Our team was out in force at Climate Salad’s recent Australian Climate Tech Festival, which drew record crowds to Sydney Town Hall in its second year as the go-to event for Australia’s growing climate tech sector.
Proudly supported by Alberts, “The Festival continues to go from strength,” said Alberts Impact Venture’s Head of Strategy, Glenn Bartlett, of the event which brought together entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, customers, supporters, and investors working to address the most pressing climate issues. “In the face of unprecedented climate challenges, it’s invigorating to experience the energy of the startup ecosystem working so hard on the solutions,” Glenn added.
On the day, Alberts investment manager, Lisa Fedorenko, joined Virescent Ventures’ Kristin Vaughan for a panel discussion exploring Climate Investing for 2024, moderated by David Swan of The Age/Sydney Morning Herald.
Noting that 2023 has been a turbulent year for fundraising in general, with many down rounds across the board, “Affecting climate in particular? The macroeconomic effects of oil and gas prices rising and inflation have certainly added to the volatility,” Lisa said. “Despite this, we’ve seen pockets of uplift in the climate space as the race to control CO2 levels persists.”
Looking ahead to 2024, “It’s great to see more capital flowing into the world’s most pressing problems such as climate change – particularly on the venture side,” Lisa said, noting she is witnessing a growing appetite from investors to tackle climate issues: “One thing we’d love to see is more infrastructure funding to support the full energy transition needed to switch to a green grid.”
At the accompany Climate Tech Awards, Lisa was nominated by the climate tech community for Investor of the Year, honouring those dedicated individuals who have gone above and beyond in 2023 to support the founders and teams tirelessly working to build and scale innovative climate solutions. We were also thrilled to see Kristi Knaack Riordan of Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio company, HarvestB, nominated for the Women in Climate Tech Award, which recognises woman in the sector who are not only smashing glass ceilings, but holding doors open and inspiring the next generation of women climate tech entrepreneurs.
“It’s been inspiring and humbling watching the Climate Salad community grow to fill town hall with inspiring founders, enthusiastic investors and all the stakeholders in between,” Lisa said. “The Climate Tech Festival is a wonderful event to connect with climate allies of many years and meet new faces with new ideas.”
