Connecting Capital, Demand and Scale: Inside the Innovation Showcase

As the Trump administration returned to power in early 2025, the global cleantech ecosystem braced for renewed uncertainty.

The CTCV 2025 Investor Pulse Check reflects this caution, with policy volatility cited as a persistent barrier to climate tech investment and FOAK funding identified as one of the most exposed pressure points. 

Yet beyond the political noise, the fundamentals of the low carbon transition have continued to strengthen. 

The UK has delivered a record breaking offshore wind auction, followed by a new cross-border offshore wind agreement with Europe, signalling long-term commitment to scale, supply chains and grid integration.

While globally, deployment momentum shows little sign of slowing, with continued progress across renewables, electrification and industrial decarbonisation, even in markets facing political headwinds. 

CTCV’s latest insights make clear that the areas seeing the strongest investor confidence heading into 2026 are clean energy, the built environment and industrial decarbonisation. These sectors represent where demand is becoming structural, not political, and where the transition is now being driven as much by economics and competitiveness as by policy alone.

The Innovation Showcase taking place at the Innovation Zero World Congress seeks to unite funders, procurers and innovators to strengthen and accelerate cleantech start-up growth.  

Developed in partnership with Clean Tech for UK, sessions will focus on: 

• Strategic partnerships for bankable demand: Discover how startups, corporates and investors can collaborate to create credible market pull, through strategic partnerships, advance commitments and offtake-style models. Speakers from TDK Ventures, Fortescue and Volvo explore how to turn early traction into investment-ready demand in a capital-constrained 2026 landscape.

• Unlocking early capital for climate tech: As the climate investment market becomes more selective, early-stage capital is increasingly focused on quality, alignment and de-risked growth pathways. Join Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Green Angel Ventures, Emerald, Climate Investment and Zero Carbon Capital to explore what sophisticated angels, climate VCs and strategic investors look for from Founders in 2026. 

• Corporate venture capital (CVC) partnerships for deployment: CVC is emerging as a critical bridge between innovation and deployment, but only when it’s designed to meet a startup where they're at and move at speed. A focused chat between Global Corporate Venturing and REWE Group will address how corporates and founders can build partnership models that unlock real-world adoption.

• From FOAK to scale: Hardware-heavy climate solutions remain essential to the transition yet face some of the toughest financing and scaling challenges. Speakers from Extantia, Viridis Capital and Innovate UK dive into how founders can move from FOAK to full commercial scale by leveraging blended finance, public risk-sharing and early corporate partnerships.  

Alongside these discussions, leading innovators will pitch solutions across energy & power, the built environment, transport & logistics, land & water and MRV, receiving direct feedback from funders and buyers including Clean Growth Fund, TDK Ventures, VINCI Facilities and Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. 

The Innovation Showcase will act as a practical bridge between caution and momentum- connecting credible capital, real demand and deployable innovation to turn today’s cleantech ambition into bankable, scalable outcomes for the transition ahead. 

Interested in pitching your solution? Join us!