Tech for Climate
at Oktoberfest
We’ve reserved the whole Metzger Stubn tent for one afternoon. It’s for the family offices, funds of funds, private investors and corporates backing climate deep tech, and a few VCs and founders.
- Thursday, 24 September 2026
- 11:00–17:00
- Metzger Stubn tent · Oktoberfest, Munich
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A room for allocators
Every September, founders and investors come to Munich for Oktoberfest, PE Insights and Bits & Pretzels. On the 24th we’ve reserved the whole Metzger Stubn, a traditional Oktoberfest tent, for an afternoon with the people funding climate deep tech and a few of the people building it.
It runs from 11:00 to 17:00, by invitation, with food and drinks throughout. We’re keeping it small so you can talk properly with people. There’s no stage and no panel. Come for the part that interests you and leave when you like.
Family offices, funds of funds, private investors and corporates anchor many of the funds and companies building climate deep tech. Yet they rarely get unhurried time with each other, or with the best managers and founders in the field. Big conferences don’t give them that.
So we’re giving them one afternoon in a small group: mostly LPs, with a few VCs and climate deep-tech founders.
Co-hosted by Tech for Impact, UnternehmerTUM & Munich Climate Week
Seira Yun of the Tech for Impact Summit hosts the afternoon with Simon Herzog of UnternehmerTUM, the Technical University of Munich’s center for innovation and business creation, and Mariana Pedraza-Copete, Chair and Co-Founder of Munich Climate Week.
Seira Yun
Founder, Tech for Impact Summit
Tech for Impact Summit
Simon Herzog
Head of Mobility Projects, UnternehmerTUM
Mariana Pedraza-Copete
Chair & Co-Founder, Munich Climate Week
Consulate-General of Japan in Munich
在ミュンヘン日本国総領事館
“I know what makes such a gathering work, and Tech for Impact has it.”
For almost 25 years I have brought researchers, founders and investors together in Munich. It is by invitation only, its guest list curated by hand: founders, corporate leaders, family offices, investors and policymakers, from Japan, Europe and other regions, all senior decision makers. It cuts across industries, so energy, mobility, finance and manufacturing sit at the same table. It puts technology and impact on one agenda, with the people who can act on both in the room. Its Tokyo roots bring a Japanese corporate network into that room. It is built for collaboration: little time listening to a stage, much more working out what to do together, so people leave with a partner and a next step. The record shows it works: past gatherings have led to partnerships, corporate-startup collaborations and investment deals. In format and spirit it is truly creative and unique. I am glad to support Seira Yun in building it.
Mostly LPs, with a few VCs and founders
Most guests are family offices, funds of funds, private investors and corporates, with a strong Japanese corporate presence. A small group of VCs and founders joins them.
Family offices
Single- and multi-family offices allocating to climate and frontier technology.
Funds of funds
Institutional and private funds of funds building exposure to climate venture.
HNWIs & angels
Private investors and operator-angels active in climate and deep tech.
Corporates & strategics
Corporate venture and strategy leaders looking for climate innovation, including Japanese companies invited through the Consulate-General’s network.
VCs
A small number of climate and deep-tech fund managers.
Founders
A few founders building hard climate technology in energy, industry, materials, carbon and adaptation.
Japanese corporates will be there. Tech for Impact has held its summit in Tokyo every year since 2024. Corporate venture and strategy leaders from major Japanese companies working in climate and deep tech are coming to Munich, some through our Tokyo network and some through the Consulate-General. Funds and founders can meet them in one afternoon.
By invitation only
Tell us a little about yourself. We read every request ourselves and invite guests directly.
Come for an hour or stay all day
It’s a long afternoon, and nobody needs to stay for all of it. Two conversations have fixed times, so you can plan around them.
Tent opens
Arrive when you like. Bavarian lunch and drinks are served all afternoon, the Stubn band is playing, and the hosts are at the door.
Welcome
The music stops and everyone gathers. Seira opens with the house rules and explains the next hour. Simon welcomes everyone on behalf of UnternehmerTUM, and Toshiya Okuma, Consul at the Japanese Consulate-General in Munich, brings a welcome from the Consulate. It takes a few minutes.
Seira Yun Simon Herzog Strategy dialogues
A private hour for allocators. Small tables, each with one question and led by a peer, under the Chatham House rule. Nothing is written up or shared afterwards. At the same time, VCs and founders hold their own tables on their own questions. The music stays off for the hour.
Fireside I — Where do Europe and Japan take sustainability next?
Two chairs and two microphones on the tent floor. No moderator and no slides. One voice from Japan, one from Europe. Both regions are working through the same transition from different starting points, with different industries, rules and habits. Where is each taking sustainability next? What can one learn from the other, and where could they move faster together? The tent falls quiet again for it.
Live music & networking
The band plays. The hosts and a few connectors we’ve briefed introduce people across the tables.
Fireside II — Can Europe build a sun?
The second fireside, same format. Fusion, capital and the race to a first power plant: can Europe build a sun, and who pays for the attempt?
Live music & networking
The band plays again until the last fireside.
Fireside III — From intention to allocation
The third and last fireside, same format. What actually moves private capital into impact, and what quietly stops it?
Final conversations, closing remarks & toast
Time to finish a conversation. Mariana Pedraza-Copete of Munich Climate Week closes the afternoon, followed by a toast and a last song from the band.
One question per table
Each table has one question and is led by a peer. Pick yours when you arrive. If you’re late, a steward will seat you.
From interested to allocated
What actually makes private capital move into impact, and what quietly stops it?
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Kristin Siegel Chaired by Managing Director Global Engagement · Toniic -
Dr. Karen Wendt President · SwissFinTechLadies -
Alexander Vaselek CEO · CIMEDO -
Ingo Weber Managing Partner · Carcharodon Capital GmbH -
Niko Dimitrov Managing Partner · Bavarian Capital Management GmbH -
Katja Ruhnke CEO · CK Venture Capital GmbH
One deal on the table
Each fund at the table walks through one real deal: how it was found, why this one, what impact it was backed to deliver, and what would have stopped it. What does one decision reveal about how a fund weighs impact and return that no deck can?
Who can actually decarbonize a city?
Munich’s companies produce roughly half its emissions. If government can’t mandate the transition, who has the power to make it happen?
From Carbon and Nature Claims to Investable Climate Assets
Carbon markets, biodiversity outcomes and regenerative agriculture are increasingly framed as investable climate opportunities, yet many high-integrity projects still struggle to attract capital. What does it actually take to make one financeable at scale?
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Anne-Sophie Gruböck Chaired by Natural Capital Solutions Lead · PRO-NATUR -
Paula Auer-Saupe Senior Programme Manager · TÜV SÜD AG -
Dr. Sonja Stuchtey CEO · The Landbanking Group -
Ana Aguilar Meca COO · Plastiks -
Bernard Couvreur Independent Director and Consultant · INED -
Oksana Tiedt CEO & Co-Founder · Clementine Capital
From pilot to purchase order, in Europe and Japan
Japan’s corporates have to decarbonize. Europe’s startups have the technology. Yet corporates in both regions run many pilots and sign few purchase orders. What gets a startup from pilot to paying contract, across a border as well as an org chart, and what must the corporate, the founder and the investor each bring?
Who pays to rebuild an industry?
Mobility has to re-tool while its margins are under pressure. Who finances that, and what does it mean for everyone selling into it?
- Simon Herzog Chaired by Head of Mobility Projects, UnternehmerTUM
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Dr Oliver Krause Managing Partner · Advantum Ventures
What does it take for Europe to win in batteries, and where?
Across the battery value chain, where should Europe own, where should it lead, where should it partner, and where should it stop trying to compete?
When sustainability pays
Take away the reporting requirement. Where has sustainability already won customers, cut costs or protected revenue, and what proof got the CFO to fund it?
Bringing Europe to Tokyo
What earns a European venture fund the attention of a Japanese corporate’s team in Europe, and what helps that team win support at head office?
Who is leading the afternoon
The people chairing the tables and the fireside chats.
Ursula Triebswetter
Deputy Head of Economic Policy
City of Munich / Department of Labor and Economic Development
What we ask of guests
Investors get pitched all week in Munich. This afternoon is the opposite, and we ask every guest to keep it that way.
Nobody is raising in this room
Please don’t pitch, bring decks or ask for money. Founders come to meet people, not to sell. If a conversation needs a follow-up, have it after the event.
Bring your partner
Oktoberfest isn’t a conference. Every guest is welcome to bring a spouse or partner.
Off the record
Nothing is recorded or broadcast. There are no badges, booths or press, and no sponsor signage in the tent.
Tell us who you are
Seats are limited. If you’d like to be there, let us know.
- 01 Express interest Tell us who you are. It takes a minute.
- 02 We review We read every request ourselves.
- 03 Personal invitation If we invite you, you’ll get the details directly.
Not looking for an invitation but want to be there? Our volunteers help run the afternoon alongside the guests, and get a standing invitation to future gatherings. Volunteer with us
Tech for Climate is part of Tech for Impact, which started as an annual summit in Tokyo and now also holds smaller gatherings like this one. Past Tech for Impact speakers include Audrey Tang, Taro Kono, Takuya Hirai, Charles Hoskinson and Kathy Matsui.