The Collaborative R&DB Programme for Promoting the Innovation of Climate Technopreneurship was established to address the critical financing gap of the early-stage climate technology ventures in Southeast Asia. Financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and accredited through the Korea Development Bank (KDB), the programme is co-implemented by GGGI, NH Investment & Securities (NH IS), and NH Absolute Return Partners (NH ARP). It operates across five Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Viet Nam.

With an approximately USD 200 million fund, the Climate Technopreneurship Fund managed by NH ARP integrates structured enterprise acceleration, cross-border R&DB collaboration, and blended finance investment to transform local climate innovation into scalable, investment-ready ventures. GGGI leads the National Climate Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme (N-CEAP) in each country, identifying and preparing high-potential start-ups for investment through tailored acceleration, ESG compliance support, and market validation activities.

The programme’s overarching goal is for populations across ASEAN countries to benefit from a low-emission, climate-resilient economy.

The project aims to accelerate climate innovation across Southeast Asia by identifying and supporting high-potential local climate enterprises through the N-CEAP, strengthening national innovation ecosystems, and connecting local ventures to global technology expertise and blended finance. The programme is expected to reach over 2.3 million people across the five target countries. To do so, the project focuses on four objectives:

– Enterprise identification and acceleration: Support promising start-ups and growth-stage companies in strengthening investment readiness, ESG compliance, governance, and gender mainstreaming through the N-CEAP.

– Ecosystem and capacity strengthening: Build national climate innovation ecosystems through institutional capacity building, accelerator training, and policy framework strengthening across all five countries.

– Market access and technology linkage: Connect local climate enterprises with global climate technology providers and cross-border R&DB collaboration opportunities. 

– Blended finance mobilisation: Facilitate access to the approximately USD 200 million Climate Technopreneurship Fund to scale investment-ready climate ventures.

Southeast Asia is among the most climate-vulnerable globally, yet receives a disproportionately small share of global climate finance, leaving promising local innovations stranded before they can reach scale. The region faces a critical financing gap for early-stage climate technology ventures, where traditional capital markets remain inaccessible to high-impact start-ups and small businesses.

Private sector investment in climate technology across Southeast Asia remains constrained by perceived risk, limited track records of local ventures, and structural barriers in domestic capital markets. Climate tech start-ups in the region face a pioneer gap: the critical juncture between proof of concept and bankability, where commercial financing is scarce, and failure rates are high.

KDB, as the GCF Accredited Entity, anchors the fund’s financial architecture, while NH Investment & Securities and NH Absolute Return Partners contribute investment structuring and portfolio management expertise. The programme is aligned with GCF’s strategic priorities on private sector mobilisation and NDC implementation, and contributes to ASEAN regional energy transition roadmaps and South-South knowledge exchange across participating countries.

– ~1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided over the programme lifetime

– ~USD 200 million mobilised through blended finance, with 40 investments facilitated across five target countries

– 200 local experts and trainers supported through capacity building, with national strategies endorsed by all five governments

– ~40 women-led SMEs selected as programme beneficiaries and 40 climate tech entrepreneurs established as pioneer industry players

– Regional communication hub and national technopreneurship networks established for cross-border knowledge sharing