Who doesn't love a good coffee break? A few months back, Dr. Andrea Licata, a climate action leader who organizes tailored events with his talented Talenteco team, explained to me that we all needed to take a break around a cup of coffee, to exchange and discuss how we could join forces to find solutions to tackle the global climate crisis.
His vision is to organize a series of events that facilitate networking and cooperation among corporates, startups and NGOs. These events will trigger a cascade of virtuous initiatives fostering innovation and creativity in an area that requires urgent action.
Our values and vision at Kinaxis around people collaborating and enjoying time together as global citizens, with a purpose, are a perfect match with such events – so our marketing team chose to become sponsors of this series of meet-ups.
The first Coffee Break for the Planet was hosted in an amazing setting with a striking name: bUm – Raum für die engagierte Zivilgesellschaft (which roughly translates as a community space for non-profit organizations and activists). Originally owned by large technology companies, the historic building now supports young entrepreneurs and NGOs that are active in entrepreneurial ventures with a purpose.
The attendees to this exclusive event were diverse and thoughtfully handpicked to create great energy around the subject. At the event, you could meet companies in search of smart and green solutions, founders looking to meet potential customers and angel investors interested in innovation, sustainability and climate action.
Guests had a fantastic experience meeting in an informal setting with the chance to network with over 100 like-minded individuals who share a passion for making a positive impact on our planet.
For Kinaxis, the event was a unique opportunity to creatively rethink our approach to sustainability and how we can potentially innovate in this space.
Our panel presentation about how our RapidResponse® platform can help large corporations rethink their planning techniques to become more agile and help our customers eliminate waste from their supply chains drew a lot of attention.
We explained how our solution extension program allows partners to help us develop sustainability solutions and other applications. There was a lot of interest in the recycling and truck-load-building applications we already offer to our customers.
And Berlin being the hometown of our partner 4flow, I bumped into Wendelin Gross, head of research at 4flow, and Laura Gellert, head of 4flow’s team of data scientists, who were both extremely proud of the impact of their recycling application and how we at Kinaxis have promoted it so well.
We also met with lots of like-minded entrepreneurs – far too many to list them all, but here are a few: Tomo Suzuki, CEO of Datumix, a startup based in San Francisco that develops supply chain apps powered by AI/ML who had prepared a great demo; Tassilo Kroeger, who supports innovation for PwC; Kathrin Adam, CMO for CircularTree, who is developing a blockchain approach to supply chain traceability; Michael Palmer and Leighton Stevens, co-founders of 4zero, who specialize in staffing and scaling up climate-tech startups; and David Diallo, founder of GoodCarbon.earth.
Overall, it was a super-exciting event – ending with an Italian tradition: an excellent glass of wine perfectly paired with olives, Parma ham and cheese and great company in Cantine Sant’Ambroeus.
There’s no better way to develop meaningful relationships!
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