Youth Ecopreneur Programme (YECO) 2026/27: $100,000 Seed Funding, Mentorship and Global Opportunities for Young Green Entrepreneurs
Overview
The Youth Ecopreneur Programme is an initiative implemented by the International Trade Centre’s Ye! Community and the G20 Global Land Initiative under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. It is designed to support young founders, co-founders, and chief executive officers who are developing innovative solutions to climate change, land degradation, environmental sustainability, and green business challenges. The initiative combines training, e-learning, masterclasses, personalised coaching, mentorship, networking, and international exposure to help participants strengthen and scale their ventures.
Who can apply
The programme is intended for young entrepreneurs under the age of 35 who serve as founders, co-founders, or chief executive officers of their enterprises. Eligible businesses must be legally registered and majority-run by a young person, focusing specifically on land restoration or green business solutions. While the global bootcamp is open internationally, participation in the accelerator is restricted to eligible countries, and applicants are advised to review the official country list.
What you get
Participants gain access to capacity-building, business acceleration, networking, and opportunities to showcase their enterprises internationally. The programme features a shared pool of 100,000 United States Dollars in equity-free seed funding specifically for the land-restoration cohort, alongside 10,000 United States Dollars in prize money for selected award winners per category. Additional benefits include legal and intellectual property guidance, preferential access to pro bono legal services from Sidley Austin, opportunities connected to Google’s Startups for Sustainable Development programme, and one-on-one coaching sessions with experts from Ernst & Young. Furthermore, award finalists may receive an all-expenses-paid trip to an international conference.
Key dates
The application deadline for the programme is November 22nd, 2026.