November / , 2023

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Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award Call for Candidates

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IPF and the Trân Family Foundation are launching a public call for applications to receive an award of 7500 Euros to assist a young entrepreneur or startup based in the Arctic

Containing Greens CEO Moa Johansson speaks after receiving the Laurence Tran Arctic Futures Award

Are you a young entrepreneur 35 and under living in the Arctic?

Are you trying to move to the next stage of development of your business and need some extra funding to help you?

Then why not apply for the 2023 Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award?

Consisting of 7500 Euros (funded by Trân Family Foundation) awarded every November at the annual Arctic Futures Symposium in Brussels, the Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award aims to help a young entrepreneur or startup move their fledgling business to the next level.

The winner will be invited to attend the Arctic Futures Symposium in person to present their project and take part in a panel discussion.

What to submit

Candidates are asked to submit the following via email to events@polarfoundaiton.org with the subject line "Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award application" no later than Friday, September 22nd, 2023 at 11:59 PM (23:59) Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time (UTC-9):

  • A statement (max. 1000 words) describing the project, its objectives, its expected impact, the methodology the applicants use, and the means for realisation (human resources, hardware, software, etc.)
  • A statement (max. 500 words) describing how the project will directly benefit the Arctic community where it will be carried out. If this benefit could be quantified in some way, it would be a positive contribution to the application.
  • A statement (max. 200 words) describing the scalability of the project in the Arctic region or elsewhere.

If you have a business plan or any additional information or documents (photos, diagrams, etc.) that could support your application, you are welcome to include these materials in your application email as well. However, please be as precise and to the point as possible. Judges will not have time to read a 50-page application.

Application materials should be sent in common file formats (Word document, PDF, jpeg, etc.). If your application will include documents in file formats not commonly used, please email the Arctic Futures Award Secretariat at events@polarfoundation.org so we can find a solution.

Evaluation

A selection committee comprised of experts in Arctic innovation and entrepreneurship will grade the applications based on the following five criteria:

  • How environmentally sustainable the business is

  • To what extent the business helps the Arctic community where it is based and the broader Arctic (social sustainability)

  • How innovative the business idea or model is

  • How mature the business is (scalability potential, cross-border expansion)

  • To what extent the Laurance Trân Arctic Futures Award will have a positive impact on the business and the local Arctic community

Who is eligible?

  • The business must be legally registered in and have its primary operations in the Arctic regions specified below*.
  • The primary applicant (CEO / founder of the business) must be no older than 35 years of age on September 8th, 2023 - the date by which applications must be submitted to the Arctic Futures Award Secretariat.
  • The project should have enough financing for realisation with the funding from the award, and any complementary funds available to them.
  • The business must be a novel startup. It cannot be a subsidiary or spin-off of a larger well-established company or firm.
  • Previous projects are not eligible to re-apply for the award, however, previous applicants may apply for the award again under a completely different project.

If candidates have any questions, they are encouraged to email them to events@polarfoundation.org with the subject line "Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award questions".

Candidate applications not meeting the eligibility criteria specified on this page or submitted after the specified deadline will not be considered for the award.

We look forward to learning more about your innovative ideas!

The International Polar Foundation and the Trân Family would like to recognise the Director of the Arctic Economic Council Mads Frederiksen and the members of the award selection committee for taking time out of their busy schedules to assist with the grading of candidates for this award. We would also like to thank the Arctic Futures Symposium partners for helping to spread the word about this initiative.

*Applicants must have their business based in or have its primary operations in one of the following regions: