Nabat TerraPod Challenge
Nabat TerraPod Challenge
Innovate together with ASPIRE and Nabat to push technology advancement to the next level!
Reviving the Desert,
One Seed-Pod at a Time
One Seed-Pod at a Time
Welcome to the Nabat TerraPod Challenge
The Nabat TerraPod Challenge invites startups, researchers, established companies, and technology innovators worldwide to design a scalable, low-cost seed-carrier that can be deployed by an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) to restore vegetation across the UAE’s desert and arid landscapes.
Through this challenge, Nabat, in partnership with ASPIRE, aims to:
• Identify a scalable, low-cost seed-carrier solution for UAV-assisted desert reforestation
• Improve germination, dormancy-breaking, and early-stage survival in extreme arid conditions
• Fast-track validation and a potential commercial partnership through live field testing in early 2027
• Identify world-class solutions that help fight desertification in the UAE
• Identify a scalable, low-cost seed-carrier solution for UAV-assisted desert reforestation
• Improve germination, dormancy-breaking, and early-stage survival in extreme arid conditions
• Fast-track validation and a potential commercial partnership through live field testing in early 2027
• Identify world-class solutions that help fight desertification in the UAE
Participants are invited to submit seed-carrier solutions that demonstrate germination performance, environmental durability, cost-efficiency, and readiness for UAV deployment at scale.
Participate here 
Challenge Statement
How might we design a scalable, low-cost seed-carrier that can be deployed by drone to reliably establish vegetation in the desert and arid landscapes of the UAE?
Solutions may draw on materials science, agritech, biotechnology, robotics, or other interdisciplinary approaches, so long as they address the germination, durability, and UAV-deployment requirements set out in the Challenge Statement.
Opportunities & Incentives
Piloting &
Field Validation
Selected seed-carriers will be deployed via Nabat’s UAV platform for live validation across UAE desert sites (targeted for January–February 2027).
Commercial &
Partnership Opportunities
Winners may progress to a partnership discussion.
Funding &
Investment Exposure
A prize of US$50,000 is available to the winning team.
Timeline Overview
1
Phase 1: Proposal Solicitation
September 2026 – 19 November 2026
Startups submit seed-carrier proposals, which are then screened for eligibility and scored by an expert panel.
Submissions end on 19 November 2026.
The participants to proceed to the next phase will be notified in November 2026.
2
Phase 2: Video Pitch
December 2026
Semi-finalists present their solutions through live short video pitches.
Evaluators score independently and aggregate results.
The participants to proceed to the next phase will be notified in December 2026.
3
Phase 3: Validation & Final Selection
January – February 2027
Finalists provide ready-to-deploy seed-carriers for live UAV field validation (targeted for Jan–Feb 2027).
Finalists will be required to submit all materials for validation by 1 January 2027.
In March 2027 a holistic evaluator review will take place to produce a winner recommendation.
Winner will be announced in Q2 2027.