2 Ugandan startups Bodawerk and Divine Bamboo are among the finalists for Start Up Energy Transition (SET) Award 2019, a project implemented by the German Energy Agency (dena) in cooperation with the World Energy Council.
In all, 15 startups from Europe, Australia, China, Thailand, Uganda, and the USA made it to the final round in five categories. The finalists offer future-oriented solutions from all areas of energy generation and supply leveraging emerging technologies.
Co-founded by Maria Nampijja and Divine Nabaweesi, Divine Bamboo is a social enterprise that is trying to promote environmental conservation by generating fuel from local Bamboo so as to reduce the usage of fuel from wood.
The startup says it prefers using Bamboo because it “grows fast and has an average rotation of 4years, it requires; minimal maintenance, no fertilizers or pesticides and can be integrated into both agroforestry and mixed farming systems.”
Related: Ugandan startup Bodawerk converts gas engine bikes to electric ones
On the other hand, Bodawerk Uganda is an engineering firm that is innovating for the transport industry by turning gas-powered motorbikes to electric ones. They also have solutions for the food industry.
The award ceremony will take place on April 9 in Berlin, Germany.
Speakers will include Frank Thelen (Founder & CEO at Freigeist Capital), Frank Salzgeber (Head of Innovation and Ventures Office at the European Space Agency), Zoe Adamovicz (Co-founder & CEO of Neufund), Renée Bruel (Senior Associate, Energy Systems at the European Climate Foundation) and Dr. Antje Danielson (Director of Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Energy Initiative (MITEI)).
Divine Bamboo was nominated in the category called Special Prize: Quality Access & SDG7 and they are competing against OffGridBox from the US and SunSawang form Thailand.
Bodawerk is in the same category as Einride from Sweden and Parking Energy from Finland vying for Innovative Mobility award.
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