The Future of Capitalism competition 2026
The third Future of Capitalism Competition, founded by The Leo Lion Company, took place on the 3rd February at The Shard in London. The Startups Magazine team went along to the evening to celebrate with the finalists and winners.
The Future of Capitalism Competition offers an early-stage startup the opportunity to pitch for valuable early-stage investment of up to $1 million. This year’s edition received 645 startup applicants from 84 countries, which were fine-tuned down to 9 enterprises founded by entrepreneurs aiming to reshape the world we live in.
This year’s winner, US deeptech innovator Tandem Repeat, aims to redefine the textiles industry with an innovative new bio-manufactured material.
Inspired by squids, Tandem Repeat has developed a revolutionary new high-performance, completely natural fibre, Squitex, that’s both sustainable and cost-effective. Plant molecular farming offers an alternative to traditional animal-sourced materials, allowing for more cost-effective production with fewer environmental impacts.
Melik Demirel, Co-Founder, Tandem Repeat, commented: “I’m thrilled that our team at Tandem Repeat has won the prestigious Future of Capitalism Award for our groundbreaking biomanufacturing work in Procell Fibres. This recognition fuels our mission to harness technology for positive social impact and pushes us to innovate and expand our market for sustainable fibres further.”
Three startups were identified as Rising Stars at the competition too.
Shifted, a French energytech startup, that aim to help light the world with clean, reliable, and accessible energy through the development of a new compressed air battery designed to provide long-duration, low-cost, location-independent renewable energy storage, capable of delivering a reliable source of 24/7 clean power for micro-grids and independent networks.
Multi-award-winning agritech innovator, Lambda Energy, that has developed a groundbreaking light-changing spray for greenhouse panels that can boost crop yields by an impressive 20%.
A Kenyan based climatetech startup that’s on a mission to create a sustainable future for all by transforming how the world manages carbon. Octavia Carbon designs, builds, and deploys geothermal integrated DAC technology that filters CO₂ from the atmosphere for permanent underground storage. Its pilot DAC and geological storage facility, Project Hummingbird, is located in the central Kenyan Rift Valley.
Robert Brown, Competition Director, commented: “The competition has attracted founders representing a wide range of business ideas from all over the world. Startups are vital to sustained economic growth and it’s very encouraging to see so many people with the belief and passion to take their ideas to market.
“With success comes a responsibility to give something back to those less fortunate than ourselves. This competition aims to discover tech startups who are not only going to achieve commercial success but that are also committed to giving something back to society.”
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