The non-profit H&M Foundation initiated the Global Change Award in 2015, as part of the Foundation’s focus area Planet. The aim is to speed up the process of finding, supporting and scaling up disruptive early-stage innovations that can make the entire fashion industry circular. H&M is looking for tomorrow’s game-changers – may it be innovations on digital technologies; how to recover and reuse waste; or ideas supporting a climate positive fashion industry. If the innovation has the potential to make a real impact on a large scale, is economically sustainable and if the team behind the innovation is ready to make it happen – it can be a potential winner. Further, innovation involving an extra layer of social benefits can add more value. As such, H&M Foundation issues a call for its Global Change Challenge 2020.

Global Change Challenge has received more than 14,000 entries from 182 countries since its launch in 2015. It has become the go-to challenge for circular innovation and has been called the Nobel Prize of fashion.

Winners of H&M Global Change Challenge

H&M foundation rewards the winner of the Global Change Challenge with:

• A grant of €1 million to develop their ideas.
• Access to the one year long tailor-made Innovation Accelerator Program, provided by H&M Foundation, Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Further, the accelerator includes immersion weeks in Stockholm, New York, and Hong Kong.
• Global recognition and validation.

Eligibility for the Global Change Challenge

Early-stage ideas can rest in anyone’s head anywhere on the planet. Hence, H&M Foundation accepts submission from candidates all over the world for the Global Change Challenge.

Furthermore, the participants of the challenge must be at least 18 years of age. Participants may enter the competition individually or in a team consisting not more than 4 individuals.

Also institutions, organizations and social business can apply for the competition. However, the idea presented must be an early-stage idea. Ideas and Innovations proven already and existing are not eligible for the challenge.

The language of the competition is English. Hence, the participants must fill up the application form in English.

How to apply for the Global Change Challenge 2020?

Participants may submit an online application to enter the Global Change Challenge. However, the participants must be eligible for the application. As well as they should apply for the Startup competition before the deadline.

Deadline

H&M Foundation accepts the application for the Global Change Challenge 2020 until 23:00 GMT 16 October 2019. Applications arriving after the deadline are ineligible for participation.