, creates measurable value and can move beyond a successful local demonstration.

Policy, Market Context and Global Scale

Climate technologies also enter markets shaped by regulation, energy economics and public policy, making that expertise relevant to companies planning international expansion.

• Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and Co-Founding Dean of the Columbia Climate School, works at the intersection of energy, economics, environment and policy.
• John Pleasants, Co-founder and Chairman of sustainability platform HomeBoost, previously held senior roles at Samsung Electronics, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts and Ticketmaster. His background brings experience across technology businesses, corporate operations and international markets.

Korea and the Wider Asian Ecosystem

The panel also includes professionals with experience connecting Asian companies, founders and capital with international markets.

• Yumiko Oka, Vice President at HiJoJo Partners, previously led cross-border partnership programs connecting global founders with Japanese corporates and research institutions at Antler.
• Esther Song, Founder and CEO of Song Group, advises companies and investors on global expansion and strategic partnerships across the United States and Asia. She previously served as Korea Country Manager at Akamai, where she led the company’s Korean operations and growth.

What Founders Can Gain

For Korean climate-tech founders, the True Zero Global Prize offers more than just another source of grant funding. Reaching the finalist stage puts their technology and business in front of global investors, corporate innovation leaders, AI and energy experts, policymakers and international business executives.

Bernard Moon, Co-founder and Partner at SparkLabs Group, told KoreaTechDesk that access could ultimately mean more than the grant itself.

“Far more than these small grants, it will be the connections and advice they will receive during and after the contest from the incredible panel of world-class judges.”

And that is crucial for companies preparing to expand beyond Korea. Capital can extend a startup’s runway, but international commercialization also depends on understanding how investors, corporate buyers, technology partners and market experts evaluate the business.

And that exposure can help founders answer the questions that actually matter when expanding beyond Korea:

• Is the technology ready to scale internationally?
• Can it solve a clear problem for global customers?
• Does the business model make sense to investors and corporate partners?
• Can the team explain its impact in a way that resonates across different markets?

Moreover, the finalist presentation also becomes an opportunity to build credibility, sharpen the company’s global story, and open conversations with potential partners and investors. Founders will need to show not only what their technology does, but also why it matters, who will pay for it and how it can create measurable impact at scale.

By participating in the True Zero Global Prize 2026, Korean startups can compete for the opportunity to actually showcase what they have built before a panel of expert from multiple fronts, including investment, technology, industry, climate and policy. And for companies ready to take their solutions beyond Korea, that visibility may be as valuable as the prize money itself.

Why SparkLabs Is Looking to Korea

True Zero Global Prize 2026 organizer, SparkLabs has been actively encouraging Korean participation. Moon told KoreaTechDesk that the competition is intentionally broad in the climate innovations it is seeking.

And while the organizers have identified carbon reduction, renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage and transportation as target categories, Moon said SparkLabs is looking more broadly for “any impactful innovation on our climate and renewable future.”

Not only that, but this competition also builds on SparkLabs’ existing connections with Korea’s innovation ecosystem, including the Suwon-based GINT, which develops intelligent tractor systems, and Seoul-based n.thing, a smart-farming company whose container-farming solutions have reached the United Arab Emirates. SparkLabs Group has also invested in more than 600 startups worldwide.

Based in Ankara, SparkLabs True Zero is a joint initiative between SparkLabs Group and Net Zero TEKMER, a Turkish innovation hub focused on sustainability. The initiative brings sustainability, AI and entrepreneurship together under one platform, with its global sustainability accelerator scheduled to launch after COP31.

Hence, the True Zero Global Prize 2026 offers Korean founders an international opportunity within a relationship SparkLabs has been building through Korea’s startup ecosystem. The competition also gives climate and sustainability ventures a chance to showcase their work to a broader network of investors, operators, technology leaders and policy experts as SparkLabs expands its global sustainability platform.

What Korean Climate Startups Should Bring to the Application

Registering for the competition will give Korean startups an opportunity to demonstrate how solutions they had developed in Korea can address challenges in international markets.

R&D results, proof-of-concept data, customer pilots and early sales can show that a solution has moved beyond the idea stage. But to make that progress meaningful to a global audience, founders should explain what problem the technology solves, who needs it, how customers are using it and why it could work in other markets.

And that is vital because each group of the judging panel may assess the company from a different perspective: investors may focus on growth and returns, corporate partners may consider whether the product can be deployed, and technology experts may examine its technical strength.

Founders should therefore present a clear, consistent story that connects the technology, market need and business opportunity across all of these audiences.

And for companies already testing or selling their technology in Korea, the application should naturally lead to what comes next. Applicants can build that connection by identifying the international markets they could enter, explaining the value they could create there and showing how their Korean results demonstrate that the business is ready to expand.

Taking Korean Climate Innovation Beyond Its Home Market

Korea’s climate-tech ecosystem is moving from research to real-world deployment. The next challenge is turning that progress into global visibility, investment and partnerships.

The True Zero Global Prize gives Korean founders a direct route to that opportunity, with USD 75,000 in grants, a 34-member international judging panel and the chance to present ahead of COP31.

So, are you ready to take your climate innovation global?

Applications for the True Zero Global Prize are open through September 28, 2026.

Apply for the True Zero Global Prize Today

Your next breakthrough opportunity could be one application away.

Key Takeaway

• True Zero Global Prize applications close September 28, 2026.
• The competition offers USD 75,000 in grants, with USD 50,000 for first place and USD 25,000 for second place.
• Eligible applicants include startups and organizations worldwide working in sustainability, regenerative technology and planetary health.
• Finalists are scheduled to present on October 5 to a 34-member global judging panel spanning climate, AI, agriculture, finance, policy, law, media and venture capital.
• Winners will be announced November 15 during COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
• For Korean climate-tech startups, the competition provides an opportunity to present domestic R&D, PoC and commercialization progress to an international audience and demonstrate the broader market case for their technology.
• Applications can be submitted through the official F6S page before September 28.

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