Global Capital In Energy Tech
Join hosts Adam Shaw (Grid Innovation Hub) and MJ Willmore (Climate Capital Strategist) with Cathay Innovation for an invite-only forum in San Francisco on the capital funding energy technology — and the investors deciding where it goes.
The money funding energy technology comes from all over the world. Oil majors, insurers, industrials, sovereign funds, and cross-border VCs are backing the same technologies and where a company is built, who funds it, and how it's financed increasingly decide whether it scales.
On October 1, we're putting 100 investors, founders, and operators from across the energy-technology landscape in one room at Cathay Innovation's San Francisco office — hosted by Cathay Innovation, a global fund investing in energy technology across the US, Europe, Africa, and China.
The evening is a fireside chat with a Cathay Innovation Partner, two panels, one on software and AI, one on capital-intensive hardware, and time to meet the investors and builders doing the work. A select group will continue the conversation over a VIP dinner with the speakers afterward.
Hosted By
Adam Shaw · Host — Founder, Grid Innovation Hub & CMO, Integ.
MJ Willmore · Co-Host — Climate Capital Strategist.
Presenting Partner
Cathay Innovation — a global venture capital firm backing AI-driven companies across energy, health, fintech, and industry, with LPs and portfolio companies spanning the US, Europe, Africa, and China.
Fireside Chat Global Capital in Energy Tech
A conversation with Cathay Innovation's Matthieu Soulé on how a global fund underwrites energy technology: what its worldwide LPs want, how the same technology gets valued differently across the US, Europe, and China, and where cross-border capital is moving in 2026.
Matthieu Soulé, Partner & Head of C.Lab @ Cathay Innovation
Software and AI for Energy
DER and virtual power plant management, energy trading and optimization, asset performance, and grid intelligence. The panel discusses the proliferation of software solutions and AI for energy including the challenges of investing in modernizing legacy energy operations and systems.
Panelists:
Matthieu Soulé, Partner & Head of C.Lab @ Cathay Innovation
Anna Trendewicz, Principal @ Future Energy Ventures
Alexander Both, Managing Director @ E.ON Innovation
Moderator:
MJ Wilmore, Climate Capital Strategist
Infrastructure, Hardware, and Data Centers
Capital-intensive infrastructure — data centers, generation, and hardware tech — has immense regulatory and commercial hurdels to overcome. The panel covers how VCs and institutional investors look at these organizations, and how founders assemble the capital from equity, venture debt, project finance, grants.
Panelists
John Cheney, CEO & Co-Founder @ Enera Energy
More panelists to be announced...
Moderator
Ron Erd, Co-Founder @ Global Climate Solutions & Former Utility Executive
Agenda
4:00 – 4:25 · Arrival & Mingle
4:25 – 4:30 · Welcome
4:30 – 5:00 · Fireside Chat: Global Capital in Energy Tech
5:00 – 5:45 · Panel: Software and AI in Energy
5:45 – 6:00 · Buffet & Drinks
6:00 – 6:30 · Panel: Infrastructure, Hardware, and Data Centers
6:30 · Energy Capital Mixer Stay and meet the investors, founders, and operators in the room.
7:00 onward · VIP Dinner An intimate dinner with the speakers for a select group of guests. Invitation only.
Who Is Going To Be There?
📈 Venture & Growth Investors
🏦 PE, Infrastructure & Institutional Capital
🧑💻 Energy-Tech Founders & Startups
⚡️ Utilities, IPPs & Developers
💼 Corporate & Strategic Investors
Event Partners
This forum is made possible by our Event Partners.
Presenting Partner: Cathay Innovation
Space Provided By: Cathay Innovation, San Francisco