The Greenhouse Accelerator: MENA Sustainability Edition will work with small businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to help them launch and scale innovative concepts that cut packaging waste.
In late 2021, PepsiCo launched its newest Greenhouse Accelerator with a focus on reducing, recycling, or reinventing food and beverage packaging. The Accelerator is currently accepting applications from start-ups and companies across the MENA region with sustainable packaging concepts or already active initiatives that require scaling. These innovations could include, but are not limited to: biodegradable or reusable materials, consumer behavior modification around recycling or the circular economy, applications or software, operations processes, tracking technologies, and more. The application window closes January 10, 2022.
A total of 10 finalist will be accepted into the six-month Accelerator, during which they will receive initial grants of $20,000 USD along with mentoring from PepsiCo subject matter experts to help launch their sustainable packaging concept. Companies will also receive help from PepsiCo in identifying market opportunities and partnerships for their new product or service. At the program’s close, one participating company will be awarded a $100,000 USD grant to further scale their innovation.
PepsiCo is conducting the accelerator in partnership with the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. The initiative is part of PepsiCo’s Pep+ strategic transformational framework designed to drive action and progress across three pillars – Positive Agriculture, Positive Value Chain, and Positive Choices. The company’s Pep+ targets include achieving Net-Zero emissions by 2040 and becoming Net Water Positive by 2030.
This is the first MENA-focused edition of PepsiCo’s successful Greenhouse Accelerator program. The company launched the Accelerator in Europe in 2017, and has since worked with 45 companies and 75 mentors across multiple continents and focus areas. PepsiCo plans to hold two more accelerator programs in the MENA region in the coming years.
