Five pitches. One winner. You decide.

Welcome to Climate Tech Startups to Watch, Trellis’s fast-pitch competition featuring the most promising early-stage startups in climate tech this year. 

This virtual pitch will feature five entrepreneurs presenting cutting-edge data center solutions — from clean energy and efficiency innovation to cooling breakthroughs and next-generation infrastructure.

Each founder will field questions from leading industry experts, setting the stage for a live conversation about where data center sustainability is headed and what it takes to scale.

You can help choose the winner. Cast your vote to send one startup to the in-person finals at Trellis Impact 26 on June 24 in San Francisco, where it will compete for the title of Trellis’s 2026 Climate Tech Startup of the Year.

Entrepreneurs:

• Next-gen wind power: Neal Rickner, CEO, Airloom Energy   
• AI energy optimization: Niklas Panten, Co-Founder & CEO, etalytics,
• Offshore AI infrastructure: Sam Kanner, CEO, Aikido Technologies
• Next-gen water harvesting technology: Rich Sloan, CEO, WAVR Technologies 
• Magnetic energy storage: Joseph Kao, Co-Founder & CEO, Magnefy

Industry Experts:

• Katherine He, Investor, TDK Ventures
• Jamie Daudon, Investor, The Westly Group

Moderator:

• Jake Mitchell, Director of Climate Tech Innovation, Trellis Group