Hitachi Green Finance Innovation Challenge 2024 Winner - ESGpedia (Challenge 1 & Best Overall Team)
A global challenge to accelerate capital toward climate-positive outcomes
In a world where climate action is no longer a choice but a necessity, green finance stands as one of the most powerful levers for change. That was the impetus behind the Hitachi Green Finance Innovation Challenge 2024 — a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Hitachi, ConceptVines, and APIX Platform.
The challenge was designed to uncover transformative fintech solutions capable of driving real-world impact across four key areas of sustainable finance. From standardising ESG data to improving green bond transparency and enabling sustainability-linked KPIs, the goal was clear: surface scalable innovations that accelerate the shift to a net-zero future.
Innovation without borders: 78 proposals, 4 winners, 1 grand finale
Hosted on the APIX Platform, the challenge garnered an impressive 78 proposals from fintechs around the world. After a rigorous evaluation process, four standout teams were selected — one winner for each challenge statement. These teams were invited to present their final pitch at a live showdown during the prestigious GFTN Forum Japan.
Among them, one team rose above the rest.
ESGpedia: From category winner to best overall team
Winner of Challenge #1, ESGpedia addressed the lack of innovative green finance products in the real estate sector — a space hindered by inconsistent sustainability criteria, fragmented data, and low investor awareness.
At the GFTN Japan Forum, ESGpedia’s final pitch captured both the challenge jury and audience with their comprehensive ESG data platform that unifies a diverse datasets from various sources including Hitachi’s SLEB platform, emissions data and real-time resource metrics. This innovative solution standardises and verifies data, empowering banks and investors to set quantifiable sustainability-linked KPIs and track progress with dynamic dashboards.
ESGpedia was crowned the Best Overall Team of the challenge — a recognition of both their technical ingenuity and real-world applicability.
Reimagining the future of finance
Redirecting capital toward sustainability is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s a financial and moral imperative. The Hitachi Green Finance Innovation Challenge 2024 marks a significant step in catalysing real action across the real estate industry by diverting capital to such an important area. Through open collaboration and innovation on a global scale, the challenge has proven that the solutions are out there — and they’re ready to scale.
To support this journey, Hitachi, ConceptVines, and APIX have co-created the Green Finance Handbook — a practical guide to understanding key principles, tools, and innovations shaping the green finance revolution.
📘 Interested in shaping a sustainable financial future? Download the Green Finance Handbook — your roadmap to action, built by the collaborators behind this global challenge.