CASE STUDIES
Curating and coaching innovators to pitch at the World Future Energy Summit

Client: Reed Exhibitions

THE CHALLENGE

Reed Exhibitions organises the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi and is responsible for selecting top-quality start-ups to pitch for investment at the Climate Innovation Exchange (CLIX). Reed wanted support to evaluate the quality of the innovations, their likely environmental impact and their commercial viability. Reed also wanted to ensure the start-ups’ pitches were professional and compelling.

THE OUTCOME

CLT reviewed over 150 applications and scored them against six criteria to select the top 41 enterprises to present at CLIX. We supported Reed with logistics to run the pitch event and advised on scoring criteria for judges on the panel. We also offered investment coaching to each start-up and promoted each venture through personalised and branded social media.

Reed Exhibitions wanted help selecting the best international start-ups to pitch at the World Future Energy Summit’s (WFES) Climate Innovation Exchange (CLIX). Over 1400 entrepreneurs applied for the opportunity to pitch, but down-selecting to the final successful candidates was a challenge. Read reached out to CLT to utilise our clean tech commercialisation expertise and commissioned CLT as the Official Innovation Partner for CLIX.

CLIX had four pillars within which all applicants fit: the Future of Food and Agriculture, the Future of Mobility, the Future of Energy, and Sustainability in Space. CLT’s expertise across a broad range of clean tech sectors allowed us to help Reed choose the best innovations.

We first created a scoring methodology then reviewed and evaluated each application. A team of our sector experts gathered for a roundtable deliberation to compare scores and consider other characteristics like variety of technology, geographic representation and commercial maturity. We selected our top picks and delivered them to Reed for final confirmation.

To ensure that the selected start-ups had professional and compelling pitches, we developed and shared the judges scoring rubric, prepared template slides to help SMEs structure their pitch, and offered half an hour of remote investment pitch training to each SME to refine their presentation. We also helped Reed with some logistics, like preparing a printed info pack with all the start-ups’ details, and promoted the Summit and each SME through personalised, branded social media announcements.

The event was a huge success. The start-ups’ pitches were professional and well-received, and many of them were followed by discussions with interested investors. Ultimately, four winning pitches were selected (one from each pillar) and received awards for the best pitch. Reed was pleased with CLT’s work and intends to keep us on as its Official Innovation Partner for next year’s Summit. The WFES is supported by the UEA Ministry of Energy and is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. CLIX is part of the WFES and is sponsored by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.