The Hindu Kush Himalaya is one of the world’s most vital socio-ecological regions, holding the largest ice reserves outside the poles and four global biodiversity hotspots. It supports 240 million mountain residents and 1.65 billion downstream through critical ecosystem services, including water from ten major Asian rivers. However, climate change and socio-economic pressures are driving water scarcity, ecosystem degradation, and an erosion of traditional livelihoods. Despite this, the region’s rich biodiversity, cultural knowledge, and high-altitude value chains offer strong potential for green, resilient, and regenerative economic development.
The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have partnered on HKK-ICE 2.0 to surface and support organisations as well as entrepreneurs to develop scalable, market-ready, and ecologically grounded business solutions that can transform the resilience of mountain communities.
HKH-ICE is an initiative under ICIMOD’s Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP) funded through the UK International Development’s flagship Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme.
21 finalists were chosen as part of HKH-ICE 2.0 from 151 proposals. The finalists will receive tailored mentoring for 5 weeks before the final winners are announced. Winners will continue to receive tailored mentoring as well as leadership development, communications, MEL, and resource mobilisation support. Additionally, they will receive prizes ranging from USD 5,000 to 25,000 to further develop and scale their solutions.
Meet the finalists:
Organisation: PlantSat by Seed Innovations Pvt. Ltd
Project Title: Weather-based Parametric Mango Heat Stress Insurance
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: Swodeshi Innovation
Project Title: IBDA-RTO(IoT-Based Digital Automation System paired with Rent-to-Own financing)
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: Aero-TECH Bhutan
Project Title: Rapid Climate Risk Mapping for Resilient Mountain Communities
Country of Implementation: Bhutan
Organisation: Agrinet Foods and Beverages Pvt Ltd
Project Title: Project Fragrant Chamoli
Country of Implementation: India
Organisation: Sparśa Nepal
Project Title: Sparśa
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: October Pumpkin-shi Pvt Ltd
Project Title: Climate-Resilient Artisan Candles in Longpi Pottery
Country of Implementation: India
Organisation: Story Cycle Inc Pvt Ltd
Project Title : Low-Carbon Tourism Platform
Country of Implementation : Nepal
Organisation: Aptech Lab Pvt. Ltd
Project Title: The Biochar Project in Nepal
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: Forest Plus Private Limited
Project Title: Adding Value to Turmeric from Restored Forests
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: Gaunbata Company Private Limited
Project Title: Gaunbata
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: Bhutan Growers
Project Title: Regenerative Mountain Foods for Resilient Livelihoods
Country of Implementation: Bhutan
Organisation: Boichitro.shop
Project Title: Climate-Resilient Market Access for Indigenous Farmers in CHT
Country of Implementation: Bangladesh
Organisation: Yiga Chocolate
Project Title: Adaptive Mountain Value Chains for Diverse Small Harvests
Country of Implementation: Bhutan
Organisation: HawaiAdda Aerial Innovations Private Ltd
Project Title: Agri-Shield: Decision-Support Tool for Climate-Resilient Agriculture Planning
Country of Implementation: India
Organisation: Hillsbazar
Project Title: Resilient Indigenous Crops: Scaling Sustainable High-Value Climate Snacks
Country of Implementation: Bangladesh
Organisation: PEACE MKS
Project Title: Reviving the Golden Thread: Bangladesh’s Banana Fibre Sarees
Country of Implementation: Bangladesh
Organisation: Aloi
Project Title: Unlocking Climate Finance for Smallholder Dairy Farmers
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: Shaoulee Food Products
Project Title: Reviving Indigenous Crops of Bhutan
Country of Implementation: Bhutan
Organisation: Acaiberry Technologies Pvt Ltd
Project Title: Community-Based Flood Early Warning System-2.0 with Gamified Preparedness-Training
Country of Implementation: Nepal
Organisation: SAGG Eco Village Kashmir
Project Title: SAGG: Scaling Regenerative Living in the Himalaya
Country of Implementation: India
Organisation: Yoering-Ma
Project Title: Yoering-Ma
Country of Implementation: Bhutan