Impact fund startup gets shot at ‘Nobel Prize’ of environmentalism

Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) put forward three companies for the prize offered by Earthshot, an environmental charity founded four years ago by Prince William.

Former prime minister Jacinda Adern who recently joined the board of trustees, describes the Earthshot Prize as the Nobel Prize for innovation in environmentalism.

XFrame, which has a modular reusable frame and cladding system, is nominated for the ‘build a waste-free world category’. The prize pool of £5m will be evenly spread among winners in five categories: protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, fix our climate, and build a waste-free world. The top 15 finalists will receive mentoring from international specialists on scaling up. The prize is highly contested, with more than 1,100 nominations from more than 100 countries.

XFrame came out of the VUW architecture school and is one of the early stage companies in Booster’s NZX-listed Innovation Fund (BIF). BIF has a specialised portfolio of companies that aim to make a positive impact on the world.