Metha8 and YAMA – start-ups delivering scalable decarbonisation solutions across diverse and hard-to-abate sectors – today won the top prize of S$1 million each in catalytic grant funding at The Liveability Challenge (TLC) 2026 Grand Finale.

The two start-ups beat six other finalists – selected from a record-breaking 1,500 submissions across more than 100 countries – to take home Asia’s most competitive climate tech prizes.

The Grand Finale also marked TLC’s largest catalytic funding pool to date, with up to S$4.3 million awarded to these disruptive deep tech start-ups.

The winners 

Metha8 (Singapore)

Metha8 has built a new way to generate reliable, clean electricity around the clock, converting methanol into power at 60 per cent efficiency – twice the output of conventional generators from the same amount of fuel – with none of the harmful emissions. Whether powering factories, data centres or off-grid communities, Metha8 offers something that has not existed before: baseload clean energy without compromise.

YAMA (France)

YAMA has solved a problem that has stumped the carbon capture industry for decades. Gas turbines power much of the world's electricity grid, yet no cost-viable technology exists to capture their emissions, until now. YAMA's solution works at the low CO₂ concentrations that conventional approaches struggle with, delivering up to 50 per cent lower costs, and is compact enough to bolt onto existing infrastructure without modification.

"There's so much potential, especially in Southeast Asia, to bring about bio-methanol production, and because our technology enables people to extract two times more power from every barrel of methanol that's produced, we will be a catalyst to accelerate the energy transition," said Zhaotan Xiao, CEO for Metha8.

 "It's really exciting [to win the grand prize] because it means that we will develop locally, so I'm very happy for that. I am also really impressed by the ... people that really want to make something for the planet. This is what drives me every day, so I'm happy to be surrounded by people that I trust can make change," said Aurélie Gonzalez, Founder and CEO of YAMA.

Metha8 also secured the Decarbonisation development funding from A*STAR.

Finally, an additional S$100,000 investment prize was awarded to YAMA by strategic partner CarbonFix, S$100,000 investment prize awarded to SPACECOOL by strategic partner Kibo Invest and a S$100,000 grant awarded to Endo Enterprises by strategic partner Enterprise Singapore. (See Appendix for partner quotes).

UP Catalyst from Estonia, which works on the utilisation of flue gas to produce battery-grade carbon materials at a lower cost, won the popular vote.

These catalytic funding opportunities are crucial with the equity investment landscape for climate tech start-ups in Southeast Asia hitting an over six-year low in the first half of 2025, with deals falling to 229 transactions and capital deployment at US$1.85 billion.

Capital flows are also shifting towards higher-quality assets with strong business fundamentals, prioritising later-stage projects ahead of early-stage deals.

By crowdsourcing the world for leading sustainability solutions and providing the funding and ecosystem support needed to take them to market, TLC plugs this financing gap facing many early-stage start-ups. This is vital in the urban tropics which face some of the highest climate risks globally, requiring deep-tech over incremental solutions.

This year’s TLC winners were selected after a competitive and rigorous judging session, with the eight finalists pitching their solutions live at the Grand Finale – a partner event of Ecosperity Week 2026 by Temasek and held at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

Established in 2018, TLC – a global crowdsourcing platform presented by Temasek Foundation and organised by Eco-Business, with the Decarbonisation theme co-presented by A*STAR – has grown to become Asia’s largest sustainability solutions platform, supporting the commercialisation of innovative technologies from the lab to market. 

To date, TLC has attracted thousands of applications globally, shortlisted and incubated 56 start-ups and deployed more than S$18 million in catalytic funding to help these start-ups who have gone on to raise hundreds of millions more.

“The Liveability Challenge was built on this belief: solutions to our greatest climate challenges need the right support to accelerate towards scale. Now in its ninth edition, this commitment is stronger than ever. This year’s finalists are showing strong promise across decarbonisation and cooling. Temasek Foundation is proud to provide catalytic funding that helps bring these groundbreaking innovations into real-world applications – advancing a more liveable future for generations to come,” said Heng Li Lang, Head of Climate and Liveability, Temasek Foundation.

"The Liveability Challenge connects A*STAR with innovators at a critical stage, when access to research capabilities, testbeds and industry-relevant validation can make the difference between a promising idea and a deployable solution. Through the Decarbonisation track, we look forward to supporting teams as they refine their technologies for real-world conditions and bring solutions closer to adoption," said Irene Cheong, Assistant Chief Executive, Innovation & Enterprise (I&E), A*STAR.

“With investors increasingly prioritising later-stage ventures with proven business models, early-stage climate innovators risk losing critical support despite their central role in driving novel decarbonisation and adaptation solutions. TLC plugs this gap by surfacing scalable, deep-tech solutions with high impact and strong long-term potential, while equipping them with the networks, visibility and investment readiness needed to secure capital and scale effectively,” said Jessica Cheam, Founder and CEO, Eco-Business.

The Grand Finale also featured an innovation dialogue, “From breakthrough to buy-in: Unlocking adoption for climate solutions", where past TLC winners – Ayrton Energy and Krosslinker – and ecosystem players, Hongpeng Lei, Chief of the Mitigation Branch, Climate Change Division at the United Nations Environment Programme and Jane Zhang, Head of Southeast Asia and Singapore, Fellows for Breakthrough Energy, examined how climate solutions can be designed and financed for resilience amid turbulent conditions.

The Grand Finale drew a 400-strong crowd in person from 17 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, with over 400 people tuning in virtually. 

For more information, visit The Liveability Challenge website at  www.theliveabilitychallenge.org.