The LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with OGDCL, has opened applications for the CleanTech Hackathon 2026, a national platform that brings together startups, researchers, engineers, and problem-solvers to build workable solutions for Pakistan’s sustainability and energy challenges. The organizers frame the event around a simple premise, that the country’s energy, mobility, emissions, water, and waste problems need homegrown innovation that can be deployed, not only ideas that look good in a presentation. Applications close on November 8, 2026, giving teams roughly four weeks to prepare their submissions.
The hackathon is organized around seven verticals, which together cover most of the clean technology landscape. These are renewable and alternative energy, energy storage and efficiency, clean mobility and electrified transport, decarbonization and emissions reduction, energy access and grid innovation, energy finance and business model innovation, and waste management and water treatment. The inclusion of energy finance and business model innovation alongside the technical categories is worth noting, since many clean energy ventures struggle less with the technology itself than with finding a model that customers can afford and financiers will back.
The incentives combine cash with a route into incubation. A collective prize pool of PKR 1 million is on offer, and promising startups may be fast tracked for consideration into LCE’s Idea Launch Incubation Programme, which turns the competition into a possible first step toward building a company rather than a one-off event. Participants are also promised industry mentorship, access to corporate leaders, and real-world deployment pathways, a feature that matters in a sector where pilots with an established operator often decide whether a young company survives.
The involvement of OGDCL, one of Pakistan’s largest energy companies, gives the hackathon a direct link to the country’s energy industry, and its role as a collaborator suggests teams may get a hearing from people who understand the operational realities of the sector. For founders and researchers working on clean technology, the call offers a structured chance to test a solution against industry expectations, compete for funding, and build relationships with potential customers and partners. Teams working in any of the seven verticals can find details and apply through the official application page before the November 8 deadline.
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