15 Best Sessions for Startups & Social Entrepreneurs at WEF
We’re following the 2024 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting to spotlight the top conversations on startups, social entrepreneurship and AI.
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is once again attracting thousands of world leaders, global experts, business executives, and entrepreneurs to Davos, Switzerland.
Our team at StartingUpGood has identified the top 15 sessions that you should follow if, like us, you are interested in how startups, entrepreneurs, investors, and AI can accelerate social and environmental impact worldwide.
- First Movers for Frontier Clean Technologies
- Europe’s Rush to Innovate
- Mainstreaming Ecopreneurs
- Finnovation
- Hype Cycles and Start-ups
- 2024 Social Innovation Awards
- Press Conference: UpLink Mobilizes CHF 38M for SDGs
- Lifting Up Local Economies
- Climate and Nature: A Systemic Response Needed
- Why Social Innovation Matters for Business?
- Building Trust through Transparency
- Investors of First Resort: Government Inc.
- No Rain, No Flowers: Funding Start-ups
- Yes In My Backyard
- Overcoming Unfair Beginnings
Many of the over 200 sessions from this year’s forum will be live-streamed via the WEF website. Additionally, we expect most post-session recordings will be added for further sharing of the insights gleaned from these robust and diverse conversations.
Click the date and time links below to watch session recordings, and check back with us for our analysis of key themes and insights from #WEF24 conversations.
First Movers for Frontier Clean Technologies
Tuesday January 16, 2024 | 08:15–09:00 CET
The First Movers Coalition, launched at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, has garnered an unprecedented $16 billion in aggregated demand for emerging climate technologies and the support of 13 governments which together represent more than 50% of global GDP.
What are the lessons learnt and what lies ahead in the journey to speed up and scale these technologies?
Speakers:
- Takeshi Hashimoto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd
- Rachel Kyte, Visiting Professor of Practice, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
- John F. Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, National Security Council (NSC)
- Daniel Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, Ball Corporation
- Carlos Torres Vila, Chair, BBVA SA
- Anna Borg, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vattenfall AB
Europe’s Rush to Innovate
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | 08:15–09:00 CET
Europe is a world leader in science and research, with its innovation performance increasing for the EU as a whole by almost 10% since 2016, but the bloc struggles to capture the economic value of its innovation prowess.
With global value chains undergoing rapid transformation and key markets for European goods slowing down, how can leaders from finance, research and government come together to address the bottlenecks in Europe’s innovation ecosystem?
Speakers:
- Nikolai Denkov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, Office of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria
- Maria Leptin, President, European Research Council
- Luciana Lixandru, Partner, Sequoia Capital
- José Luis Escrivá, Minister for Digital Transformation, Ministry for Digital Transformation of Spain
- Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, European Commission
- Dimitri de Vreeze, Chief Executive Officer, dsm-firmenich
Mainstreaming Ecopreneurs
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | 09:30–10:15 CET
Ecopreneurs are finding innovative solutions to address environmental challenges, from fast-tracking decarbonization and scaling nature-based solutions to addressing plastic pollution.
How can we bring more early-stage venture financing and changes in status quo business to rapidly deploy innovations at scale?
This session is developed in partnership with UpLink, The World Economic Forum’s innovation platform.
Speakers:
- Suzanne DiBianca, Chief Impact Officer, Salesforce, Inc.
- Rebekah Braswell, Chief Executive Officer, Land Life
- Lo Poman, Founder, Bodhi Love Foundation
- H.S.H. Prince Maximilian von und zu Liechtenstein, Chairman of the Board, LGT Group
- Arun Majumdar, Dean, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University
Finnovation
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | 13:00–13:45 CET
In the past decade, technology-enabled innovation has brought enormous benefits to the global financial system and, by extension, to society, but it has also brought with it new risks.
With AI and machine learning adoption growing rapidly, what impact will the next generation of technologies have on financial services and how do we ensure that the benefits always outweigh the risks?
This session is directly linked to the ongoing work on tech-enabled innovation in the World Economic Forum Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems.
Speakers:
- Teresa Clarke, Chairman and Executive Editor, Africa.com
- David Schwimmer, Chief Executive Officer, London Stock Exchange Group plc
- Darryl White, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group
- Charlotte Hogg, Chief Executive Officer, Europe, Visa Inc.
Hype Cycles and Start-ups
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | 15:00–15:45 CET
Ecosystems are transformed by hype cycles, from excitement to disillusion until maturity.
How can information about transformative technologies result in more economic growth and responsible investment and less noise?
Speakers:
- Zachary Bogue, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, DCVC Management Co, LLC
- Siyu Huang, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Factorial Energy
- May Habib, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Writer, Inc.
- Daniel Metzler, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH
- Azeem Azhar, Chief Executive Officer, Exponential View
2024 Social Innovation Awards
Tuesday January 16, 2024 | 16:15–17:00 CET
Each year, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship recognizes and supports the world’s leading social innovators for their collective efforts in creating a just, equitable and sustainable world for all.
Join us for the 2024 Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards ceremony to celebrate this year’s outstanding changemakers.
Speakers:
- Vivi Yulaswati, Deputy Minister for Maritime and Natural Resources, Indonesia Government
- Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai, President of the Board of Directors, Amazon Sacred Headwaters (Cuencas Sagradas Amazonicas)
- Temie Giwa-Tubosun, Founder, LifeBank Technology and Logistics Services Ltd
- Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director, Ujala Cygnus Healthcare Services
- Rudayna Abdo, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Thaki
- Ruchika Singhal, President, Medtronic Labs
- Pascale Bruderer, Founder, Chairwoman, Swiss Stablecoin AG
- Mohamed Amine Zariat, President, Tibu Africa
- Li Xia, Chief Executive Officer, Shenzhen Power-Solution Ltd
- Juan Manuel Martinez Louvier, Director-General, Instituto Nacional de la Economia Social (INAES)
- Jennifer Blatz, President and Chief Executive Officer, StriveTogether
- Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Gerald Abila, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BarefootLaw
- Chantal Line Carpentier, Head, Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch, Division for International Trade, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- Catalina Cock Duque, Co-Founder and President, Fundacion Mi Sangre
- Atossa Soltani, Director, Global Strategy, Amazon Sacred Headwaters (Cuencas Sagradas Amazonicas)
- Angela Gichaga, Chief Executive Officer, Financing Alliance for Health
- Ajaita Shah, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Frontier Markets
Press Conference: UpLink Mobilizes CHF 38M for SDGs
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 08:00–08:30 CET
Four years on from its launch at the Annual Meeting in 2020, UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s open-innovation platform, has raised CHF 37 million in funding commitments through to 2027 to further strengthen its thematically-focused innovation ecosystems that are supporting early-stage, purpose-driven start-ups and accelerating progress towards the SDGs. In this session, leaders from UpLink’s founding and funding partners will announce the focus areas of their respective partnerships and discuss how these commitments will benefit impact ventures and investors around the world, as well as share key findings from UpLink’s Annual Impact Report.
UpLink is the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum. It’s technology-driven platform surfaces early-stage entrepreneurs and enables an innovation ecosystem to drive positive systemic change for people and planet.
Speakers:
- Suzanne DiBianca, Chief Impact Officer, Salesforce, Inc.
- Sundar Mahalingam, President, Strategy, HCLTech
- Sarah Chapman, Global Chief Sustainability Officer; Chief Marketing Officer, Manulife Investment Management Ltd
- Olivier M. Schwab, Managing Director, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder, S4S Technologies
- Kwasi Mitchell, Chief Purpose & DEI Officer, Deloitte US, Deloitte
Lifting Up Local Economies
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 11:30–12:15 CET
The deployment of industrial policies that encourage technological innovation and investment in underserved or overlooked regions presents an opportunity for new growth and the revival of some communities that were considered in decline.
What current efforts to boost support in local areas can be used as an example of supporting sustainable and equitable growth?
Speakers:
- Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria
- Hanzade Dogan, Chairwoman, Hepsiburada
- Fabricio Bloisi Rocha, Chief Executive Officer, Ifood.Com Agencia de Restaurantes Online S.A
- Dolf van den Brink, Chief Executive Officer, HEINEKEN NV
- Adam Posen, President, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Climate and Nature: A Systemic Response Needed
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 14:15–15:15 CET
The year 2023 is the hottest on record — 1.48°C above the pre-industrial averages — propelling economies and societies into unprecedented and risky territory. Leaders are increasingly called upon to transform the current growth and development models to better steward the global commons and serve humanity.
How can we enable a net-zero, nature-positive future that regenerates Earth’s finite resources and safeguards its peoples?
During the session, the 2024 Social Innovation Awards will be announced by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
Speakers:
- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
- Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist, Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair in Public Policy, Texas Tech University
- Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group (IKEA)
- Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Chief Putany Yawanawá, Chief of the Yawanawá Tribe, Yawanawá Tribe
- Andre Hoffmann, Chairman, Massellaz SA
- Ajay S. Banga, President, World Bank Group
Why Social Innovation Matters for Business?
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 15:00–15:45 CET
From the $500 billion market opportunity in social procurement to the $2 trillion annual market for climate adaptation, social innovation holds high potential for business growth.
How can early movers gain competitive advantages by implementing social innovation?
Speakers:
- Sabrina Soussan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SUEZ
- Ruchika Singhal, President, Medtronic Labs
- Raj Kumar, President and Editor-in-Chief, Devex
- Julia White, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer, SAP SE
- Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Geoff Martha, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Medtronic Plc
- Dan Viederman, Partner, Working Capital Fund
- Benoit Bonello, Director, Social Innovation, SUEZ GROUPE
- Anna Marks, Global Chair, Deloitte
- Ajaita Shah, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Frontier Markets
Building Trust through Transparency
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 16:15–17:00 CET
In today’s market, transparency is the new gold standard for businesses seeking to build trust, talent, efficiency and growth, with 94% of consumers staying loyal to transparent brands.
At a time of deepening distrust in institutions and organizations, what innovations in transparency are possible for leaders across sectors to rebuild confidence and accelerate trust with communities?
Speakers:
- Michael Miebach, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard International Incorporated
- Helena Leurent, Director-General, Consumers International
- François Valérian, Chair, Transparency International
- Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive, Chatham House
Investors of First Resort: Government Inc.
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 16:15–17:00 CET
Whether through sovereign wealth funds, state-owned enterprises or national innovation funds, many governments are increasing behaving like investors.
Are governments crowding in or crowding out the private sector and what are the opportunities and the risks of their strategies?
This session is linked to the Future of Growth Initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Speakers:
- Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore, Government of Singapore
- Scott Sandell, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, New Enterprise Associates
- Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Mariana Mazzucato, Professor, University College London (UCL)
- Faisal Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning, Ministry of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia
No Rain, No Flowers: Funding Start-ups
Thursday, January 18, 2024 | 09:00–09:45 CET
Entrepreneurship and Innovation ecosystems are powerful drivers of economic growth and job creation, yet access to capital for start-ups is increasingly difficult, with global venture funding down 42% for the first three quarters of 2023 compared to the same timeframe last year.
How can we increase access to capital and build collaborative innovation ecosystems to allow entrepreneurs to thrive and create the jobs of tomorrow?
This session is directly linked to the Future of Venture Capital Initiative of the World Economic Forum Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems.
Speakers:
- Sara Kehaulani Goo, Editor-in-Chief, Axios
- Rishi Khosla, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OakNorth Holdings Limited
- Navin Chaddha, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund, L.L.C
- Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB)
- Ahmed F. Karslı, Co-Founder and Chairman, Papara
Yes In My Backyard
Thursday, January 18, 2024 | 13:15–14:00 CET
Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) describes the actions that have halted development of projects from energy to housing to high speed rail across the globe. Yes In My backyard (YIMBY) is the counter-movement looking to support and scale place-based innovation.
How can we transcend NIMBY hurdles and create more prosperous, resilient and sustainable communities worldwide?
Speakers:
- Tiya Gordon, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ItsElectric
- Paul Mo-po Chan, Financial Secretary, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)
- Mark Edward Rose, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Avison Young (Canada) Inc.
- Jonathan Reckford, Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity International
- Jeff Merritt, Head of Centre for Urban Transformation; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum LLC
- Ebru Özdemir, Chairperson of the Board, Limak Holding
Overcoming Unfair Beginnings
Friday, January 19, 2024 | 09:00–09:45 CET
From education to leisure and entrepreneurship to career opportunities, the socio-economic background we are born into continues to play a disproportionate role in determining our future.
As rates of upward mobility fall, what are the biggest obstacles to economic opportunity and how can business, government and civil society work together to overcome them?
Speakers:
- Nile Rodgers, Chairman and Co-Founder, We Are Family Foundation
- Michelle Yeoh, Actress, Producer, United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador
- Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum Geneva
- Francis Kéré, Architect, KereArchitecture
Check out the sessions that our partner SDGCounting has identified as being important conversations around the Sustainable Development Goals and the data used to track and report on them.
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