​Ripple Hosts

​Michelle Robson

​Odyssey Ventures

​Christoph Baumeister

​Possible Ventures

​TL;DR

​Summarize the Ripple in a couple of sentences

​Whilst the tech bros have been busy disrupting food delivery and CRMs, the world's most fundamental industries—steel, mining, chemicals, manufacturing, medicine — have been quietly running on century-old scripts, creating the ultimate contrarian bet for founders who want to build something that actually matters. This is where AI meets atoms, renewable energy meets heavy industry, and the smartest money will spot the next Stripe hiding in a lab or the next OpenAI emerging from a factory.

​Topic overview

​Why is the topic relevant?

​While the last 20 years saw digital 'eat the world', many of the biggest, hardest, most physical processes remained pretty similar to what they were 100+ years ago. Now these old established industries and products are set to be disrupted by two seismic trends; the transition to an electron based (renewable) energy system, and the enormous power of AI to transform how we create, consume and apply knowledge. Join to brainstorm and debate what could be the biggest breakthroughs of the next 20 years - and which industries, products or processes, could be first to be transformed.

​What’s up for discussion?

• ​The Data Arbitrage Question: Industrial data is notoriously messy, siloed, and scarce. Where are the opportunities for a startup to build a valuable business by creating, cleaning, or uniquely combining datasets in sectors like mining, manufacturing, or grid management?

• ​The "Data Reluctance" Question: Many industrial companies are hesitant to share their data. What is the most compelling, irresistible offer a startup could make that would convince them it's worth the risk? It's less about the tech and more about the pitch: what problem can you solve that they can't ignore?

• ​The "AI + New Hardware" Question: Beyond pure software, what are the most compelling business cases for startups combining novel hardware (e.g., new sensors, robotics) with AI to decarbonize heavy industry? What unique challenges and moats do these "atoms-first" businesses have?

• ​The "Learning from Other Industries" Question: We've seen AI help doctors diagnose diseases and help banks detect fraud. What lessons can we learn from those transformations? What successful ideas from other sectors could be applied to helping a chemical plant or a steel mill become safer and cleaner?

• ​The "Building Trust" Question: Imagine you are a founder trying to sell a brilliant new AI technology to a factory manager who has been doing their job successfully for 30 years. What is their single biggest fear or objection likely to be, and what is the first step you would take to earn their trust?

• ​The "Spark an Idea" Question: What is a simple, recurring problem you've personally encountered or heard about in a physical industry that you think, "Surely, there has to be a smarter way to do this now"? (This is a direct and open invitation for startup ideas).

​Dream outcome

​It sparks a brilliant idea for someone's next start-up

​Who should attend?

​Founders, investors, corporates - everyone will be impacted by this, and everyone should have good ideas to contribute.