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Intensive: Climate Innovation

Eager to play a part in addressing climate change but don't know where to start? Broaden your understanding of climate entrepreneurship and innovation through the 5-week 'Climate Innovation Intensive.' Our second iteration of the intensive will bring together startups, investors, and other partners through a cohort-based program. We will be exploring innovations that span circular economy, deeptech, and platform solutions. The intensive will run every Monday and Thursday over five weeks, with a 4-hour commitment per week.

students gather at the table

Overview

Eager to play a part in addressing climate change but don't know where to start? Broaden your understanding of climate entrepreneurship and innovation through the 6-week 'Climate Innovation Intensive'. Our third iteration of the intensive will bring together startups, investors, and other partners through a cohort-based program. We will be exploring innovations that span circular economy, deep tech, and platform solutions. The intensive will run every Monday and Wednesday over 6 weeks, with a 4-hour commitment per week.

The intensive aims to provide students with structured frameworks and tools to explore climate innovation through workshops along with curated candid conversations to understand the different lenses of entrepreneurship within environmental innovation. Climate innovation will be explored through discussions with startup founders, ecosystem stakeholders as well as investors and other partners who play a critical role in financing and scaling these innovations.

Program selection criteria 

  • Interest in climate innovation and a desire to gain real-world experiences by interacting with startups and investors in this field.
  • Possession of basic knowledge about startups and Venture Capital (VCs) but no required experience working with these entities.
  • A curiosity to understand different perspectives within a specific climate tech sector.
  • An aspiration to engage with industry experts and startups in the field of interest.

Program Structure 

Cohort Details

  • Size: 35-40 students
  • Structure: Teams of 2-3
  • Focus: Identifying entrepreneurial ideas in specified sectors
  • Format: First half for idea exploration, second half for idea evaluation

 

Schedule

Week 1: Think like a Climate Innovator

  • Workshop (Feb 12): Problem-solving and sustainable innovation for the future
  • Speaker Session (Feb 14): Startup (TBD)

 

Week 2: Climate Entrepreneurship 101

  • Workshop (Feb 19): Basics of climate entrepreneurship, stages, pathways, and business models; building desirable products/services
  • Speaker Sessions (Feb 21 & 26): Two sessions with startups

 

Week 3: Scale-out Climate Innovation - Capital & Ecosystem Development

  • Workshop (April 1): Financing forms, scaling, ecosystem partners
  • Startup Yale (April 4 & 5): Join Yale innovators, leaders, investors, and practitioners

 

Week 4: Storytelling with Slides

  • Workshop (April 8): Crafting and presenting an effective pitch

 

Week 5: Final Showcase (April 17)

  • Teams present ideas to cohorts for feedback
  • Opportunity to join the spring launchpad program