If you are a climate tech start-up looking to collaborate, form connections and share ideas with other change-makers in the climate space, Climate Connection might just be the place to start. Juliette Devillard founded Climate Connection to reinvent climate networking events as supportive spaces that facilitate collaboration in an optimistic, inspiring environment. She answers questions for the Sustainable Business Magazine about reshaping the networking culture, one event at a time.

Could you provide a brief overview of Climate Connection and your role as founder?

Most events are broken. They are long, boring, speech-heavy and simply not designed for what attendees really want: to meet other fascinating people. Climate Connection is re-inventing what events should be, prioritising interaction, warmth and genuine connection.

Today, we run 40+ events in London all focused on climate and innovation. We work with Innovate UK to help unlock more VC investment into climate tech, and collaborate with a range of other partners including EDF, British Land and Prosemino to support the growth of the ecosystem. We have helped over 25,000 new connections happen through our interactive events.

We’ve also recently launched Connection Studio, a design & consultancy arm to our organisation, enabling us to support clients who want to run interactive and impactful custom or white-label events. 

My role as Founder has been to create this unique brand and community that genuinely prioritises human connection, generosity and optimism. My day to day involves building partnerships with key industry players, designing valuable experiences and facilitating our events. It’s a truly exciting space to be in. 

Describe some of the different climate networking events you run?

Climate Tech Time – This is our flagship event and the UK’s biggest monthly event for climate tech that brings together over 150+ climate changemakers every month. It’s an enthusiastic evening of networking, thought-provoking talks and climate focused discussions. Three climate tech leaders share their ideas in 7-minutes talks, followed by engaging group discussions.

Founders Connect – A dynamic, founder-first event crafted to foster genuine connections, provide valuable resources, and create an open space for sharing the challenges of the startup journey. This is reserved as a ’safe haven’ solely for founders to create a space where they can openly and candidly share their experiences and help each other unlock next steps.

VIP Catalyst Dinners – VIP Catalyst Dinners are ultra-interactive, invite-only dinners designed to foster collaboration and solve pressing issues within the climate space. Each dinner focuses on a key climate topic, bringing together top leaders for dynamic discussions and innovative problem-solving.

Investor Breakfast – A monthly breakfast meet-up exclusively for climate and sustainability investors to connect and discuss investment trends. This is designed to foster networking and knowledge-sharing among top investors in the space.

Capital to Climate – This is an event series run in collaboration with Innovate UK. This series aims to help investors to gain a deeper understanding of complicated industries within climate tech, as well as tackle funding gaps in the sector. These events have been attended by over 200 investors, with the aim of unlocking more capital for climate.

What benefits do UK climate start-ups gain by attending your events?

We exist to accelerate climate innovation through the power of meaningful connections. We create high quality events to connect startups, VCs, large corporations, policymakers and more. 

Most events today are broken. You can choose between a stuffy conference dominated by boring keynote speeches, or informal drinks in a pub. There is room for so much more. We believe events should be energising, interactive and strategically designed around connection. 

We know our work has had an outsized impact on the climate tech ecosystem – startups have found clients, board members, investors and more. Many have also hired key team members, including C-suite execs and engineers that they met at our events. 

How do you structure networking events that inspire continued conversations and tangible action?

Our main focus is create high-quality, interactive events designed to build meaningful connections. We aim to reshape the networking culture within climate tech by creating a warm and welcoming environment, featuring inspirational talks, to help founders connect with new people.

A big area for us is to push people out of their stereotypically ‘British’ comfort zones via interactive networking. We want everyone to leave the room with new and meaningful connections.

One way we do this is by turning the usual networking formula on its head. At our monthly Climate Tech Time event, after each talk we ask a question to the room and ask the audience to turn to a new person and discuss the answer. This makes sure that people are engaging with what they’ve heard, as well as hearing insights from the community.

What was the spark behind you starting Connection Studio?

We know we’ve changed the climate tech ecosystem for the better. Having run over 120+ game-changing events, we’ve nailed the formula on how to create value for attendees. 

Connection Studio exists so we can bring these learnings to the entire business events industry and work with partners beyond the climate sector. We were increasingly receiving requests from partners outside of the climate space to work with us. Launching Connection Studio is enabling us to deliver on this demand. 

Too many business events throw content at people in the hope that something sticks. We offer a radically different approach. We put people at the heart of event design. Humans thrive on connection. That’s why we put interaction and meaningful connections first, and deliver experiences that leave people talking long after the chairs are stacked.

‘Most events today are broken. You can choose between a stuffy conference dominated by boring keynote speeches, or informal drinks in a pub. There is room for so much more. We believe events should be energising, interactive and strategically designed around connection’