ChangeNOW 2024: Unite & Act for a Sustainable Future
ChangeNOW is an annual 3-day conference and exhibition that gathers leading changemakers and innovative solutions approaching our planet’s challenges to take action together. The event creates opportunities in an inspiring and action-oriented event.
This March, ChangeNOW hosted its 7th annual event in Pairs, welcoming 35,000 people!
In addition to innovators, investors, and decision-makers in business, government and academia, the conference was also packed with young people, students of all ages, families, and athletes, creating a refreshing, inspiring atmosphere.
Across 8 stages and several community areas, the conversation focused on action, sharing ideas, stories and case studies to get us moving toward a more sustainable future. Everyone is committed to exploring how to get these innovative ideas to market while measuring their impact and performance in a meaningful way, moving money into the impact space faster, and rethinking regulations and education for a more sustainable future.
Everyone has a role to play in this transition!
Some takeaways from the Angels for Change session:
Conduct proper due diligence; everyone seems to be following each other and it’s hurting the companies to not have a solid foundation of tracking impact and performance.
Share your knowledge and message with the world. It’s important for us to keep learning and educating our networks to catalyze the movement, and to connect with people who share our values and are working on similar things so we can join our forces.
Be data-driven in your assessment and evaluation during the selection period, and tracking post-investment progress and impact.
The founders should be in the driver’s seat but feel comfortable to call in for help from their investors.
The Better Ventures model was especially interesting and important, with active entrepreneurs investing in founders, willing to pass along their expertise and experience while letting the founders run their business and measuring their impact along the way.
At the Top Tier Impact X ChangeNow Disruptive Impact Entrepreneurship side event, we heard from remarkable entrepreneurs, alongside a panel of judges. Some of these business leaders were early on in their journeys, and held a lot of promise for tackling some of our pressing challenges including energy, waste, agriculture, and transportation.
The entrepreneurs included:
Nicolas Weber, Co-Founder & CEO of Voltiris: Transforms greenhouses into power plants without impacting the plant's growth
Andew Lorenceau, CEO & Co-Founder of DiviGas: A new way to separate hydrogen with a membrane that has stunning robustness and performance
Tiphaine Guerout, Co-Founder of Koovee: The first and only edible cutlery that replaces polluting plastic, crafted from chewable material with the option of sweet or savory biscuit flavors.
Sabine Andria, CEO & Founder of GreendOz: Boosting daily nutrition and reducing agricultural waste with vegetables and legumes-based snacks.
Alex Haag, CEO of Futurail: Autonomy stack for self-driving trains for frequent, reliable, and cost-effective transportation, contributing to the transition from road to rail.
Francois Thierart, President & Co-Founder of MyEasyFarm: Supports players in the agricultural supply chain in their agro-ecological transition through its data collection, calculation and reporting platform.
The expert panel of judges thoroughly grilled them on their product and technologies, GTM strategies, and business models. Kudos to these founders for holding their ground and providing clear, substantive responses.
We look forward to seeing what actions come off the back of this innovative conference, and what’s in store for ChangeNOW 2025!
