2023 themes
Protecting and restoring biodiversity continues to be one of the biggest and most urgent issues facing our planet. This year, KPMG Australia is expanding the KPMG Nature Positive Challenge to include Fiji and Papua New Guinea, with a focus on two key themes: to protect life on land (biodiversity) and life below water (blue economy).
Biodiversity
Accelerating the protection, preservation, and regeneration of all species and living things on Earth.
The blue economy
Encouraging the sustainable use of oceans and marine resources for economic growth and community prosperity, while preserving the health of blue ecosystems.
Winners
Nature Positive Prize Winner
Xylo Systems
Xylo Systems is on a mission to help companies around the globe achieve net biodiversity gains by providing a real-time understanding of the current state of biodiversity and key threats to endangered wildlife in their project areas.
The biodiversity intelligence platform uses AI models and real-time insights to measure and manage organisations' biodiversity footprint, helping them identify regeneration actions and implement long-term nature-based solutions for their sites.
People's Choice Winner
Cooperative Advantage Alliance
Cooperative Advantage Alliance is a women-led organisation supporting small scale landowners in PNG to establish sustainable fishing practices and crop management techniques to reduce biodiversity loss. Their digital app, ‘Farmers Portal’, is being designed to enable easy access to information on topics such as soil health, biodiversity conservation and sustainable fishing practices to ensure others can continue to benefit from local land and sea resources into the future.
Finalists
Hullbot
Hullbot is a vertically integrated underwater robotics company that designs, develops and deploys robots to improve the health of our oceans. Hullbot is based in Sydney, Australia and consists of a small and passionate team on a mission to have a positive global impact on ocean health, climate change and biodiversity. They are building the world’s most advanced autonomous underwater drone platforms. Their technology helps protect marine biodiversity by enabling the use of less toxic hull paints and preventing the spread of invasive species.
Restore Blue
Restore Blue is a for-purpose business whose core objective is to partner with farmers, Traditional Owners, NGOs, governments and businesses to restore a minimum of 10,000 hectares of lost ‘blue carbon’ wetlands, and in doing so sequester more than 5 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. Rehabilitating these unique ecosystems will provide habitats for many species; create safe nurseries for juvenile fish; dramatically reduce water pollution; protect the coast from storm surge events; and attenuate the impacts of flooding on coastal communities.
Wilderlands
Wilderlands have developed one of the world’s first voluntary biodiversity credits and launched a platform to make it easy for anyone to start protecting nature today. The Biological Diversity Unit (BDU) represents a 1 sqm plot of permanently protected and actively managed land in high ecological value projects across Australia. Each unit is geotagged to enable supporters to track their impact, receive regular reports and watch nature flourish through their personal profile. Since launching in August 2022, Wilderlands have protected over 60,000 square metres of vulnerable habitat across four projects.
Selected startups will have access to:
A $250,000 pool of bespoke advisory services
Exclusive access to KPMG’s business leaders and specialist consulting teams to help take your venture to the next level.
$100,000 Nature Positive Challenge prize
Awarded to the winning venture by an expert panel. This is a no strings attached cash injection.
KPMG People’s Choice prize
An additional prize of $50,000 will be awarded from our Internal Price on Carbon Fund, to one finalist voted for and chosen by KPMG staff.
Industry networks
We’ll connect winners to beneficial industry, science, knowledge and community partners, and impact investors.
Judging panel
Connect with us
Terms and Conditions – KPMG Nature Positive Challenge 2023
The KPMG Nature Positive Challenge 2023 (the ‘Challenge’) is organised by KPMG (ABN 51 194 660 183) of International Towers Sydney, Tower 3, Level 38, 300 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia (‘KPMG’, ‘we’, ‘our’, ‘us’).
In these terms, all references to ‘Applicant’ and ‘you’ refer to an applicant participating in the Challenge.
By participating in the Challenge, you accept these terms and conditions, both on your own behalf and on behalf of any company or partnership through which you enter the Challenge.
1 Entry requirements
In order to participate in the Challenge, you must:
- submit a pitch deck by email to AU-FMNaturepositive@kpmg.com.au before 11:59pm AEST on 28 April 2023 (the ‘Closing Date’);
- ensure your pitch deck responds to the entry questions and addresses the selection criteria set out in the Expression of Interest form (PDF , 804KB); and
- be available to attend a virtual pitch event on 14 June 2023 from 2pm-5pm AEST, if your entry progresses to that stage. Shortlisted Applicants will be informed of further details of this event in due course.
In order to be eligible for the People’s Choice Prize, shortlisted applicants must also submit a 1-2 minute video by email to AU-FMNaturepositive@kpmg.com.au before 11:59pm AEST on 26 May 2023, describing the impact of your idea, solution or technology. Requirements for the video will be provided to Applicants separately. The videos will be uploaded to KPMG’s internal intranet page.
You may not submit more than one entry. There is no charge for participating in the Challenge.
2 Who can enter?
In order to participate in the Challenge, an Applicant must:
- reside in Australia, PNG or Fiji;
- be aged 18 or over (in the case of a director or manager of a corporate Applicant, and also in the case of an Applicant who is a natural person);
- hold an Australian Business Number (or equivalent in PNG or Fiji); and
- demonstrate positive outcomes for this year’s themes of biodiversity and blue economy.
The following persons are ineligible to participate in the Challenge:
- KPMG Partners, employees, contractors and their immediate family members; and
- KPMG audit clients, their related entities and each of their affiliates.
For the purposes of this clause 2:
- a “KPMG audit client” is a client of KPMG for which KPMG has provided audit services; and
- “related entity” has the meaning given to it in the Corporations Act 2001 and APES 110 (Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants).
By participating in the Challenge, you warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements set out in this clause 2.
3 Assessment process
Applications will be assessed after the Closing Date. KPMG will evaluate submissions against the selection criteria referred to in clause 1, namely: business model, team and network, innovation, solution maturity and traction.
Subject to KPMG’s applicable screening and independence checks, five finalists will be shortlisted and invited to pitch their solutions to an expert panel comprised of both KPMG and non-KPMG members. Of those shortlisted, at least one will be chosen from the Applicants residing in PNG or Fiji, and at least one will be chosen from the Applicants residing in Australia (provided that applications are received from the relevant regions).
The panel’s selection of the winner will be final, and Applicants will be notified of the result in writing. Finalists will be provided with written or verbal feedback on their pitches.
KPMG Partners and staff will vote to determine the winner of the People’s Choice Prize. Staff will be provided with Applicants’ 1-2 minute videos to inform their vote. The winner will be notified in writing by 15 June 2023.
4 Prizes
Finalist prizes:
To assist with scaling up their businesses, and subject to applicable conflict and independence checks, the five finalists will each receive up to $50,000 worth of pro-bono tailored services from KPMG Australia. Finalists will be entitled to access these pro-bono services from the date they are selected as finalists, until 30 June 2024. Finalists will also be entitled to identify their business as “a finalist in the KPMG Nature Positive Challenge”.
First prize:
The winner will receive a cash prize of A$100,000.
Subject to any written directions from KPMG from time to time, the winner will be entitled to identify their business as “the winner of the KPMG Nature Positive Challenge”. For the avoidance of doubt, this does not include any right to reproduce or publish the KPMG logo or brand.
People’s Choice Prize:
The winner of the People’s Choice Prize (as voted by KPMG Partners and employees) will be entitled to identify their business as “the winner of the People’s Choice Prize in the KPMG Nature Positive Challenge” and will also receive a cash prize of A$50,000.
In all instances, prizes are not transferable.
5 Costs
Applicants are solely responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary technology and internet access to participate in all virtual and online aspects of the Challenge.
KPMG takes no responsibility for any fees or costs that may be incurred by Applicants in participating in the Challenge (including expenses, travel, taxes and currency conversion costs). Such costs remain the full responsibility of the relevant Applicant.
6 Privacy
All personal information that we collect, use or disclose in connection with the Challenge will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy.
7 Intellectual Property and Publicity
By participating in the Challenge, each Applicant:
- warrants that all material that it provides to KPMG as part of the Challenge is its own original work;
- warrants that all material supplied to KPMG as part of the Challenge does not infringe any intellectual property rights of any other person; and
- grants to KPMG a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use any intellectual property included in their pitches and submissions, including their name, logo, brand and image (including of any corporate entity or partnership participating in the Challenge), for the purpose of administering the Challenge and for KPMG’s own internal purposes. This may include:
- sharing pitch content with judges within and external to KPMG for the purpose of judging and evaluating submissions, including within its network of KPMG member firms;
- sharing pitch content with KPMG staff for the purposes of voting for the People’s Choice Prize; and
- using Applicants’ names, logos and pitch content to promote the Challenge on KPMG’s websites and social media channels, including to promote the impact of prizes provided to Applicants under clause 4.
8 Breach of terms
KPMG may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you and/or your company from participating in the Challenge and any future challenges or competitions operated by KPMG if:
- you breach these terms or conditions, or if KPMG suspects that you have breached these terms and conditions;
- you infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights; or
- you do anything which (in KPMG’s discretion) could bring KPMG’s reputation into disrepute.
Notwithstanding anything else in these terms, KPMG reserves the right to suspend, cancel, or vary the Challenge and/or the prizes referred to in clause 4, where it (in its absolute discretion) deems it necessary to do so.
9 General
To the extent permitted by law, we will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate a winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of you taking up a prize in this Challenge, except where it is caused by our negligence or that of our employees. Nothing in these terms and conditions affects your statutory rights.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and the parties irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State.
© KPMG, an Australian partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organisation of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. The KPMG name and logo are trade marks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organisation. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.