ClimateLaunchpad Morocco Opens Errachidia Cleantech Bootcamp

ClimateLaunchpad Morocco opened its Errachidia bootcamp on Tuesday, July 14, at the Regional Investment Center (CRI) of Drâa-Tafilalet, welcoming entrepreneurs who aim to transform local climate challenges into viable cleantech businesses. The two-day program (July 14–15) marked the second stop of the 2026 Regional Bootcamp Tour, following Meknes and preceding the final leg in Agadir on July 17–18. The event combined in-person sessions with a parallel online bootcamp and brought technical training, mentorship and pitch preparation to a new cohort of founders from the region.

“Passion and determination are the forces that move people beyond dreams,” said Ahmed Larouz, founder of Women in Cleantech and leader of ClimateLaunchpad Morocco, as he opened the Errachidia sessions. Larouz, who noted his personal ties to Drâa-Tafilalet, emphasized his commitment to helping young people in the region access entrepreneurial opportunities.

Organizers said the bootcamp is part of a broader national program led by Bridgizz and includes Women in Cleantech, which receives support from the German Agency for International Cooperation through the Gender Responsive and Inclusive Politics and Economics in the Middle East and North Africa Region project. Hind Laârif, marketing lead for Women in Cleantech in Drâa-Tafilalet, said the initiative aims to bring entrepreneurship closer to young people in an often-overlooked region: “We believe young people have the creativity and passion to build a more sustainable future. Our mission is to help them turn that vision into reality.”

Technical training, practical frameworks

Dutch cleantech expert Ron Bloemers led the technical curriculum, drawing on more than two decades of experience in cleantech, entrepreneurship and innovation and his previous work as a renewable energy and climate change expert at McKinsey & Company. Bloemers, founder and managing partner of START-U-UP, told participants that the program’s greatest success is “not the competition itself, but the collaboration it creates among founders, mentors, trainers, and regional ecosystems.”

Training covered founder identity, reputation, customer needs, business models and structured problem-solving. Bloemers introduced tools such as the Founder’s Dream canvas and the consulting framework MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive), and advised founders to keep their pitch decks “stupid simple.” He also illustrated two-sided market opportunities with examples including Qarnot — which repurposes server heat to warm buildings — and Tuk Tuk Factory, a student-born electric mobility venture from Delft University of Technology.

Local startups sharpen pitches

• Aqualytics — led by founder Mouad El-Kandoussi, with Mohamed Terfas and Imad Talbioui — presented an artificial intelligence-powered device to monitor water flows for utilities, detect flooding, leaks and network irregularities faster. “Aqualytics began as an idea, two pens, and the hope of reaching the finals,” El-Kandoussi said, crediting the bootcamp with providing a structured path to develop the concept.
• Plant Doctor — co-founded by sisters Chaimae and Fatima-Ezzahra Oustani — pitched an AI platform to diagnose plant diseases, optimize irrigation and connect farmers with researchers and biological input suppliers. Chaimae, a master’s student in applied informatics for business management, said the bootcamp “helped us learn more about the project, improve our pitch, and become more capable of presenting our idea to investors.”

Organizers described ClimateLaunchpad as the world’s largest green business ideas competition and said the program’s pathway combines bootcamp training, follow-up coaching and opportunities to pitch at national and international stages. The Errachidia stop aims to accelerate projects that address regional environmental pressures by strengthening teams’ technical models, operational plans and investor-ready presentations.

Looking ahead, teams from Errachidia will continue refining their solutions for the next stages of the competition, leveraging mentorship from ClimateLaunchpad Morocco and partners to scale prototypes and secure places at national finals and international pitching events scheduled later in the competition calendar.