Electrified carbon capture technology and an innovation to convert methanol to electricity have won the top prizes of S$1 million (US$780,000) each at the ninth edition of The Liveability Challenge (TLC), Asia’s largest crowdsourcing platform for climate solutions.
YAMA, a France-based company has developed an electrified carbon capture technology designed to decarbonise dilute gas streams from natural gas power plants, enabling emissions reduction without major modifications to existing infrastructure.
The system uses an electrochemical process inspired by electrodialysis, combining proprietary non-toxic solvents and advanced membranes to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from flue gas, a form of industrial exhaust. In addition to the top prize money, YAMA was also awarded S$100,000 (US$78,000) by climate venture and advisory firm, CarbonFix, in funding.
Commenting on the win, Aurélie Gonzalez, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of YAMA, said she was thrilled to receive the grand prize, as it would enable the company to develop its technology locally.
“I am also really impressed by the … people that 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,” she said.
Singapore-based Metha8 was named the other big winner. They have developed a methanol-to-power system designed to deliver 24/7 baseload electricity at around 60 per cent efficiency while integrating low-cost carbon capture. The platform converts green hydrogen and captured CO2 into methanol, which can be transported using existing liquid fuel infrastructure and then reconverted into electricity on demand.
Its co-founder and CEO, Zhaotan Xiao said Southeast Asia has so much potential to bring about bio-methanol production.
“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,” upon receiving the award.
Metha8 also secured the Decarbonisation development funding from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) as part of its commitment of up to S$2 million (US$1.56 million) annually over the next three years to support TLC.
The two start-ups beat six other finalists selected from a record 1,500 submissions across more than 100 countries to bring home S$1 million each in funding from Temasek Foundation.
Other winners include Japan’s passive radiative cooling company SPACECOOL, which was awarded S$100,000 (US$78,000) by private wealth manager Kibo Invest and Endo Enterprises, a cooling solutions firm which won S$100,000 in grants by Enterprise Singapore. The award for the most popular vote by the audience went to UP Catalyst, a company from Estonia that uses flue gas to produce battery-grade carbon materials.
The winners were selected after a competitive and rigorous judging session and live solutions pitching live at the Grand Finale — a flagship partner event of Ecosperity Week 2026 held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
Heng Li Lang, head of climate and liveability at Temasek Foundation told Eco-Business that this year’s finalists showed strong promise across both solution categories and added that the organisation is proud to support these innovations into real-world applications through catalytic funding.
These opportunities are crucial as the equity investment landscape for climate tech start-ups in Southeast Asia hit a 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 shifting towards higher-quality assets with strong business fundamentals that prioritise later-stage projects over early-stage deals.
Commenting on emerging climate solutions in an increasingly disrupted world, Michal Klar, advisor at CarbonFix and founding partner at Better Bite Ventures said these innovations are both vital and urgent, as they pave the way for new systems, models and mindsets.
“Our disruptive world is a combination of old models cracking, outdated mindsets and irresponsible use of resources. Founders at TLC this year are tackling the most structurally underfunded problems, yet showing real technical proof points and commercial validation, which is genuinely rare for breakthroughs at this stage,” he added.
The Grand Finale also marked TLC’s largest funding pool to date with up to S$4.3 million (US$3.3 million) awarded to these disruptive deep tech start-ups.
Emily Liew, assistant managing director of innovation at Enterprise Singapore, who is also part of the judging panel, said the agency will continue to support these companies to grow and scale from Singapore, leveraging its strategic networks, infrastructure, capital and talent.
She noted that platforms like TLC play a key role in connecting innovative climate tech startups to ecosystem partners who can help translate ideas into real-world impact, adding that beyond scientific excellence, climate solutions must be commercially viable, scalable and easily integrated into existing systems.
Since its inception in 2018, TLC has incubated 56 start-ups from around the world and deployed more than S$18 million (US$14 million) in catalytic funding. Its alumni have raised hundreds of millions more in follow-on capital.
Singapore-based passive cooling innovator Krosslinker and hydrogen storage Canadian startup, Ayrton were last year’s winners. Krosslinker’s solution delivers round-the-clock cooling to cities using a zero-energy aerogel coating that could reduce electricity power costs by at least 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, Ayrton’s hydrogen technology uses a proprietary process to bring down the cost of hydrogen storage and transportation by up to 50 per cent, which makes up 85 per cent of the costs across the fuel’s entire value chain.
Australia’s CO2Tech also won S$100,000 (US$78,000) grant from Enterprise Singapore and plasma-based carbon dioxide recycling startup D-CRBN was voted the most popular solution among the live TLC audience.
The finalists for The Liveability Challenge 2026 were:
- Endo Enterprises (United Kingdom)
Closed-loop hydronic additive for the built environment that reduces energy for cooling by up to 15 per cent.
- FlueVault (Singapore)
Low cost, low-purity industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage with critical metal recovery.
- MacroCycle Technologies (United States of America)
Textile-to-textile polyester recycling technology with 80 per cent lower energy usage, 80 per cent lower CO2 emissions and 99 per cent less water usage, all at price parity.
- Metha8 (Singapore)
Methanol-to-power technology for 24/7 baseload generation with 60 per cent efficiency and integrated CO2 capture.
- Power to Hydrogen (United States of America)
Low-cost hydrogen production system with five times greater durability, 65 per cent lower capital expenditure and a pathway to US$2/kg of hydrogen.
- SPACECOOL (Japan)
Passive radiative cooling that cuts energy use by up to 11 per cent and reduces urban heat island effects.
- UP Catalyst (Estonia)
Utilisation of flue gas to produce battery-grade carbon materials at 26 per cent lower cost than conventional methods.
- YAMA (France)
Electrified carbon capture technology for dilute gas-fired streams, delivering up to 50 per cent lower costs than conventional methods while enabling flexible operation.
