Central Asian climate startup
EU climate window: first-time applicant packaging
Context
Technical founders needed a policy-aligned story for an EU innovation window.
Problem
Strong prototype, weak articulation of additionality and gender/environment safeguards required by the funder.
What we did
Structured innovation narrative, M&E section, and risk register. Coordinated letters from a university lab and a municipal pilot site.
Result
Shortlisted to full proposal stage; €120k envelope (stage 2 under negotiation).
Lessons learned
- EU calls reward explicit alignment with Green Deal keywords — map them once in a matrix.
- Safeguards are not boilerplate; tie each to project geography and workforce.
Client voice
“They translated our Git commits into something evaluators could score.”
— CTO (anonymous)