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Startup

Tuesday, October 25th, 2022

9:00am to 12:00pm

Scenario Planning: How to Keep a Competitive Edge for the Unexpected

Tutorial

210G

As a startup, the way you plan for ambiguity in the market can make or break your business. In this tutorial, you will learn how to conduct scenario planning, a method to mitigate risk by creating strategic contingency plans. A prepared scenario planning framework can help companies to not only survive, but thrive in an increasingly unclear economic future. Participate in this tutorial to work with those who have led and put this work into practice. They will explain scenario planning, how it’s proved to be an invaluable tool, and walk you through this exercise to set you up for success.

Scenario Planning Resources:

Hunter Lovins Scenario Planning

3:30pm to 4:30pm

VERGE Accelerate: Transport Pitch Competition

Panel

210H

VERGE Accelerate is a series of fast-pitch competitions featuring leading climate tech startups. Today’s session highlights five entrepreneurs building cutting-edge solutions for sustainable mobility, followed by industry expert reactions to each pitch. Help determine the winner by casting your vote live at the event! The winner will pitch in the main stage finals on Thursday, October 27.

Beyond VC: Alternate Funding Sources for Startups

Panel

210G

Venture capital is no longer the only path to fund your startup. Lessons learned during Cleantech 1.0 investing are being applied to climate tech financing. New models and money are flowing into the space every day. This time around, funders are incorporating founder friendly structures, patient capital and dollars that match actual solution needs. This session will cover the myriad sources of capital emerging for climate tech startups. We'll discuss revenue-based financing, project finance, grants and other methods to fund your business.

5:00pm to 6:00pm

Startup Power Hour

Networking

Startup Pavillion (Expo Area)

Join the Startup Power Hour and watch the Startup Pavilion come alive! During the Startup Power Hour, all exhibitors will be on-site, meaning you will have the opportunity to meet numerous climate tech accelerators and over 100 brilliant startups. Don't miss the chance to dive into the climate tech innovation space and find out how you can work with these leading businesses.

Wednesday, October 26th, 2022

9:00am to 10:00am

VERGE Accelerate: Carbon Pitch Competition

Panel

210H

VERGE Accelerate is a series of fast-pitch competitions featuring leading climate tech startups. Today’s session highlights five entrepreneurs building cutting-edge solutions for carbon removal, followed by industry expert reactions to each pitch. Help determine the winner by casting your vote live at the event! The winner will pitch in the main stage finals on Thursday, October 27.

Electrifying Charging Solutions and the Need for Innovation

Lightning Talks

212 A-B

If we are to achieve a fully decarbonized transport future, then we cannot leave anyone behind. How can technology help?

Headlines about access to public EV charging stations continue to emerge each day. However, new and emerging companies are striving to fix this accessibility problem for good. Discover and learn about innovative charging solutions and innovations that could help bring charging access to all.

Diversity Is More Than a Checkbox

Panel

210 G

A 2019 McKinsey report details a direct correlation between better financial performance, and gender, ethnic and cultural diversity. Creating an authentic diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practice is just the start. Hear from experts on how they integrated diversity recruiting and culture into every part of their company. They will dive into how every organization can use these strategies from even the earliest stages of development.

12:15pm to 1:15pm

Roundtable Lunches

Roundtable Lunch

Hall 2, San Jose Convention Center

Roundtable Lunches are interactive lunch discussions, moderated by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants. All roundtable lunches are first-come, first-served. Below are the roundtable lunches being held at this time.

What’s Your Organization’s Superpower, and How Are You Using It for the Planet? - Table Host: Patrick Flynn, Salesforce

Stepping Stones Towards Sustainable Business Strategies - Table Host: Mohammad Hoda, Honeywell PMT

Solving for Net Zero: Climate Tech Innovation - Table Host: Rick Azer, Black & Veatch

Scaling Climate Tech Adoption by Corporations - Table Host: Emily Menz, Nasdaq

The Importance of Technology in Driving 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy - Table Host: Devrim Celal, Kraken

The Intersection of Renewables, Grid Modernization and Environmental Justice - Table Host: Ross Dillon, WSP

Water Is the New Carbon, What Are You Doing About It? - Table Host: Andy Bastien, FigBytes

Will Capitalism Kill Us, Save Us, or Both? - Table Host: Molly Wood, Launch

How Climate Tech and Corporate Sustainability Can Leverage a New Era of Emissions Intelligence - Table Host: Gavin McCormick, WattTime

The Critical Importance of Envisioning Alternate Climate Futures - Table Hosts: Jared Krause and Brendan Kiernan, Alternate Futures

The Role of Art and Tech in Ecological Regeneration and Cultural Transformation - Table Host: Angeline Chen, Global Coralition

Strategies and Pathways to Center Frontline Voices for a Just Transition - Table Host: Charisma Acey, UC Berkeley

Return to Office: A Golden Opportunity to Enhance Performance - Table Host: Joe Fullerton, Prospect Silicon Valley

Urban Resilience: How Chief Resilience Officers are Using Technology to Build Community Resilience - Table Host: Laurian Farrell, Resilient Cities Network

How Web 3.0 Will Impact Supply Chains - Table Host: Dail St. Claire, Amalgamated Bank

De-risking Long-term Investments in Nature - Table Host: Josh Parrish, Pachama

What’s Agricultural Resiliency, and How Does it Advance Your Climate Goals? - Table Hosts: Philippa Lockwood and Carolina Leonhardt, Clif Bar & Company

How Advanced Indoor Farming Can Spur Climate Adaptation - Table Host: Rebekah Moses, Iron Ox

Bridging the Gap between Talent and Hiring Companies - Table Host: Remy Lannelongue, Terra.do

How to Create Economic Opportunities for Frontline Communities - Table Host: Anthony Oni, Energy Impact Partners

Embodying DEI (as a White Male Founder) - Table Host: Andy Ruben, Trove

What Does Sustainability Look Like for Autonomous Vehicles? - Table Host: Tracy Cheung, Cruise

Fleet Electrification: The Vehicle Is Just the Start of the Journey - Table Host: Josh Green, Inspiration Mobility

EV Charging: How Do We Provide Reliable and High-quality Charging Experiences? - Table Host: Asaf Nagler, ABB

The Evolving World of Product-Level Supply Chain Emissions - Table Host: Dexter Galvin, CDP

How to Catalyze Your Climate Influence on Social Platforms - Table Host: Andrea Learned, LearnedOn

Speakers

Patrick Flynn
Mohammad Hoda
Rick Azer
Emily Menz
Devrim Celal
Ross Dillon
Andy Bastien
Molly Wood
Gavin McCormick
Jared Krause
Brendan Kiernan
Angeline Chen
Charisma Acey
Joe Fullerton
Laurian Farrell
Dail St. Claire
Josh Parrish
Philippa Lockwood
Carolina Leonhardt
Rebekah Moses
Remy Lannelongue
Anthony Oni
Andy Ruben
Tracy Cheung
Josh Green
Asaf Nagler
Dexter Galvin
Andrea Learned

1:30pm to 2:30pm

VERGE Accelerate: Energy Pitch Competition

Panel

210H

VERGE Accelerate is a series of fast-pitch competitions featuring leading climate tech startups. Today’s session highlights five entrepreneurs building cutting-edge solutions for energy, followed by industry expert reactions to each pitch. Help determine the winner by casting your vote live at the event! The winner will pitch in the main stage finals on Thursday, October 27.

Corporate-Startup Interactive

Workshop

210 G

Are you an entrepreneur wondering how to scale your product with a commercial company? This interactive session gives you the opportunity to speak directly with corporate venture capitalists about what they look for when deciding to work with a startup. Learn about companies’ top climate priorities and how you can strategically create inroads with relevant business units. Join this session to build new relationships and gain insights about how to approach, navigate and successfully land your next corporate partner.

2:45pm to 3:45pm

VERGE Accelerate: Buildings Pitch Competition

Panel

210H

VERGE Accelerate is a series of fast-pitch competitions featuring leading climate tech startups. Today’s session highlights five entrepreneurs building cutting-edge solutions for buildings, followed by industry expert reactions to each pitch. Help determine the winner by casting your vote live at the event! The winner will pitch in the main stage finals on Thursday, October 27.

The Future of Advanced Construction: Lightning Rounds

Lightning Talks

210D

Building construction has historically been a slow and dirty process. What innovations will allow us to leapfrog the entrenched processes and technologies we currently use to construct buildings? Speakers in this session will showcase promising new construction materials and processes that offer novel ways to reduce waste, embodied carbon emissions and construction timelines.

Attendees will leave with an understanding of the applications, strengths and weaknesses of different building materials. Practitioners will leave better equipped to see around corners when communicating the value of these materials to decision-makers in their organizations.

Leveraging Public Policy to Commercialize Climate Tech

Panel

210G

Does policy have a role in accelerating climate tech? We’ll dive into this hotly debated question, and lay out how policy can enable private markets to deploy climate technologies at an impactful scale. You will learn how to take advantage of active government programs and federal policy to achieve commercial scale deployment. Come with your questions and ideas for how policy can accelerate technology. There will be ample time to discuss specific issues the public sector may help you unlock.

4:15pm to 5:15pm

VERGE Accelerate: Food Pitch Competition

Panel

210H

VERGE Accelerate is a series of fast-pitch competitions featuring leading climate tech startups. Today’s session highlights five entrepreneurs building cutting-edge solutions for regenerative food systems, followed by industry expert reactions to each pitch. Help determine the winner by casting your vote live at the event! The winner will pitch in the main stage finals on Thursday, October 27.

Engaging With Cleantech: How Can Businesses Identify Promising New Technologies?

Panel

LL20A

Net-zero emissions goals are unachievable without large-scale integration of clean energy technologies beyond wind and solar. Energy customers can expedite the deployment of emerging carbon-free technologies but often lack the information necessary to engage with confidence. This panel of cleantech incubators and accelerators will explore how to de-risk engagement with startups and identify pathways to successful cleantech partnerships.

Investor - Startup Interactive

Workshop

210 G

Are you an entrepreneur currently fundraising or about to raise a round? This interactive session gives you the opportunity to speak directly with investors about what they look for when deciding to invest in a startup. Learn about top climate funding priorities and how you can set up your company for the next round of investment. Join this session to build new relationships and gain insights about how to approach, navigate and successfully land your next investor.

5:15pm to 7:00pm

Startup Power Hour

Networking

Plaza Terrace

Join the startup exhibitors on the Plaza Terrace for a drink during happy hour! During this second Startup Power Hour taking place on the terrace next to the Startup Pavilion, all exhibitors will be on-site, meaning you will have the opportunity to meet numerous climate tech accelerators and over 100 brilliant startups. Don't miss the chance to dive into the climate tech innovation space and find out how you can work with these leading businesses.

Thursday, October 27th, 2022

9:00am to 10:00am

Key Indicators to Communicate Your Climate Impact

Panel

210H

As funding floods into climate tech, how do investors prioritize startups with the greatest potential environmental impact, and how do entrepreneurs tell their story successfully to earn funding? These are two key challenges facing climate solutions, and time is limited to make an actual dent in emissions. Hear from leaders on new methodologies and frameworks for measuring and assessing impact, and learn how they use that data to prioritize investment and scaling decisions. New tools and technologies are now emerging to tell this story, including Project FRAME, SERC, CRANE and others. We will review the merits of clearer storytelling and deliberate use of data in a narrative, and its impact on investor decision-making.

Startup Coaching Interactive

Workshop

210G

Are you seeking out a coach or mentor, but don’t know where to start? Do you have a problem you’re working on as a startup founder, but don’t know who to turn to for advice? This interactive group coaching session will help anyone at a climate tech startup quickly get to the root of an issue, and work through steps to solve it. Bring an idea or gain perspective from observing others work with a coach to clearly articulate your value prop, improve your presence in high stakes meetings, or move something out of the way that feels impossible to move.

12:15pm to 1:15pm

Roundtable Lunches

Roundtable Lunch

Hall 2, San Jose Convention Center

Accelerating to Net Zero: The Innovation Imperative for Business - Table Host: Elizabeth Sturcken, Environmental Defense Fund

Achieving Scope 3 Decarbonization Through Sustainable Sourcing - Table Host: Brandon Owens, Insight Energy

When Is the Best Time to Secure a PPA? - Table Host: Michael Prince, LevelTen Energy

Financing Climate Justice: How Can We Invest in Dignified Lives Everywhere? - Table Hosts: Ajaita Shah, Frontier Markets and Danny Kennedy, New Energy Nexus

Sustainable You: Thriving on the Other Side of Burnout - Table Host: Chris Gaither, Chris Gaither Consulting

How to Humanize Your Brand: Making Climate Tech Accessible for All - Table Host: Carrie Maultsby-Lute, Center for Transformative Action at Mills College, Presidio Graduate School

Integrating Your Facilities Systems: Searching for the Mythical Single Pane of Glass - Table Host: James Dice, Nexus Labs

Green Leasing and Beyond: Working With your Landlords and Tenants Toward Win-Win Solutions - Table Host: Cliff Majersik, Institute for Market Transformation

How to Identify High-Integrity Tropical Forest Credits: Joint Guidance from Leading NGOs - Table Host: Mark Moroge, Environmental Defense Fund

The State of Play in Climate Tech VC: Trends in Funding and Innovation - Table Host: Sophie Purdom, Climate Tech VC

Must We Wait for Industry to Change, or Can Product Labeling Enable Consumers to Lead on Climate? - Table Host: Nathan Sedlander, Evergrade

An Overlooked Ingredient: Sowing Biodiversity Into Food Value Chains - Table Host: Rebecca Chesney, IDEO Food Design

Investing in Regional Food Systems as a Cornerstone of Regenerative Agriculture - Table Host: Adrian Rodrigues, Provenance Capital Group

Climate on the Chain: The Intersection of Crypto and Climate - Table Host: Andrew Beebe, Obvious Ventures

Data and Trends in Climate Tech- Table Host: Mick Liubinskas, Climate Salad

Building Climate Tech Solutions with Community Stakeholders - Table Host: Julia Kumari Drapkin, ISeeChange

Scope 3, Supply Change and Net Zero by 2030: Discussing Marine Terminals, Ships, Trucks and Trains - Table Host: Bonnie Nixon, Long Beach Container Terminal

Prioritizing Vehicle-to-Grid Applications: Where to Start? - Table Host: Katherine Stainken, Electrification Coalition

Sustainability in Commercial Outer Space: Launching a New Future - Table Host: Paul Holdredge, BSR

Charge Up your Sustainability Strategy Through Outsourced Energy Management - Table Host: Al Subbloie, Budderfly

The Challenges & Opportunities Ahead for Next-Gen Batteries - Table Host: Asim Hussain, QuantumScape

Your EV Fleet: The Role of Strategic Partnerships in Creating Access to Reliable EV Charging - Table Hosts: Simon Lonsdale, Head of Sales and Strategy, Co-founder, & Heena Mariyam, Senior Customer Success Manager, bp pulse fleets

USDA’s Approach to Catalyzing Climate Smart Agriculture: What’s Next? - Table Host: Anna Madalinska, USDA

Clean Technologies: Understanding Corporate Demand, Private Investment & Public Support - Table Host: Misti Groves

Speakers

Elizabeth Sturcken
Brandon Owens
Michael Prince
Ajaita Shah
Danny Kennedy
Chris Gaither
Carrie Maultsby-Lute
James Dice
Cliff Majersik
Mark Moroge
Sophie Purdom
Nathan Sedlander
Rebecca Chesney
Adrian Rodrigues
Andrew Beebe
Mick Liubinskas
Julia Kumari Drapkin
Bonnie Nixon
Katherine Stainken
Paul Holdredge
Al Subbloie
Asim Hussain
Simon Lonsdale
Heena Mariyam
Anna Madalinska
Misti Groves

12:30pm to 1:30pm

The Climate Pledge Fund: Meet the Innovators

Panel

The Climate Pledge Stage

Since its launch in 2020, Amazon’s $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund has invested in 20 companies developing the technologies needed to transition to net zero emissions. The investments are deliberately broad, from low-carbon fuels to high-tech greenhouses and battery recycling. Visit The Climate Pledge Stage to hear from and connect with leaders from four ground-breaking fund companies that are building tomorrow’s low-carbon economy.

1:30pm to 2:30pm

Behind the Scenes of Corporate Innovation Groups

Panel

210H

Though corporate innovation groups have been around for decades, the last few years demonstrate a boom in the number of deals made, with an all-time quarterly high of 1,317 deals in Q1 2022, according to CB Insights. Why the increase? Hear from the experts themselves on their innovation strategy and why they are supporting and investing in climate tech startups. They’ll peel back the curtain on how to engage with corporate firms and provide insights on building relationships with the relevant stakeholders in large companies. Panelists will also cover how to tackle the various funding and go-to-market challenges startups face that can eventually help land these highly coveted commercial partnerships.

Startup Round Robin

Workshop

210G

Come ready to participate and workshop ideas! This will be an interactive session to brainstorm strategies and action plans for startup companies. Participants will have the opportunity to rotate around the room, meet other entrepreneurs and offer creative solutions to challenges related to business model development, marketing, customer acquisition and other key topics.

3:00pm to 4:00pm

Setting up for an Exit

Panel

210G

Does your startup have its sights set on an exit through an acquisition or IPO? After all, corporate venture capital investments rise, with Axios reporting M&A volume up 25% in the first half of 2022 for renewables and storage. Or, perhaps your team is planning for an IPO in the future. There are so many options for an exit, it can be difficult to decide the right path for your company. Regardless of the stage of your venture, planning for the future will help guide your strategy today. Hear from financial experts and companies who have lived through a startup exit to ensure your business is set up for success.

From Pilot to Gigaton: A Holistic Approach to Scaling Carbon Removal Projects

Panel

210H

What are the key factors organizations should consider when pursuing carbon sequestration projects at large-scale levels of production? When trying to solve for climate change through carbon sequestration, long term durability matters. Yet buying carbon credits often requires examination beyond the transactional relationship, and includes caring for the entire value chain across people, animals and ecosystems. Learn about the community co-benefits that create resilience when integrating nature-based carbon solutions, particularly in emerging markets. For startups, this is a case study in the people, power, and pivots required to remove carbon at scale. For corporations, this will provide a holistic view of how to evaluate carbon removal projects to reach the ambitious task of removing several gigatons per year to reach our climate goals.

(CANCELED) Moby: From Rock Star to Change Maker. An Interview with Elysabeth Alfano

Interview

210B

How can collaborations with artists help bridge the gap between climate tech and consumers?

Moby is known around the globe for his down-tempo, ambient music. He has famously created soundtracks for huge blockbuster movies and shows such as the Bourne Legacy, the Simpsons and Stranger Things, and prolifically produced his indistinguishable sound. But music isn’t his life’s work. In an interview with investor Elysabeth Alfano, Moby will discuss how he uses his musical success as a starting point for education, impacting the climate crisis and animal welfare. Join this conversation to understand how your company can build alliances with unusual change-makers such as musicians and other artists, bringing new audiences to the climate community.