H&M Foundation Is Calling for Innovators
The H&M Foundation is once again looking for candidates for its Global Change Award.
Innovators, entrepreneurs and start-up specialists can now apply for the 2023 award. Entries are being accepted until Dec. 8. They will be vying for the chance to be one of five winners who will share a grant of 1 million euros that is being ponied up by the H&M Foundation. The five will also have the opportunity to access a yearlong GCA Impact Accelerator program to fast-track their business plans.
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Launched in 2015, the award has attracted more than 20,000 entries to date, according to an H&M spokesman. The Global Change Award is designed to draw attention to early-stage innovations that strive for planet positivity, and is the largest of its kind in the fashion industry. The aim is to have GCA winners bolster their ingenuity so that it can have greater reach and environmental impact.
Last year’s winners included BioPuff by Saltyco, a U.K. company that offers a plant-based alternative to goose down, and the Swedish Biorestore, which makes a laundry solution that restores old and well-worn garments. The India-based CottonAce by Wadhwani AI, AI designed to reduce pesticide use; the China-based Re:lastane, a mild process to make elastane and polyester, and the American resource Rubi, a company that produces viscose and lyocell from carbon emissions, were the other 2022 GCA winners.
The H&M Foundation and the H&M Group do not take any shareholder equity or intellectual property rights in the innovations. That arrangement enables GCA winners to team up with whomever they choose to, with the hope that their advancements will lead to major change for the entire industry.
This year’s approach will focus on innovations and solutions for one of three categories — Regenerate, Repurpose and Reimagine. Regenerate seeks solutions toward positive effects. Repurpose is geared for solutions related to circularity. And Reimagine aims for solutions that have not yet been imagined. The 2023 GCA winners will be revealed in June. The winners will be selected by a panel of authorities. They will gain coaching and support from the H&M Foundation, as well as from its partners Accenture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and The Mills Fabrica.
