Impact Startup Award
Startups creating real impact — environmental or social — already running, or an idea getting off the ground.
2026 · Applications close 30 September
Umbrella500 Impact Awards
Cash and expert support for green and social impact across the region
Recognising startups creating real impact — environmental or social — across the wider Middle East and North Africa.
Open to startups from idea stage to growth, anywhere in the wider MENA region.
Apply in Arabic, English or French
Deadline extended
Applications close 30 September 2026
Winners announced late October 2026
Umbrella500 Impact Awards
The 2026 Award Categories
Sign up to see the prizes and full criteria
It takes about a minute, and you can apply straight away.
Green Community Initiative Award
Individuals, groups and local organisations already creating green impact.
Green Content Creator Award
Anyone with a story. A short video on a green topic — no venture required.
Each account may enter one award only — choose the one that fits your work best.
Umbrella500 believes that impact deserves recognition. Inspired by the same green and circular economy mission that the Green Forward programme advances across the region, and drawing on our own commitment to supporting green change, we created these awards to celebrate the people and communities already making a difference on the ground.
Who is behind the awards
Partners
Beyond the prize
What you get, and when
Every step pays — and each one pays more than the last.
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funding calls every week
Grants, accelerators and open calls — tagged by country and sector, so you see the ones you can actually enter.
The Green Forward community
The founders, initiatives and support organisations building the green economy across the region — and you stay in it after October.
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partner organisations see your work
A network of around thirty NGOs and organisations across the region whose job is supporting startups and community initiatives.
A verified profile
Applying earns a verified account on the community platform — credibility that travels with you beyond the awards.
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If you are shortlistedThis figure is shown to members.
finalists shortlisted per award
Finalists pitch live online to a panel of green and business judges who have read the application in advance — then go to a public vote.
Your story, told
Finalists and winners are featured across Umbrella500 and partner channels. Content creators are credited by name every time their work is used.
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If you winThis figure is shown to members.
in prizes, across four winners
$5,000 for the Impact Startup Award, $3,000 for the Green Community Initiative, and $350 each for two Content Creator winners.
This figure is shown to members.of expert help, on top of the cash
Winners of the top two awards receive a credit toward consultancy, website or app development delivered by Umbrella500.
You're seeing the headlines. The detail on every rung above unlocks with an account. Create your personal account
The call is open
Create your personal account to see every award in full.
You'll see the prizes, full eligibility and exactly how judges score — and you can apply, then edit right up to the deadline.
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One shared timeline
Key dates
Applications close
30 Sep 2026
Shortlisting — ten finalists per award
Early Oct
Finalists pitch live to the panel, online
Mid Oct
Winners announced
Late Oct
Everything below is drawn from the award rules
Questions
Two kinds, and many startups are both. GREEN IMPACT covers the circular economy — waste, reuse, repair and recycling — resource efficiency in water, energy and materials, clean energy and emissions, pollution reduction, nature and biodiversity, sustainable production and consumption, and environmental awareness. SOCIAL IMPACT covers reducing poverty, jobs and income for those who need them most, education and skills, health and wellbeing, inclusion and equality, access to basic services, and stronger communities. If your work does not fit any of them, tell us in your own words on the form — the list is there to help you, not to rule you out.
No. Entry is not restricted by stage, revenue, company registration, or the age of the startup. There is no requirement to show revenue, profitability, or a minimum trading history.
An idea-stage applicant is fully eligible to enter the Impact Startup Award. Entry is open to all — and impact that is already happening, and can be demonstrated, scores most strongly. The Green Community Initiative Award is different: it is for initiatives already running.
For the Impact Startup Award you may be based anywhere, provided the startup has a genuine impact connection to the wider MENA region. For the Green Community Initiative Award the activity must take place in a community in the region, and at least one person overseeing it must be based there.
Arabic, English or French. Screening and judging account for all three. The Content Creator video must use Arabic voice-over with English or French subtitles.
For the Impact Startup and Green Community Initiative awards, the expert panel counts for 70% and the public community vote for 30%: ten finalists are shortlisted, then pitch live online. The Content Creator Award works differently — every compliant entry goes straight to a public vote, and there are two winners, one chosen by that vote and one by the panel.
You do. Applicants retain ownership of their own ideas, materials and content. Entering grants Umbrella500 and its outreach partner a licence to feature the submitted story and imagery for award publicity — it does not transfer ownership.
Why the Impact Awards?
Real impact in the region — environmental and social — comes from real people: entrepreneurs building businesses that change something, communities protecting the places they live, and voices raising awareness one story at a time.
Their work is often the hardest to fund and the easiest to overlook.
The Spark Innovation Hub
The awards are hosted on the Spark Innovation Hub — SPARK's community platform, and the reason an account here is worth having after October. It is where the region's entrepreneurs, funders and support organisations are already in one place: founders looking for a first customer, donors and accelerators looking for people to back, and the NGOs and chambers whose job is helping both find each other.
Your account is free to keep, and it stays yours whether or not you win.
You're in
Your email is verified.
Everything is open. Pick the award that fits your work — you can enter one.
Impact Startup Award
Startups creating real impact — environmental or social — already running, or an idea getting off the ground.
Green Community Initiative Award
Individuals, groups and local organisations already creating green impact.
Green Content Creator Award
Anyone with a story. A short video on a green topic — no venture required.
Umbrella500 Impact Awards
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Your account is where you apply, track your entry, and vote.
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عربي
French