{"id":3449,"date":"2025-12-26T21:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T21:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=3449"},"modified":"2025-12-27T07:37:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T07:37:29","slug":"hindu-kush-himalaya-innovation-challenge-for-entrepreneurs-2026-up-to-25000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=3449","title":{"rendered":"Hindu Kush Himalaya Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurs 2026 (up to $25,000)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div id=\"tdi_1\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_2  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_2,\r\n                .tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_4  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_4{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\" >[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"post-170736\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>Deadline: January 16, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applications are open for the Hindu Kush Himalaya Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurs 2026. The second round of\u00a0the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH)\u00a0Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurs (HKH-ICE 2.0)\u00a0is\u00a0calling\u00a0on\u00a0entrepreneurs from\u00a0Bhutan,\u00a0Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts only),\u00a0India (Indian Himalayan Region), and\u00a0Nepal\u00a0to develop scalable, market-ready, and ecologically grounded business solutions that can transform the resilience of mountain communities.<\/p>\n<p>The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) are pleased to launch\u00a0the second round of the HKH ICE\u00a0challenge seeks to accelerate locally led, market ready innovations that strengthen climate resilience across one of the world\u2019s most fragile and strategically vital mountain systems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Call Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They are looking for innovative, scalable solutions that enhance resilience for communities and ecosystems across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. For example, initiatives can focus on (but are not limited to):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature:\u00a0Solutions that reduce the vulnerability of mountain agriculture to climate impacts, enhance biodiversity, improve rural incomes, and create market linkages for high-value niche products and non-timber forest products (NTFPs).<\/li>\n<li>Water Security and Resilience:\u00a0Initiatives that address water scarcity, improve water management and services, and mitigate the effects of glacial melt, floods, droughts, and urbanisation.<\/li>\n<li>Climate-Resilient Sustainable Tourism:\u00a0Models that promote sustainable ecotourism, benefiting local communities while preserving and restoring fragile mountain ecosystems.<\/li>\n<li>Climate Risk and Community Resilience:\u00a0Solutions that reduce vulnerability to climate hazards in mountain regions through climate-resilient housing, improved risk-informed settlement planning, and inclusive support for climate-affected mobile or displaced populations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Winners will receive tailored mentoring, leadership development, communications, MEL, and resource mobilisation support.<\/li>\n<li>Additionally, they will receive prizes ranging from\u00a0USD $5,000 to $25,000\u00a0to further develop and scale their solutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Open to for-profit organisations, local entrepreneurs and innovators seeking to implement projects in Bhutan, Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts), India (Himalayan states), and Nepal.<\/li>\n<li>HKH ICE 1.0 winners are not eligible to apply for HKH ICE 2.0.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Application<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applications are due by\u00a023:59 GMT on 16 January 2026. Shortlisted applicants will be notified in\u00a0February 2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/globalresiliencepartnership.submittable.com\/submit\/343503\/hkh-ice-2-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to apply<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalresiliencepartnership.org\/hkh-ice2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HKH-ICE 2.0<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_column_text css=\"\"] Deadline: January 16, 2026 Applications are open for the Hindu Kush Himalaya Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurs 2026. The second round of\u00a0the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH)\u00a0Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurs (HKH-ICE 2.0)\u00a0is\u00a0calling\u00a0on\u00a0entrepreneurs from\u00a0Bhutan,\u00a0Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts only),\u00a0India (Indian Himalayan Region), and\u00a0Nepal\u00a0to develop scalable, market-ready, and ecologically grounded business solutions that can transform the resilience of [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1K2_DA:productID":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-call-for-applications"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3469,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions\/3469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}