Announcing The Winners Of The Con X Tech Prize: The Amazon

WASHINGTON DC, November 21, 2024 — Conservation X Labs (CXL) has announced the winners of the Con X Tech Prize (CXTP): The Amazon, and is recognizing three groundbreaking solutions that promote regenerative economies and biodiversity conservation in the Amazon.

The CXTP is a prototyping competition series launched by Conservation X Labs in 2018 with a mission to bring technological innovation to bear on the hardest conservation challenges. In early 2024, with the support of Schmidt Futures and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a fourth round of the CXTP was launched, with a specific focus on the Amazon and a mission to transform the Amazon's destructive, extractive economies into modern, regenerative ones. This round of the CXTP was also designed to democratize innovation within the Amazon itself, prioritizing innovators from the region.

In total, CXL received 112 applications from innovators in 30 countries. An external review committee selected 20 finalists, each of whom received grants to develop prototypes aimed at building regenerative economies in the Amazon. Over the past six months, these teams refined their solutions, and today, an expert jury selected three winners.

The winners are:

• $20,000 Grand Prize Winner: Patch Healing (Peru) - Patch Healing created a revolutionary advancement in burn treatment that leverages the healing, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties of Huito (Genipa americana L.) extract.
• $5,000 Prize Winner: Grouse Fibre (UK) - Grouse Fibre developed “Biobind,” an agricultural twine that converts abundant proteins from the Amazon region into useful fibers.
• $5,000 Prize Winner: Centro de Investigación Le Qara (Peru) - Centro de Investigación Le Qara created “Nouvtex,” a biotextile that combines the sustainability of natural latex with the power of biotechnology and biopigments, produced without toxic chemicals.

The winners were announced during the CXTP’s virtual Closure Event & Prize Ceremony, which brought together members of the conservation and innovation communities from around the world and the Amazon region. This marks not only the culmination of the competition but the beginning of a transformative journey toward building regenerative economies in the Amazon.

The innovator teams will continue to advance their solutions, representing a crucial step in advancing innovations toward field validation and market development. This progress also positions CXL for upcoming discussions aimed at exploring new opportunities in alternative proteins in the Amazon region.

This round of the Con X Tech Prize was made possible through the support of Schmidt Futures and The Moore Foundation, with partnerships from Reddi, Instituto Humboldt, CINCIA, KUO, Scale, Venture Hub Bio, Incuval Ventures, Unheval, Red de Impacto, Idesam, and Manaus Tech Hub. Allies such as Universidad Agraria La Molina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and its Department of Engineering, the Institute of Nature, Earth and Energy (INTE), and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIDE PUCP). The prize also benefited from the active participation and advice of professionals from Minciencias Colombia, the Sinchi Institute, the UK British Embassy in Colombia, the Ministry of Production in Peru, GGGI, the Peruvian Council of Science, and Universidad Nacional de Amazonía Peruana, among others.