Green Youth Cup 2026 final: 16 eco-startups pitch projects to investors

The final took place at the CAEx exhibition centre, which is hosting the Innoweek International Week of Innovative Ideas these days. The programme is run by the U-Enter innovation centre and Intro Group together with Virtual Accelerate, supported by the governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Applications opened on October 7, with organizers receiving 118 proposals. A total of 55 teams passed the initial selection: during October, they trained at the U-Enter base, which hosted ten educational sessions with international coaches, and took part in two practical business tours. The authors of the top three projects received the opportunity to attend Web Summit Qatar, scheduled for January 31 – February 3, 2027, in Doha.

The leaders included the CoffeeCycle project: the team produces organic fertilizers from spent coffee grounds mixed with other organic components. Two other finalists focus on air purification. Plazion, a team of students from the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers led by Bekzod Ergashev, developed a smart plasma unit for industrial facilities and greenhouses. The AirO² Air Purifier team, headed by Rayhona Abdiyeva, presented a model of an indoor electrostatic purifier.

Other participants included Eco Leaf: according to project creator Ayadulloh Abdujabborov, the team uses apricot, sour cherry, and sweet cherry leaves to make feed briquettes for livestock, leaves of other trees to produce fuel briquettes as a substitute for coal, as well as panels for wall insulation and furniture. A school student showcased Ecogenesis, an educational game on climate and community management, while a 17-year-old participant presented EcoDataHub, a platform allowing users to send photos and geolocation data of illegal dumps to eco-activists.