Beyond the Pilot: Building U.S.–Japan Climate Tech Projects
Beyond the Pilot: Building U.S.–Japan Climate Tech Projects
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Time: 5:00–8:00 PM
Doors Open: 4:30 PM
Venue: Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Address: 430 Cowper Street, Suite 250, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Format: Registration by Approval
Expected Attendance: Approximately 80–100 participants
Language: English
Host: Office of the City of Yokohama Representative to the Americas
Sponsors: Dorsey & Whitney LLP, and Pocari Sweat
Partners: CleanLeap, ShibuLA Ventures, Greennex Global
Program: Yokohama Climate Tech Gateway Program – West Coast Edition
About the Event
Climate technologies often face a significant gap between successful pilots and commercial deployment. Moving beyond the pilot stage requires more than venture capital alone, including corporate partnerships, demonstration opportunities, public funding, offtake, and project finance.
Held during SF Tech Week 2026, Beyond the Pilot: Building U.S.–Japan Climate Tech Projects will bring together Japanese and U.S. companies, climate tech innovators, investors, and public-sector organizations to explore how these resources can be combined to create concrete U.S.–Japan climate tech projects.
Through corporate reverse pitches, a cross-sector panel, and networking, the event will focus on moving climate technologies from pilot to project.
Program
◆ Japanese Corporate Reverse Pitch (5:10–6:00 PM)
Japanese companies will present their business challenges, innovation priorities, and areas in which they are seeking technologies, startups, and strategic partners.
Rather than asking startups to pitch what they already have, the reverse pitch format begins with concrete corporate needs and creates opportunities for innovators to identify potential areas for collaboration.
The session aims to initiate discussions around:
Pilot and demonstration opportunities
Corporate partnerships
Customer validation, offtake, and commercialization
Connecting U.S. climate technologies with Japanese companies
Developing concrete U.S.–Japan climate tech projects
Participating Companies: TBA
◆ Panel Discussion "Beyond Venture Capital: Building U.S.–Japan Climate Tech Projects" (6:00–6:50 PM)
Venture capital plays an important role in developing emerging climate technologies, but bringing those technologies into real-world infrastructure, industrial systems, and commercial deployment often requires a much broader set of resources.
This discussion will explore what is needed to move climate technologies from pilot projects to commercially viable and scalable projects.
Discussion themes include:
How public funding, corporate resources, and private capital can be combined to de-risk early-stage projects
How VC-backed pilots can transition to catalytic capital, project equity, and ultimately project finance
What is needed for Japanese corporations and U.S. startups to move beyond PoCs toward offtake and commercial deployment
Speakers:
Sean Miki, Program Manager, Energy Policy and Technology, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)
TBA
Who Should Attend
The event is designed for:
Climate tech startups and innovators
Japanese and U.S. corporations
Venture capital, CVC, and strategic investors
Public-sector and innovation support organizations
Professionals working on U.S.–Japan climate tech collaboration
About the Yokohama Climate Tech Gateway Program
The Yokohama Climate Tech Gateway Program connects climate technology ecosystems in Japan and the United States and creates opportunities for startups, corporations, investors, and other partners to develop cross-border collaboration.
Through events, corporate reverse pitches, business matching, and ecosystem partnerships, the program seeks to connect innovative technologies with real business needs and support the development of new climate tech projects and partnerships involving Yokohama.