Matching capital to purpose: Who funds the physical world?

09 Mar 2027
Track 5: Start-up arena & innovation stage
As AI attracts an increasing share of global investment, solutions that must prove themselves in the physical world face a different set of challenges. For companies developing biologicals, genetics, agricultural machinery, precision technologies, and food-system infrastructure, no single source of funding is sufficient. How should venture capital, corporate investment, lending structures, and government-backed initiatives combine across the start-up lifecycle, and what does the ideal funding pathway look like from discovery to commercial scale?