Vivid Edge Founder Receives 2025 Impact Award from Cartier Women’s Initiative
- Tracy O’Rourke is only Irish entrepreneur among nine international awardees
Tracy O’Rourke, the founder and CEO of Vivid Edge, an Irish climate action impact company, has been presented with a prestigious 2025 Impact Award by the Cartier Women’s Initiative. The Cartier Women's Initiative (CWI), founded by Cartier in 2006, is an international entrepreneurship programme that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs.
Tracy is one of nine (9) international female entrepreneurs and business leaders and the only Irish entrepreneur, who were presented with their Impact Awards during an event held at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
The CWI Impact Awards, presented only for the second time since 2020, are dedicated to former CWI fellows whose ventures have demonstrated extraordinary long-term impact aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Tracy was one of three awardees in the Preserving the Planet category, which recognises innovations advancing climate action and environmental sustainability, aligned with UN SDGs 7, 12, 13, 14, and 15.
Vivid Edge is a recognised leader in the energy efficiency space, helping medium and large organisations transition to low-carbon operations through its distinctive “efficiency-as-a-service” model. The company provides fully funded, turnkey energy upgrades, removing traditional financial and operational barriers for customers. The company’s approach delivers fast-track carbon reductions without upfront capital investment.
Vivid Edge is headquartered at NexusUCD in Dublin and is supported by Enterprise Ireland as a client company.
Tracy O’Rourke, founder and CEO, Vivid Edge, said, “It’s a huge honour for me personally and on behalf of our incredible team at Vivid Edge to have been awarded a 2025 Impact Award by the Cartier Women’s Initiative. It is a great privilege to be included among this group of inspirational female entrepreneurs who are driving social and environmental change around the world through their companies.”
She added, “At Vivid Edge we are on a mission to make it easy and financially rewarding for large energy users to decarbonise, bringing energy expertise, delivery capability and capital. In terms of impact, we estimate that the projects we have delivered to date for clients have avoided over 36,000 tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to planting over 100,000 trees and saved over 119 GWh of energy.”
She concluded, “Vivid Edge’s work is making measurable contributions to global climate goals, and we are proud to be delivering measurable impact contributing to a better future for people and the planet.”
Kristin Kagetsu, Saathi (India) and Kresse Wesling CBE, Elvis & Kresse (UK) also received Impact Awards in the Preserving the Planet category alongside Tracy. The other two award categories were Improving Lives and Creating Opportunities.
Pictured (l-r) are the CWI 2025 Impact Awardees; Kresse Wesling; Kristin Kagetsa; Namita Banka; Jackie Stenson; Mariam Torosyan; Yvette Ishimwe; Caitlin Dolkart; Tracy O’Rourke and Rama Kayyali. (Credit - Cartier).
Each of the nine awardees receive a $100,000 grant, alongside human capital support and global media visibility.
Click here for additional information on each of the nine 2025 Impact Awardees.
ENDS
26 May 2025
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.
Editors Notes
Vivid Edge provides energy efficiency as a service, making it affordable and hassle-free for medium and large organisations to achieve their climate goals. The company installs equipment such as heat pumps and rooftop solar on commercial buildings and rents it back to occupiers under a comprehensive, full-service model.
Energy savings typically exceed the service charge, reaching up to 60%, and as high as 82% for lighting. By showcasing significant results in a single building, Vivid Edge paves the way for broader adoption and impact. With a mission to deliver both environmental and financial results at scale, the company is redefining how businesses approach sustainability. https://www.vividedge.ie
Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship programme that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. Founded by Cartier in 2006, the programme is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact. https://www.cartierwomensinitiative.com/