The Drop: An investor and a founder walk into an old train workshop

Two weeks ago, we - Sofia and Rui - traveled to Malmö to spend the day at a converted old train workshop. This was the venue for The Drop, a surprisingly laid-back tech conference that gathered 2,000 investors, founders, and climate experts to discuss potential solutions to the climate crisis.

Sofia wore an orange investor badge for maze, and Rui walked in with a green startup badge. This is how we felt returning to Lisbon.

Sofia's take: connecting the climate dots

I prioritise smaller conferences that focus on connecting like-minded people and fostering content-rich discussion when planning my annual conference schedule. This year, I attended The Drop for the first time and, spoiler alert, it already earned a top spot on my list for next year.

The easy going atmosphere and strong sense of community helped spark engaging conversations and generated valuable learnings about all-things climate related. Both the Ripples and the side events had the format of hands-on workshops rather than the one to many panels we are used to in most tech events. Below, I’ll share some of the learning from the sessions I was fortunate to attend.

The Climate Brick: discussing the scale of new technologies

Credits: LinkedIn post by The Climate Brick

The day I arrived in Malmö, I headed straight to the Climate Brick. The Climate brick, started by the founders at EQT Ventures and Contrarian Ventures, is a community that brings together ecosystem players to accelerate the deployment of climate technologies. This workshop was split into discussion groups for all seven bricks, which are segmented by company archetypes. I was in the New Technology brick discussion, moderated by Thong Le Hoang and Adam Ross. We discussed how groundbreaking technologies need to become affordable and accessible to unlock disruption and get us closer to cost-parity for overall adoption. However, cost-parity was a tricky term in this discussion, as these innovative solutions bring added functionalities to those already existing and that should be accounted for when discussing price. Funding was also a big part of the discussion, namely how financing working capital needs to be top of mind for climate founders and how later stage companies can combine capital to continue financing R&D and growth. Last, we discussed how  IP strategies need to be managed carefully to truly unlock defensibility and freedom to operate, allowing products to come to market to be tested earlier. It was great to meet Amanda Ritter from Lydian, Finn Aretz from Deepsense and Manshu Agarwal from Colbridge Ventures, who contributed greatly to this discussion.

Learnings about Industrial Biology, Direct Air Capture and the importance of mammoths

Credits: LinkedIn post by The Drop

The next day was the conference. I joined conversations about fundraising in industrial bio and the costs of  biomanufacturing, and misconceptions about Direct Air Capture (DAC). I learned that making synthetic biology cost-effective requires collaboration across the ecosystem, with corporates playing a crucial role piloting new solutions to prove there is a market for bio innovation. I also learned that this goes beyond LOIs as, despite being a good hint that there is interest from the market, investors are mostly concerned about understanding what’s behind the text and hearing how corporates perceive these innovations (i.e. can the new products/inputs really integrate their supply chain at scale) and the premium they are available to pay for it. I suggest reading the Max Mundt post on the session he moderated, where he highlights the different risks between bioproducts and bioprocesses, here.

"Misconceptions about DAC" we debated whether if DAC can hit the $100/tC02 mark and to what extend more deployment will be needed for costs to gradually decrease, with innovations in new materials also playing a crucial role. There were different views on whether DAC companies should prioritise buyers who will utilise vs bury the CO2 and how increasing the overall DAC market is a goal in itself. If you want to geek out on DAC, this post from Extantia is a great read, which greatly contributed to our discussion at The Drop.

I also had a great dinner with Anjum Rangwala, Max Mundt, Ana Sofia Almagro and Jasper Wigley. From book recommendations (I’m currently reading "The Ministry for the Future" - thank you, Ana Sofia!) to learning about companies reincarnating mammoths to fight climate change, the dinner was not short of interesting topics.

Rui's perspective: a convert's tale

Credits: LinkedIn post by The Drop

My style of tech conference is no tech conference. The thought of huge crowds and more noise than substance puts me off very quickly. But today, I think I can safely say that The Drop is my style of tech conference.

First off, it helps that Malmö is my kind of town—calm and serene. And perfect for a run, especially at this time of year.

Now, about The Drop: I feel conferences are mostly about the connections you make and the conversations you have, and The Drop was no exception. In fact, it nailed this. The sense of community and togetherness that Pale Blue Dot fostered among the 2,000 or so attendees was incredible. Being back to founder mode, it was great to connect with so many like-minded people. I had the chance to catch up with Fiona (Overstory) and learn about how she is using technology to reduce the risk of wildfires over a veggie taco, chat about Nordic accents with Eric (FiR at Deep Science Ventures), and meet other founders building truly incredible and ambitious ventures. It was also great to connect with investors — from top-tier generalist funds, to boutique climate funds and specialized CVCs — in such a laid-back environment. Plus, it was the perfect excuse to finally meet in person with folks I'd only spoken to online.

But it wasn’t just about the connections—it was also about the content. Hampus did an incredible job kicking off the day and making everyone feel like they belonged. The keynote sessions were powerful, especially Lieutenant General Richard Nugee's talk on how water scarcity is fueling conflicts and uprisings. The silent microphone + headset setup for the Ripple sessions was a wonderful way to keep multiple focused discussions going on simultaneously. I found myself gravitating towards those related to green buildings and the evolution of grids.

To be fair, the free unlimited speciality coffee and Oatly might have played a part in how great I felt leaving The Drop (it was also the line where I met the most new people).

We’ll be back next year

An investor and a founder walked into an old train workshop and left feeling inspired with the future of emerging climate technology. Despite the different experiences founders and investors usually have from tech conferences, the perceptions of Rui and Sofia were very similar - The Drop is a space where you can learn from a community of like-minded people who are more concerned about their mutual interests and goals than the badge colour you wear.

In the face of the climate crisis, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. But gatherings like The Drop remind us that humanity's collective ingenuity, when properly focused and supported, is a force to be reckoned with. As we look to the future, it's clear that the real work is just beginning - and thanks to events like The Drop, we're better equipped to tackle it head-on.

Kudos to Joe Larsson, Heidi Lindvall, Hampus Jakobsson and the rest of the Pale Blue Dot team for bringing all these people together to discuss the future of climate technologies. See you next year.