The Allocators' Table: Climate capital across Europe, the US, Japan and Korea

🌐 Language: English

♿ Wheel-chair accessible

💶 Event free of charge

🎟️ Hosted by Tech for Impact, co-hosted by TUM Venture Labs, presented by Munich Climate Week

🔗 Full details, questions and hosts: https://tech4impactsummit.com/allocators/

An invitation-only lunch for allocators: family offices, foundations, fund-of-funds and corporate LPs. Roundtables under the Chatham House Rule, a fireside chat over lunch, then open time to talk. Built to bridge Korea, Japan, the US and Europe. The follow-on to Tech for Climate at Oktoberfest.

Friday 23 October 2026, 11:00 to 14:00, Munich. Held during Munich Climate Week (19 to 25 October 2026). Under the auspices of the Consulate-General of Japan in Munich.

Why this lunch

At Tech for Climate at Oktoberfest on 24 September, one table was kept for allocators only. Its question was simple: how do you go from caring about climate to putting money behind it?

This lunch gives that conversation the room it needs. Where can capital be deployed today? Which structures suit a family office, a foundation or a corporate? Who finances the first commercial plant? Which impact claims hold up?

We want this lunch to bridge Korea, Japan, the US and Europe. Seira Yun, the host, works between Europe, Asia and North America, so cross-border capital comes up at the tables and over lunch: corporate LPs from Japan and Korea, allocation across US, European and Asian funds, and who buys the output of a European plant.

Endorsement

“For almost 25 years I have brought researchers, founders and investors together in Munich. I know what makes such a gathering work, and Tech for Impact has it. It is by invitation only, its guest list curated by hand: founders, corporate leaders, family offices, investors and policymakers, from Japan, Europe and other regions, all senior decision makers. It cuts across industries, so energy, mobility, finance and manufacturing sit at the same table. It puts technology and impact on one agenda, with the people who can act on both in the room. Its Tokyo roots bring a Japanese corporate network into that room. It is built for collaboration: little time listening to a stage, much more working out what to do together, so people leave with a partner and a next step. The record shows it works: past gatherings have led to partnerships, corporate-startup collaborations and investment deals. In format and spirit it is truly creative and unique. I am glad to support Seira Yun in building it.”

Prof. Dr. Helmut Schönenberger, Co-founder and CEO, UnternehmerTUM

The format

Roundtables first, then lunch with a fireside chat, then open networking. Allocators at the tables, joined by selected founders.

Roundtables: small groups, one question per table. A table lead opens with two minutes, then the table talks. The Chatham House Rule applies: use what you hear, never who said it.

Fireside chat: a conversation while we eat. One question, no slides. Nothing is recorded, and the fireside chat is not streamed or published.

Open networking: the last part of the lunch has no programme. This is where people find the peers they want to keep talking to.

There are no sponsors, no pitches and nothing for sale. Attendance and lunch are free of charge.

Run of show

11:00 Doors and coffee

11:30 Roundtables

12:30 Lunch and fireside chat

13:15 Open networking

14:00 Close

Confirmed so far

Dr. Karen Wendt, President, SwissFinTechLadies, moderates "Where did the climate money go?" and leads the roundtable "Japanese and Korean capital for European plants". She joined the allocator table at Tech for Climate at Oktoberfest.

Marie-Therese von Buttlar-Wallot, Partner, Aurum Impact, speaks on "Where did the climate money go?".

Clarissa Mayer, Head of Partnerships & Innovation, UBS Optimus Foundation, leads "Revenue models for physical climate risk". She joined the allocator table at Tech for Climate at Oktoberfest.

Jens Kahrweg, SVP & Managing Director, Samsung Semiconductor Europe, joins the roundtable "Japanese and Korean capital for European plants".

Katja Ruhnke, CEO, CK Venture Capital GmbH, joins the roundtable "Revenue models for physical climate risk".

Heike Freund, Chief Operating Officer, Marvel Fusion, speaks on "Where did the climate money go?".

Franzi Majer, Founding Partner, superangels, joins the roundtable "Pitching climate in 2026: should we move beyond the climate label?".

The questions

Five roundtables at 11:30, one question each, then one conversation over lunch. Table leads and speakers are announced here once they have confirmed. Please name the table you would most like to join when you register.

Roundtables, 11:30

Revenue models for physical climate risk. Floods, heat, water and crop risk. What turns adaptation into revenue an investor can underwrite, and where does catalytic capital belong in the stack?

Investing the foundation corpus. For foundation investors who have decided to move the endowment, not only the grants: mandate, trustees, German foundation law, the first fund and the reporting that follows. A peer exchange, not a primer.

Decarbonising the data centre: where does Europe put it? AI needs data centres, and data centres need power, cooling, land and a grid connection. Europe also wants its sensitive data to stay in Europe. Where does the next generation get built, who finances it, and what does net zero mean for a site that runs around the clock? For investors in AI infrastructure, with the operators and the companies whose data sits inside.

Pitching climate in 2026: should we move beyond the climate label? Climate-specialist funds are raising less, and many founders now pitch as energy, infrastructure, industrials or defence. Does dropping the label win the allocation or lose the mandate? What does an allocator want to hear in 2026, and what do they no longer want to hear?

Japanese and Korean capital for European plants. Japan’s emissions trading is starting to bite, and Japanese and Korean corporates are LPs, offtakers and buyers of European climate companies. What do they need to see before committing, and what does a European fund or plant have to change?

Over lunch, 12:30

Where did the climate money go? Climate-specialist funds raised a fraction of what they did in 2021. Defence, AI and power raised the rest. Is “climate” still a line in the allocation, or a lens over infrastructure, energy and industrials?

Who should be in the room

Almost every seat is held by an allocator: family offices, private investors, foundations, fund-of-funds, institutional investors, and corporate LPs, meaning corporates that commit to venture and climate funds as limited partners. A small number of selected founders also join the room as guests. Some of them speak.

Participation is by invitation. If a colleague belongs in the room, please tell us, subject to the seats available.

Where this lunch comes from

Tech for Climate brought investors, corporates, founders and the City of Munich to one tent on 24 September. Among the people who chaired its tables and spoke there: Kristin Siegel (Toniic), Clarissa Mayer (UBS Optimus Foundation), Moritz Jungmann (Future Energy Ventures), Mascha Bonk (Hitachi Ventures), Sabine Flechet (Masawa), Megumi Ikeda (Ode Growth Partners), Svenja Becker (Blue Earth Foundation), Lucio Milanese (Proxima Fusion), Jens Kahrweg (Samsung Semiconductor Europe), Itsuma Tanaka (DOCOMO Euro-Labs), Christian Bauer (InnoEnergy) and Ursula Triebswetter (City of Munich).

Hosts

The Tech for Impact Summit (T4IS) is an invitation-only summit held every year in Tokyo, with smaller gatherings like this one in between.

Your host: Seira Yun. Founder and CEO of Socious, convener of the Tech for Impact Summit, and host of Tech for Climate at Oktoberfest. Works between Europe, Asia and North America.

Co-hosted by TUM Venture Labs, which builds science-based ventures out of the Technical University of Munich.

Presented by Munich Climate Week. The lunch is part of the Munich Climate Week 2026 programme, 19 to 25 October.

Your MC: Lucia Lara Vargas, Senior Venture Manager, TUM Venture Lab Climate / Circular, as she was at Tech for Climate at Oktoberfest.

Under the auspices of the Consulate-General of Japan in Munich (在ミュンヘン日本国総領事館).