CRecTech wins $280K grant to pilot palm oil biogas tech in Indonesia
What's the deal? CRecTechDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BlueyouDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and MacroCycle TechnologiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → each won a US$325.7K (roughly $280,000) grant at the Climate Impact Innovations Challenge (CIIC) 2026, Indonesia's largest climate tech competition. East Ventures, Tencent, and Temasek FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → backed the awards, totalling US$977.1K across the three winners.
Why now? CIIC 2026, the fourth edition, launched on April 8, 2026 and concluded at a Grand Finale on October 6, 2026, held as a session of the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum. The challenge drew more than 850 applications from about 60 countries, narrowed to nine finalists.
What's the endgame? Each winner took one of three tracks. CRecTech, the Energy Transition winner, converts palm oil biogas into bio-methanol at 50% lower cost, cutting emissions by up to 93%.
Blueyou won Food & Nature Solutions for restoring mangroves alongside feed- and chemical-free blue food production, lifting smallholder farmer incomes by up to 3x. MacroCycle Technologies took Circular Economy with textile-to-textile polyester recycling that uses 80% less energy and 99% less water at price parity.
The grants are catalytic funding to pilot the solutions in Indonesia.
What else? Beyond the grants, several investors added commitments. Sinar Mas Agribusiness & Food awarded CRecTech $50,000 in grant funding, and Vinerock CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → added $50,000 in investment to CRecTech. Mana ImpactDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → committed $50,000 in investment to Blueyou, while Tencent awarded $1 million of carbon credit offtake to finalist YagasuDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
"Climate innovation matters most when it can make a difference on the ground," said Heng Li Lang, head of climate and liveability at Temasek Foundation, which co-presented the challenge this year.
The signal: At roughly $280,000, these grants sit near the middle of comparable deal sizes — modest by venture standards but aimed at de-risking early pilots. The backing from East Ventures, Tencent, and Temasek Foundation signals continued appetite to channel catalytic capital into Southeast Asian climate tech.
Read more: east.vc
Image credit: rhett-ayers-butler
