What do a former prime minister, a bioengineered protein, a $15 billion investment fund and a boat hull cleaning robot have in common?
They’ll all be part of the Climate Investor Forum in Melbourne tomorrow.
Held at the MCG on March 20, Climate Investor Forum will bring together the climate investor ecosystem covering the complete climate capital stack; from the $15 Billion National Reconstruction Fund, leading Super Funds, Growth through to early stage VC funds, Angel Networks and importantly corporate buyers in the room looking to commercially scale climate solutions.
The latest Startup Funding Report listed cleantech & climate tech as the leading sector for investment in 2023 with 41 deals raising $268 million.
The forum will bring together Australia’s leading climate investors such as Virescent, Kilara, Adamantem, Investible, Wollemi, Pollination and Trawalla, plus corporate leaders including KPMG, Anthesis Group, Lion Nathan, Orica, Qantas and Ecotone Partners.
The full program is here.
Climate Zeitgeist CEO Peter Castellas said Australia can be world-leading when it comes to climate innovation, finance and global deployment of solutions.
“In Australia, we have the capital, professional services, a history of innovation and R&D, thousands of years of indigenous knowledge to draw on and proximity to new global markets that need our climate solutions,” he said.
“We need to bring this network together to connect, collaborate and co-invest. We have the solutions, we now need to connect them with capital and customers at scale. The Climate Investor Forum is the meeting place for this dynamic commercial interaction. ”
As well as corporate leaders and climate investors, the day will also feature climate founders and innovators showcasing their ideas, with 36 startups being showcased across nine key sectors
They include:
- East Kimberley Clean Energy Project – FIrst Nations Hydrogen project
- ClearVue -solar clear glass windows
- Novalith – lithium processing
- Goterra – rapid modular food waste processing
- GreatWrap – plastic wrap alternative using potato waste
- Sicona – next gen battery technology
- Rainstick – integrated indigenous knowledge with CSIRO science to make food grow faster and bigger
- Fleet Space Technology – nano satellites for resources
- All G Foods – most compelling diary company of the 21st century
- Rumin8 -solving livestock methane emissions
- Hullbot – robots cleaning hulls tow lower emissions and reduce pollution
Castellas said there’s a particular focus on hardware in the climate solutions being highlighted, with 30 of the 36 startups presenting being hardware-based.
There will also be three First Nations-founded businesses and for the first time the forum features a Minerals and Resources as a category, because, as Castellas explains, it’s integral in the net-zero transition “and represents a huge opportunity for Australia with our abundance of critical minerals”.
The day culminates in a Gala Dinner featuring former prime minister Julia Gillard speaking about climate change, 11 years after leaving office.
Tickets for the Climate Investor Forum and dinner are available at climateinvestorforum.com
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