A startup ecosystem event to address the planetary “red alert”
Last month was the hottest July in recorded history, and two weeks ago the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report that the UN Secretary General called a “red alert” for the planet. One reason for that alarm is the report’s conclusion that current global commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will not, on their own, arrest the climb in global temperatures.
These unnerving developments are bound to intensify the efforts of the climate-driven founders and investors in the vanguard of technology-driven solutions to save the planet. Now more than ever, they are racing against the clock to avert a climate disaster.
That’s why we are announcing the SOSV Climate Tech Summit, a virtual, global and free event centered on the fast developing startup ecosystem taking on the climate challenge. The agenda for the two-day event, Oct. 20-21, will feature top founders, investors, and technologists who are at the heart of the ecosystem. The conversations will focus on how to make the startup ecosystem go further, faster — for everyone’s sake.
SOSV, a Princeton, N.J. based venture firm and leader in climate tech investing, is producing the event in conjunction with a dozen other VCs who are also committed investors in climate tech. The event is free and open to everyone. Register here. It’s free, but attendance is limited.
“Startups by their very nature take risks no normal business would,” says Sean O’Sullivan, the founder and managing partner of SOSV, “and that’s doubly true for the deep-tech startups inventing radical, breakthrough approaches to decarbonization. The more investment we deliver to brilliant founders, the better the chances that humankind will produce the innovations we need to save the planet.
“The SOSV Climate Tech Summit will help us speed up the exchange of insights and deepening of networks that are fundamental to the growth of any startup ecosystem. As we can all see in the daily news coverage, the increasing rate of climate-related disasters requires immediate action. We really can’t move fast enough.”
The SOSV Climate Tech Summit consists of four areas, all of which will take place on the Hopin virtual event platform.
- The virtual main stage is where we will host 16 fireside chats and small panel discussions over two days with leading founders, investors and others leading the way in startup climate tech.
- On a second track, established, early-stage climate-tech investors will host 30-minute, interactive breakout sessions The aim is to help founders learn more about potential investors.
- Throughout the show, attendees will be able to network and chat live with fellow attendees.
- Finally, there will be a virtual startup expo area for early stage climate tech companies. The exhibiting start-ups will come from the portfolios of SOSV and the other firms running breakout sessions.
SOSV operates the IndieBio (biotech) and HAX (hardtech) startup development programs, which are the sources for most SOSV climate tech companies. In April this year, SOSV published the SOSV Climate Tech 100 list, which was covered in TechCrunch. In June, SOSV published an analysis of investors in the Climate Tech 100 to help founders better understand the funding landscape.
SOSV is committed to a mission of human and planetary health, and the SOSV Climate Tech Summit is designed to improve the prospects for all startups and all investors in the category, as well as to attract new participants.
Ned Desmond, senior-operating partner at SOSV and former COO of TechCrunch, is the executive producer of the summit.
Inquiries? Contact Kayla Liederbach, SOSV Marketing Manager, at climatetech@sosv.com.
