Entrepreneurs from ten ventures representing seven Caribbean countries and territories selected for new cross-regional program

WASHINGTON, DC (June 29, 2026) — Halcyon, a global impact-driven startup accelerator, today announced the inaugural cohort for its 2026 Caribbean Climate Pre-Accelerator.

Launched in partnership with climate innovation company the Hazelwood Network (formerly Riffle Ventures), this program will support ten ventures through a six-month curriculum featuring virtual programming and in-person residencies in Kingston, Jamaica and Bridgetown, Barbados.

“The Caribbean region is home to innovative founders solving for the very real-world realities of a changing climate, but lacking the structural support and readiness needed to scale beyond home markets,” said Mercy Erhiawarien, Director of International Programs at Halcyon. “The Halcyon and Hazelwood Network Pre-Accelerator offers founders an opportunity to dive deeper into training that prepares them to position themselves internationally and target new opportunities.”

Designed for early-stage entrepreneurs addressing the Caribbean’s most pressing climate challenges, this Pre-Accelerator emphasizes internationalization, global connectivity, and capital readiness. Through Halcyon and the Hazelwood Network’s global networks, founders gain access to impact-focused climate investors and additional partners across the Caribbean innovation ecosystem.

Entrepreneurs will also receive expert coaching, introductions to mentors, training in go-to-market strategy, leadership, and capital strategy, $10K in Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) credits, and a $6K equity-free stipend per venture, helping founders dedicate time to the program and put its lessons into practice.

“Hazelwood is very excited to partner with Halcyon to support climate entrepreneurs in the Caribbean region,” said Jamil Wyne, Founder of the Hazelwood Network. “We’re seeing fantastic opportunities in the region and lots of climate innovators stepping up, as well as an ecosystem forming around them that we’re proud to be engaging with.”

The selected founders are innovating across climate adaptation and resilience, addressing challenges in sub-sectors including:

• Energy and grid resilience
• Agriculture and food security
• Disaster preparedness and emergency response
• Adaptation finance and data intelligence
• Climate-resilient infrastructure and built environment
• Community and social resilience

This program received funding support from ClimateWorks Foundation, with additional support from AWS.

Since 2023, Halcyon has supported entrepreneurs through climate-focused programming in Latin America and the Caribbean. This 2026 Pre-Accelerator marks the organization’s first program dedicated specifically to ventures across the Caribbean.

The inaugural cohort includes entrepreneurs from seven countries and territories, and also represents Halcyon’s first time supporting ventures based in Barbados, Guadeloupe, and Haiti.

Meet the Founders and their Ventures:

•  Ryan Roper, CEAL Green (Trinidad and Tobago): CEAL Green provides sustainability, renewable energy, and decarbonization solutions for Caribbean governments, utilities, SMEs, and industrial clients to help Small Island Developing States reduce energy costs, improve climate resilience, and accelerate the transition to net zero.
• Bernice Nere Charles, COSMOS SOLUTION (Haiti): COSMOS SOLUTION specializes in biogas production, organic waste valorization, and renewable energy solutions for schools, farmers, municipalities, and vulnerable communities, transforming organic waste into clean energy and organic fertilizer to promote climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, and access to affordable green energy.
• Ashlie Robinson & Tariq King, Forshores (Jamaica): Forshores is a climate intelligence SaaS platform that helps tourism businesses across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) anticipate climate risk and unlock adaptation finance by delivering real-time climate risk dashboards, operational playbooks, smart alerts, ESG reports, an adaptation finance matchmaker, and post-event recovery templates.
• Butlington Cuthbert John & Janice Lorna John, Gender and Climate Finance Global Platform (Saint Lucia): The GCFT Global Platform is a sovereign-grade digital infrastructure built by the OECS AI Institute that closes the climate finance accountability gap for Small Island Developing States, enabling Caribbean governments to measure, report, and verify every dollar of climate finance against GCF, CDB, and IMF standards through AI-powered budget tagging, XBRL-compliant reporting, Blue Economy monitoring, and blockchain audit trails.
• Avery Barnett, Grid Guard (Jamaica): Grid Guard develops the Cyclone Impact Model (CIM), a subscription-based storm resilience tool that stress-tests energy infrastructure to identify where a grid breaks and where it holds. The CIM serves utilities, governments, and NGOs in storm-exposed regions, translating complex hazard modeling to inform policy, guide infrastructure investment, and help communities prepare before the next storm arrives.
• Thomas Plocoste, KaruSphère (Guadeloupe): KaruSphère develops climate and atmospheric intelligence solutions for governments, researchers, and industries in tropical regions by combining environmental monitoring, satellite observations, AI, and data analytics to provide decision-support tools focused on air quality, Saharan dust events, climate resilience, public health, and renewable energy systems.
• Ancel Bhagwandeen, PROTOFABTT (Trinidad and Tobago): PROTOFABTT has developed the SolarPoniX line of climate- adaptive, solar garden towers targeting all age groups. This portable solution mitigates the cycle of hurricane destruction in the Caribbean’s agricultural sector via physical mobility, AI automation, and energy independence features.
• Joshua Forte, Red Diamond Compost Inc. (Barbados): Red Diamond Compost Inc. develops regenerative biostimulants and the Diamond Matrix Bioconversion (DMX) platform, which transforms regional biomass into high-performance agricultural inputs. The company aims to improve soil health, increase climate resilience, and reduce dependence on imported synthetic fertilizers through localized biological production systems.
• Jade Alexis Sands, Soil Sista (The Bahamas): Soil Sista is an agricultural consultancy and digital platform serving new, experienced, and aging farmers across Small Island Developing States. The software uses market insights, climate intelligence, and crop planning tools to help farmers plan, track production, and anticipate challenges like pests, disease, drought, and flooding, and the physical consultancy services help them solve problems on the ground.
• Nicola Shirley-Phillips & Nomi Shirley, Ujima Naturals Limited (Jamaica): Ujima Naturals Limited supports organic and natural farmers through training in regenerative production, value-added product development, and market access. Through its farmers market and educational outreach, the venture connects health-conscious consumers with clean, healthy food choices while strengthening local sustainable agriculture.

About Halcyon

Halcyon accelerates the impact-driven future of business. Since 2014, Halcyon’s fellowships for early-stage social entrepreneurs have provided space, community, and access to 650+ founders—infusing support at a critical juncture where many impact-driven startups fail.

Halcyon is focused on serving social entrepreneurs with ventures in Climate, Health, and EquityTech—three verticals that drive equity and inclusivity in society. Halcyon’s support includes tailored business training for leadership, product-market fit, and capital strategy and additional resources to help Halcyon founders scale their ventures.

About the Hazelwood Network

The Hazelwood Network (formerly Riffle Ventures) is a global climate innovation company that supports climate entrepreneurship and investment around the world by creating new programs, organizations and research that help advance climate and sustainability goals and partnerships.

The Hazelwood Network brings together innovators, expertise, and resource access to support their partners, which include public, private and nonprofit organizations and foundations who are committed to developing and scaling impactful climate tech programs and climate ventures globally.