On March 2nd and 3rd, 2023, ten teams from two ClimateTech Challenges met for their first Challenge Days in Leipzig. Five teams in the Carbon-to-Value Challenge started competing in April 2022, and the Long-Duration Energy Storage Challenge kicked off in November 2022 with five teams selected by the jury. Since then, participants have been working on developing and commercializing their ideas.

During joint keynotes and panel discussions, the teams—which are tackling the pressing issues of our time in very different ways yet often facing similar questions—were now able to exchange ideas on the Challenges and opportunities of industry collaborations, financing of capital-intensive technologies, and product-market fit. They talked in person with experts like Carlos Härtel (Climeworks), Torsten Brammer (Wavelabs), Gerke Gersema (Thermondo), and Fabian Dudek (Glassdollar).

In separate rounds, the teams were updated on a subject-specific basis. Magnus Drewelies (CEEZER), Marian Krüger (ClimAccelerator), Anne Merfort (PiK), and Tudy Bernier (CO₂ Value Europe) outlined the still unregulated carbon credit market, the state of the science regarding the effectiveness of carbon reduction measures, and the regulatory decision pathway at the EU level. Contributions, including those by Philipp Merk (Kyon), Hendrik Maatsch (Dena), or Casimir Lorenz (Aurora Energy), shared valuable perspectives into the work of battery-storage project developers and the future of electricity markets with the Long-duration Energy Storage teams.

Founders Christian Bogatu of SPRIND and Michael Brehm of Redstone gave insights into successful start-up companies. In discussion with the SPRIND team and experts, the Challenge teams could also question core assumptions about their business models and exchange ideas about common challenges, enabling them to gather important insights for their further work. Now the teams have until spring or fall to take the wealth of new impressions with them as they continue advancing their solution approaches before the upcoming jury meetings later this year.