Nokooda wins 2014 Sankalp Innovation in Clean Cooking Award
The Sankalp Unconvention Summit held on April 2-4, 2014 in Mumbai proved to be another successful opportunity to demonstrate the commercial potential of impact enterprises in the clean cooking sector. In addition to a creating connections between clean cooking enterprises and investors, this year marked the second annual Innovation in Clean Cooking Award, a $15,000 prize for new and innovative Indian companies in the clean cooking industry.
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves would like to congratulate Nokooda on winning the 2014 Innovations in Clean Cooking award. Nokooda is a waste processing and pellets company that utilizes biomass waste from public parks to generate pellet fuels for customers in Delhi, India. In addition to selling pellets, Nokooda’s business model diverts tons of biomass waste generated by public parks from landfills in India and creates ‘enviropreneurs’ who earn an income from the waste processing.
The Alliance first partnered with Sankalp in 2013 to create an award to catalyze and reward innovation in the sector. In preparation for the award process every year, three finalists receive support from the Intellecap group to refine their business and financial models for a jury of impact investors in the sector. After months of support and a boot camp, each enterprise then presents their pitch with financials at the Summit and answers tough questions about their assumptions and potential for growth. The Alliance would also like to congratulate the other finalists for this year’s award: Swami Samarth and Dharma Life.