Next March, our S2G Ventures team and several colleagues across our Builders Vision impact platform and our portfolio community, are heading to SXSW in Austin to connect with entrepreneurs, investors and partners who are tackling some of the most timely topics of our day. SXSW 2023 themes this year cover many of our focus areas - climate change, energy, transportation, food, health and 2050, the track covering “long-range, big-picture thinking.”
Learn more about our proposals below. We’d love your support for our panel picker presentations!
Female Founders: Innovating to Save Our Oceans
The ocean, to which we owe our existence, is in dire straits. While more people understand the issues - from rising sea levels, and depleted fish stocks to plastics in our oceans - the sector remains underfunded, misunderstood and unable or unwilling to change. A new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs are stepping up to build and scale solutions to address ocean health and meet consumer demand for healthier and more climate-friendly seafood. For the future of our planet, it is imperative to inspire, attract and support a future oceans and seafood workforce that represents all its constituencies and unlocks barriers to innovation. In this session, hear from female leaders that are leading the way.
Speakers:
Kate Danaher, Managing Director of Oceans and Seafood, S2G Ventures
Briana Warner, CEO, Atlantic Sea Farms
Clarice Owens, Co-Founder and CTO, Healthy Oceans Seafood Company
Daniela Fernandez, Founder and CEO, Sustainable Ocean Alliance
Vote for Female Founders: Innovating to Save Our Oceans
Future of Healthcare: Food, Microbes & Bioactives
At the nexus between food, healthcare, and technology, there is an emerging opportunity to improve human health. New AI-based discovery platforms are exploring the “dark matter of plants” to identify pharmaceutically-relevant bioactive compounds that can have a powerful impact on our health outcomes. Companies are working on new solutions that incorporate better nutrition within healthcare and food-based solutions for disease management and treatment. A growing number of clinical trials are underway to examine the impact of these new innovations to mitigate or reduce the risk of chronic diseases and cancer. Discover the potential for dietary changes and new food-based solutions to transform the healthcare industry and forever alter the way we manage our health and treat disease.
Speakers:
Matthew Walker, Managing Director of Food and Agriculture, S2G Ventures
Anand Parikh, Co-Founder and CEO, Faeth Therapeutics
Lauren Driscoll, Founder and CEO, NourishedRx
Gerardo V Toledo, Co-Founder and CEO, Solarea Bio
Vote for Future of Healthcare: Food, Microbes & Bioactives
How Can We Mainstream Clean Energy?
Climate change is perhaps the single greatest challenge facing society today. Minimizing global warming emissions will require fundamental changes in how we generate electricity, fuel mobility and industry, and power and condition our built environments. For at least the past two decades, an energy transition has unfolded, notably with renewables. Unfortunately, having only wind and solar play a meaningful role in power generation will be insufficient to meet the world’s decarbonization needs. What is required is a step-change in the adoption of clean energy beyond the power sector and across the broader economy. This must occur in a decade. Learn how we can bring clean energy into the mainstream, the technologies that are advancing this goal, and the opportunities for innovation.
Speakers:
Francis O'Sullivan, Managing Director of Clean Energy, S2G Ventures
Raffi Garabedian, CEO, Electric Hydrogen
Steve McDougal, CEO, 3Degrees
Jennifer Goodwillie, Head of Development, Nova Clean Energy
Vote for How Can We Mainstream Clean Energy?
What’s the True Cost of Your Food? Check the Label
Nutrition labels, which were mandated in 1990, helped consumers take control of their health through their food choices. The next generation of labels is empowering consumers to shop with their values and understand the full impact of their purchasing decisions. From carbon comparison shopping (via carbon labels), supply chain transparency (interactive codes to meet farmers) and even food waste reduction (new study out of Cornell), discover the next frontier of consumer empowerment and how innovative label design and technologies are changing the way we interact with our food systems.
Speakers:
Walter Robb, Senior Executive Partner, S2G Ventures
Kathryn Tuttle, CMO, Farmer Focus
Kayalin Akens-Irby, Head of Growth, Planet FWD
Vivian Barad, Executive Director and Partner, IDEO Food and Beverage Portfolio
Vote for What’s the True Cost of Your Food? Check the Label
Paint by Number: Data, Action and Future Thinking
Artists are truth-tellers and the vanguards of their communities’ most pressing issues. In order to sustain their creative approaches to activism and the well-being of the artists themselves, three different elements must work in sync: data, direct action, and future-thinking. In Chicago, you can see this reflected in the efforts of ACRE, alt_, and Firebird Community Arts, all of which have a hand in establishing Chicago as a permanent and nourishing home for artists while providing communal resources that boost creative engagement between artists and their neighbors. In concert, these three organizations move beyond buzzy ideas about “democratizing” the art world: These artist-led projects reflect how those closest to the problem are the most creatively equipped to solve it.
Speakers:
Caitlin Casperson, Senior Program Officer, Builders Initiative
Kate Bowen, Executive Director, Artists' Cooperative Residency & Exhibitions (ACRE)
Jordan Campbell, Co-Founder and Director, alt_
Karen Benita Reyes, Executive Director, Firebird Community Arts
