IRENA NewGen 2026 Names Four Youth-Led Clean Energy Winners
IRENA's fourth NewGen accelerator selected four youth-led start-ups as Rising Stars Youth Award 2026 winners after September 17 pitches, offering in-kind and exposure prizes.
The story in focus
IRENA has named four start-ups as winners of its Rising Stars Youth Award 2026 after pitches on 17 September, part of the fourth NewGen accelerator. Nineteen start-ups participated, nine of them women-led. Winners receive in-kind and exposure prizes to help scale clean energy solutions in emerging markets.
- Nineteen start-ups joined NewGen 2026, nine women-led, with four selected as Rising Stars Youth Award winners.
- Winners offer services including farm analytics, building energy management, solar cold storage and mobile solar irrigation.
- Awards provide in-kind and exposure prizes intended to support development and scaling of clean energy solutions.
Winners and their technologies
Aunkur AI provides smallholder farmers with solar-powered soil testing, a portable weather station and AI-driven decision support, reporting more than 33,000 farmers reached, including about 8,000 paying users and 34% women participation. It cites up to 15% higher yields, 42% higher profitability, 25% lower fertiliser use and an average 4.3% reduction in CO2 emissions per acre per year.
Enlog manages more than 30 gigawatt-hours across hotels, hospitals, retail chains and commercial buildings, saying its system cuts electricity consumption by 20–25% and reduces roughly 5,500 tonnes of indirect greenhouse gas emissions monthly. MVUTU's GreenBox solar cold-chain units have preserved over 20,400 tonnes of perishable food, cutting post-harvest losses by up to 90%, and trained 1,500 rural women and youth. YY ReGen operates ten ReGen-R8 mobile solar units in Lebanon and plans 15 more by end-2026, testing Egyptian and Iraqi markets.
Programme backing and scale-up support
NewGen is supported by the Government of the United Arab Emirates and implemented with Enel Foundation and Social Alpha as knowledge partners. Launched in 2023, the programme backs young innovators advancing clean energy technologies for their communities.
IRENA Deputy Director-General Gauri Singh said the agency aims to mobilise its network and partners to open doors for young innovators facing complex markets, funding constraints and regulatory challenges.
What do the award winners receive?
The four winners receive in-kind and exposure prizes intended to support the development and scaling of their clean energy solutions. The awards recognise their pitches at the NewGen 2026 event held on 17 September.
Sources & further reading
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