Con X Tech Prize: $90,000 for bold conservation ideas
Submission Deadline: March 20
Find out more: https://conservationx.com/prize
Calling anyone ready to take action on their world-changing idea to collaborate, create, and catalyze new tech for conservation – Conservation X Labs is awarding $90,000 across 20 teams with the Con X Tech Prize!
CXL is seeking novel and transformative tools to conserve the world’s biodiversity and end human-induced species extinctions. Aimed specifically at projects teams that are considering their first prototype, the Con X Tech Prize grants 20 prototyping awards of $3,500 each to take your idea from blueprint to reality.
Then, the 20 winners of the first stage of the competition will go on to compete in the Second Stage for the Grand Prize of $20,000!
Finalists from past rounds of the Con X Tech Prize included:
Categories
This round of the Con X Tech Prize has two categories: Invasive Species, and Blue Sky. In the Invasive Species category, ideas are sought to prevent, eradicate, or detect invasive or introduced species – including in the fields of transportation, food security, or emerging pathogens. Blue Sky, meanwhile, awards any bold idea that addresses a critical conservation challenge.
Conservation X Labs believes in radical collaboration, and the strongest solutions and project teams will draw from a range of disciplines (e.g., behavioral sciences, engineering, computer science, molecular science, economics) and consider the impact, sustainability (financial and environmental), and scalability of their solution from the very beginning. The goal is to move from merely monitoring changing landscapes and species populations, to developing tangible solutions and creating real-life impact. Hardware and software submissions are welcomed, as well as any impactful solution idea that is enabled by technology and helps achieve a conservation outcome.
The potential benefits of your proof-of-concept can’t be understated; it can help your team validate a project idea, launch a successful crowdfunding campaign, net a strategic partnership, or even raise a successful seed investment.
The only question is: what will you build?
Deadline to submit your idea has been extended to March 20, 2019.
Timeline
How to submit
1. Create an account on the Digital Makerspace – the online community platform for conservation innovation projects.
2. Create a project and fill in the prompts to add detail and structure to your idea.
3. Once submitted, your project will be vetted to be hosted on the Digital Makerspace community. When approved, submit it to the Con X Tech Prize by clicking the Submit Project button at the top of the page.
4. Done! You’re in the running for one of twenty $3,500 prototyping grants – and one $20,000 Grand Prize.
Questions?
Email the Community Manager and prize administrator, Tom Quigley, at tom@conservationxlabs.org