From Code to Concrete: How Capital Is Scaling Climate Solutions in the Physical World

Climate innovation is no longer constrained by technology—it is constrained by deployment. While software and analytics have advanced rapidly, the majority of emissions reductions must occur in the physical world: buildings, infrastructure, energy systems, and industrial assets. These environments introduce fundamentally different challenges around adoption cycles, capital intensity, risk, and stakeholder alignment.

This session will explore how venture capital is evolving to support climate solutions that operate in real-world systems. Drawing on firsthand experience investing at Zacua Ventures—a venture firm focused on the built environment—the talk will examine how climate technologies move from pilot to scale, what separates deployable solutions from stalled proofs-of-concept, and where capital can most effectively accelerate decarbonization.

The session will cover:

How capital allocation for climate and infrastructure technologies is shifting
What investors look for in built-world climate solutions that must integrate with legacy assets
The role of owners, operators, and incumbents in enabling scale
Where founders, corporates, and investors can better align incentives to unlock adoption

Attendees will leave with a practical, deployment-focused understanding of how climate innovation is scaling in the real economy—and what it will take to achieve meaningful impact over the next decade.