discussion / Community Base  / 2 April 2020

Con X Tech Prize: Funding for early-stage conservation tech ideas

Hi WILDLABS community!

As so many of you here are working on exciting #Tech4Wildlife - I want to raise this funding opportunity for you all, the Con X Tech Prize.

The CXTP calls for submissions of bold ideas to solve conservation problems, and funds 20 of those ideas with $3,500 each to create their first prototype. These submissions need to be compelling and well thought-through, but do not need to have a working model or a full design - the goal of the prize is to provide the activation energy for new ideas to break through to a proof of concept. After a 12-week prototyping period, those 20 finalists compete for a grand prize of $20,000 to bring their idea to the next level.

Each year we pick a theme for the prize. The past few years we have focused on oceans and invasive species. Among the hundreds of projects submitted to past prizes were:

This year the theme of the Con X Tech Prize is Behavior Change, and we’re very excited to see the solutions that will result! We see behavior change as one of the most exciting areas of innovation in conservation, and one that can have extraordinary impact on the drivers of extinction. We are focusing on products and tools that will result in a change in behavior, rather than initiatives or campaigns.

If you’re not currently working on a project that’s the right fit, we’re running an Ideathon on April 25 – meant for participants to work with behavior change specialists and conservation experts, and come out of the half-day event with a robust, vetted idea ready to submit to CXTP by the deadline on May 4.

Hope to see some exciting new ideas come out of this community! Feel free to message me here on WILDLABS or email me at [email protected] with any questions.