Launched in September 2020 in conjunction with CapitaLand’s 2030 Sustainability Master Plan, the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge will source for innovations on a global scale to meet the Group’s sustainability targets aligned with business needs as set out in the Master Plan. It is the first sustainability challenge by a Singapore real estate company on a global scale. Through the challenge, CapitaLand will source and deploy impactful and scalable innovative solutions. Read here to learn more about the CapitaLand 2030 Sustainability Master Plan.

CapitaLand Group (CapitaLand) is one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups.  Headquartered in Singapore, CapitaLand’s portfolio spans across diversified real estate classes which include integrated developments, retail, office, lodging, residential and new economy sectors such as business parks, industrial, logistics and data centres. With a presence across more than 250 cities in over 30 countries, the Group focuses on Singapore and China as its core markets, while it continues to expand in markets such as India, Vietnam, Australia, Europe and the USA.

Within its ecosystem, CapitaLand has developed an integrated suite of investment management and operating capabilities that supports its real estate businesses and platforms in building core competencies across the real estate value chain. With this full stack of capabilities, CapitaLand can optimise the strategies of its listed real estate investment management business CapitaLand Investment, and its privately held property development arm CapitaLand Development; to drive competitive advantage for its businesses.

CapitaLand places sustainability at the core of what it does. As a responsible real estate company, CapitaLand contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders.

CapitaLand launched its 2030 Sustainability Master Plan where we have set ourselves ambitious targets for the next decade.  We want to source globally for new ideas and technologies to meet our bold sustainability ambitions and working with like-minded partners to create shared values. 

CapitaLand believes in growing our business in a sustainable manner to create long-term value for our investors and improve the economic and social well-being of our communities. CapitaLand’s sustainability framework is centered around the ESG pillars- Environmental, Social and Governance. We have also added a 4th pillar Market Leadership which aims to push boundaries and exert market leadership. We have translated the ESG/Market Leadership pillars into three themes, which guide our Group to reach our sustainability targets: 

• BUILD Portfolio Resilience & Resource Efficiency
• ENABLE Thriving & Future-Adaptive Communities
• ACCELERATE Sustainability Innovation & Collaboration

Plug and Play is the appointed manager of CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge 2022.

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play has built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. 

Plug and Play APAC headquarters was launched in Singapore in 2010 and since then Plug and Play has expanded into Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Plug and Play has accelerated over 400 startups across various programs in the region, and invested in more than 60 startups from the Southeast Asia region. Plug and Play actively collaborate with regional governments as well as both multinational corporations and large conglomerates present in the region to accelerate innovation initiatives. More details about Plug and Play are available on their website: https://www.plugandplayapac.com/.

You are eligible if you are: 

a.       Aged 18 years or older;

b.       Not an employee of CapitaLand Group or Plug and Play;

c.       Not directly involved in the organization of or judging of the Challenge;

d.       Not immediate family members of any person directly involved in the organisation of or judging of the Challenge;

e.       proposing a solution that is at least at Technology Readiness Level 8 : The final product in its final configuration is successfully demonstrated through test and analysis for its intended operational environment and platform (ground, airborne, or space); and

f.       All Submissions must: (a) be original work owned by the Participant(s); and (b) not violate or infringe upon any Intellectual Property Rights or proprietary right or other rights including but not limited to contract, copyright, patent, trademark, open-source license permissions, and/or privacy rights, of any other person or entity.

The themes are:

1. Low carbon transition
2. Water conservation & resilience 
3. Waste management & circular economy
4. Healthy & safe buildings

Each theme has challenge statements that your solution should aim to address. More details can be found here.

We advise that you submit your solution in the theme where it has a competitive advantage. In the event that the shortlisting panel assesses that your solution is a better fit for another theme, you will be informed and given the option for your solution to be evaluated in the alternative theme.

Submissions for the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge was closed on 11 March 2022, 2359hrs Singapore Time (GMT +8).

Thank you for your participation!

A complete submission to the Sustainability X Challenge consists of two stages. 

Stage 1: Register your interest 

Register your project details here. Eligible applicants will be invited to submit the Full Submission Form within 7 days. Please be sure to whitelist @pnptc.com as emails may land in your junk folder.

Stage 2: Complete the full submission form

Upon receiving the invitation email from us, you may now access the full submission form. You will be required to provide more in-depth information on your innovation. At this stage, you can attach marketing decks, photographs or videos to support your proposal.

All full submission forms must be completed and submitted by 2359hrs Singapore time (GMT +8) on 11 March 2022.

(1)   Once submissions are closed, the organiser does a first cull to find the top 50+ entries of which up to 30 will be invited to pitch at Selection Day. This number depends on the quality of submissions.

(2)   The Organiser gathers a panel of investors, corporates and domain experts in each area to evaluate the shortlisted entries and pick 10 teams to advance to Demo Day. Submissions are selected based on the quality of their application, potential to create value for CapitaLand through a proof of concept or pilot, and their overall performance against the judging criteria set out for the Judging Panel.

(3)   Up to top 10 shortlisted teams are required to accept the invitation to participate in the mentorship programme and pitch at the Demo Day event within 3 working days. In the event they fail to do so, their spot will be given to the next best submission. 

Submissions will be reviewed and shortlisted by CapitaLand, Plug and Play and a panel of industry experts. For the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge Selection Day and Demo Day, a list and profile of judges will be published online prior to the event.

The submitted proposal must address the solution requirements stated under the relevant challenge statement. Projects will be judged according to the following criteria: 

• Impact
  1.  What is the extent of the solution in meeting CL’s 2030 Sustainability Master Plan targets?
  2. Does the solution solve an existing problem in a more cost-effective or efficient manner? 
  3. How significant is the quantifiable cost reduction or avoidance relative to the cost of implementation? 
• Innovation
  1. What are the technologies/ideals underpinning the proposal? Are they original? 
  2. Does the technology provide a new path to address energy & water efficiency or waste reduction? 
• Potential to scale
  1. How close is the solution to commercialisation and how much funding is required until then? 
  2. Can the solution be implemented in various countries for different property types? 

Teams/participants who are selected to progress into the CSXC 2022 Selection Day will be informed via email by early April 2022. On Selection Day, teams/participants shall pitch their final Submissions to a Selection Panel. The Top ten teams/participants from Selection Day will be announced in a few days after CSXC 2022 Selection Day. The Top ten teams/participants will enter the mentorship programme and pitch at CSXC 2022 Demo Day in July 2022.

Participants who are shortlisted as the Top 10 startups must:

(i) participate in mandatory mentorship programme and training sessions between April to July 2022 where employees from the CapitaLand Group and partners it appoints would help the Participants understand the CapitaLand Group’s business units better, refine the value proposition of their Submission and prepare for the CSXC 2022 Demo Day;

(ii) participate and pitch at the CSXC 2022 Demo Day scheduled in July 2022 and make a 3-minute pitch about their Submission to the Judging Panel of the Challenge; and

(iii) answer the judges’ questions in a 6-minute question and answer session after their pitch.

The Demo Day will be held virtually.

The information you provide on your submission will only be available to the following individuals:

- The CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge organizers (to manage the submission platform)

- The shortlisting panel (to evaluate your submission)

- The judges (to score your project)

- Our partners (to look for potential collaboration)

Your submission title and ideas may be announced in the public domain for the sole purpose of promoting the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge and its related events.

The top 10 startups with the most ground-breaking solutions will get to pitch them at the CSXC 2022 Demo Day tentatively scheduled for July 2022.

Up to 10 startups will each be given an exclusive opportunity to pilot, test and implement their solutions with CapitaLand, and the chance to secure up to S$50,000 in project funding. Three special recognition Awards’ winners (High Impact Award, Most Innovative Award and Carbon Action Hero Award) will each get additional S$50,000 to cover their pilots’ costs. All costs required to undertake the pilot may be covered by the project funding including (but not limited to) equipment and software costs, material and production costs, and manpower costs (excluding founders’ salaries). Travel and business development costs will not be covered. Manpower costs should not exceed more than 20% of the grant. 

This will be updated nearer to the date.