At this year’s The Liveability Challenge (TLC) Grand Finale on 7 May, Singapore-based Krosslinker and Canada-based Ayrton Energy emerged as the top winners for their solutions to drive decarbonisation and tackle climate challenges.
The global crowdsourcing platform — presented by Temasek Foundation, and organised by Eco-Business — seeks groundbreaking climate solutions that push the boundaries of innovation. Temasek Foundation is part of the Temasek Trust ecosystem.
In its eighth edition, TLC 2025 featured two main tracks: Decarbonisation and Cool Earth.
The Decarbonisation track searches for disruptive deep-tech solutions that provide scalable and impactful solutions to reduce carbon emissions across diverse industries. The Cool Earth track looks for innovations that specifically address the challenges posed by climate-induced extreme weather conditions.
Among eight finalists, the two winning projects stood out, each securing a S$1 million grant in catalytic funding to help advance and scale their solutions sustainably.
Krosslinker: Cooling cities round-the-clock
The winner of the Cool Earth track was Singapore’s deep-tech start-up Krosslinker which develops passive cooling technologies — unreliant on mechanical energy or electricity — in the form of aerogel materials.
These materials are capable of lowering surface temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius and ambient temperatures by up to 5 degrees Celsius.
Buildings coated with this powerful urban cooling solution could reduce electricity power costs by at least 10%.
Dr. Gayathri Natarajan and Dr. Mahesh Sachithanadam, co-founders of Krosslinker, receive the grand prize in the Cool Earth track from Mr. Ng Boon Heong, Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Foundation. They also pitched Krosslinker’s solution at the grand finale. (Photo credit: Temasek Foundation)
“We are very happy and excited [to have secured this award], but this is just the beginning. We have a very big job to do to make sure that we develop solutions that equitably reach everybody and not just the tech-savvy community,” shared Dr. Gayathri Natarajan, Co-founder and CEO of Krosslinker.
Krosslinker was also awarded S$100,000 from OCTAVE Well-being Economy Fund.
Ayrton Energy: Accelerating adoption of hydrogen as a clean fuel
Meanwhile, Canada’s Ayrton Energy won the Decarbonisation track with its technology for safe and cost-effective hydrogen storage and transport.
Its technology is seamlessly integrated with existing liquid fuel infrastructure for scalable deployment, addressing infrastructure challenges that currently hinder the widespread adoption of hydrogen energy.
The start-up’s founders estimate that their solution could help reduce costs across the fuel’s entire value chain by up to 50%.
Dr. Brandy Kinkead, Chief Technology Officer of Ayrton Energy, receives the grand prize for the Decarbonisation track onstage from Mr. Ng Boon Heong of Temasek Foundation. Dr. Kinkead also pitched Ayrton Energy’s solution at the Grand Finale. (Photo credit: Temasek Foundation)
“We’re really excited to be able to have this funding support and cement our position in Singapore and Southeast Asia,” said Dr. Brandy Kinkead, Chief Technology Officer of Ayrton Energy. “I'm very grateful to Temasek Foundation for believing in the tech that we're building, and in our ability to decarbonise these hard-to-abate sectors.”
Ayrton Energy also received S$100,000 from TRIREC and S$100,000 from Valuence Ventures.
Helping innovators move from innovations to prototypes
TLC 2025 witnessed another record-breaking year with more than 1,200 submissions from over 100 countries competing in the two tracks.
The other six shortlisted finalist teams — CatAmmon, Cetogenix, CO2Tech, D-CRBN, Eztia Corp, and SXD, Inc — represent various countries including Australia, Belgium, and the US.
The two winners were selected after a competitive and rigorous judging session, where all eight finalists pitched their innovative solutions live to a judging panel at the TLC Grand Finale, part of Ecosperity Week 2025.
The six other finalist teams — CatAmmon, Cetogenix, CO2Tech, D-CRBN, Eztia Corp, and SXD, Inc — pitching to the judging panel. (Photo credit: Temasek Foundation)
These pioneering climate solutions play a crucial role in driving urgent progress toward the 2015 Paris Agreement climate targets as global temperatures continue to soar to unprecedented levels annually.
Ms. Heng Li Lang, Head of Climate and Liveability at Temasek Foundation, highlighted the urgency of supporting bold and deep-tech innovative solutions capable of driving real progress in decarbonising our planet, and keeping our environment cool even with rising temperatures.
Ms. Heng Li Lang, Head of Climate and Liveability, Temasek Foundation, on the judging panel at the TLC 2025 Grand Finale. (Photo credit: Temasek Foundation)
“Our catalytic funding reflects this important commitment — helping innovators move from promising innovations to operational prototypes with potential to scale,” Ms. Heng added.
In addition to the two S$1 million in grants for each winner, a total of S$400,000 in investment and grant opportunities were awarded to the finalists by TLC’s strategic partners — Enterprise Singapore, OCTAVE Well-being Economy Fund, TRIREC, and Valuence Ventures.
The Liveability Challenge: A catalytic platform for real-world impact
TLC has become a fixture in the global sustainability innovation ecosystem, providing a vital catalytic platform for promising start-ups with cutting-edge climate tech solutions from all over the world, said Ms. Jessica Cheam, Founder and CEO of Eco-Business.
“By driving innovation, entrepreneurship, ecosystem collaboration and access to finance, it helps groundbreaking ideas move beyond the prototype stage to deliver real-world impact,” she added.
Launched in 2018, TLC is Asia’s largest sustainability solutions platform today. Since its first edition, it has attracted thousands of applications from across the world.
To date, it has shortlisted and incubated 53 finalists, and deployed more than S$12 million in funding to support these startups, who have gone on to raise hundreds of millions more.
Visit TLC's website to learn more.
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