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The Decision Room · Edition II · DR/2027/016Edition II · Zürich · May 2027
DR/2027 · Edition II · May 2027
§ 01 - The working programme

The programme is in formation.

Eighteen problems that will not move until the right people are in one room. These are ours, still in consultation: questions sharpen, merge or close as the programme is composed around the institutions and cases closest to the work. If one of them sits inside your work, tell us what we have wrong.

Open throughout the day

The Capital Floor

The live market around the programme: investors, allocators, selected founders, corporate buyers and the wider ecosystem visible to one another. Every confirmed place includes the Floor.

Work one question

Roundtables

Small, composed groups built around a specific decision or market constraint. Capped at twenty, and allocated separately from access to the Floor.

Work something real

Workshops

A live structure, company, plant, landscape, asset or project worked against real constraints. Every seat is there to help solve the case.

Edition I set the format in Zürich on 8 May 2026.

See Edition I →
§ 02 - The Capital Floor

Six market clusters.

The Capital Floor is organised around six markets. Funds take a position inside the market their thesis serves, alongside corporate buyers and a small number of companies raising. Everyone else moves between them throughout the day.

i.

Cross-Market Capital

Generalist capital with no single-sector thesis across these markets, including diversified family offices, allocators, multi-sector growth investors and cross-market institutional capital.

Not sure where you fit

Sector-specific capital sits with its market. Project finance, private credit, DFIs and family offices also sit with a market where their mandate is sector-specific. Cross-Market Capital is reserved for genuinely diversified mandates.

ii.

Food & Biotechnology

Food, agriculture, ingredients, biotechnology, fermentation and biological production serving food and agricultural markets.

Not sure where you fit

Industrial fermentation producing chemicals or materials sits in Materials & Industry. Agtech serving food supply sits here.

iii.

Materials & Industry

Circular materials, chemicals, textiles, manufacturing, industrial technology and production infrastructure.

Not sure where you fit

Low-carbon cement and textile recycling sit here. A retrofit designed to reduce flood or heat exposure sits in Resilience.

iv.

Nature & Biodiversity

Biodiversity, land, forests, regenerative systems, ecosystem services and nature markets where ecological value is the underlying asset.

Not sure where you fit

Regenerative agriculture sits here when ecological value is the asset, and in Food & Biotechnology when supply is.

v.

Energy & Decarbonisation

Generation, grids, storage, electrification, industrial decarbonisation, fuels and energy project development.

Not sure where you fit

A grid-scale battery sits here. Flood protection around substations sits in Resilience.

vi.

Resilience

Adaptation, insurance and physical-risk reduction across assets, infrastructure, the built environment and communities.

Not sure where you fit

An insurance product for wildfire exposure to transmission lines sits here. A resilient grid investment programme sits in Energy.

§ 03 - The programme

The Floor is where you stand. The rooms are where you work.

Eighteen questions run as Roundtables and Workshops across the same six markets. Most people sit in one room, two at most: the work is carried forward between them rather than the same twenty people. Where the rooms in a market build on one another, the path is marked.

Cross-Market

The capital exists. The mandate does not.

Owners say what ends a deal, without anyone selling into the room. Credit buyers identify what keeps otherwise familiar exposure outside their mandate. Those two views meet around one live structure, where the stack is worked tranche by tranche. Alongside the sequence, First-of-a-Kind Finance asks who can carry risks for which no conventional mandate yet exists.

Two diagnostics, one structureInside the Committee and The Senior Tranche The Split Sheet

RoundtableInside the Committee: What Asset Owners Will Not Sign, and Why

Investment committees reject structures for reasons managers rarely hear. This room puts the real objections on the table without anyone selling into it.

Who it is for

Pensions, sovereign funds, endowments, foundations with investment committees, insurers' investment arms and family offices.

What the room is trying to resolve

Owners compare the objections that end deals. The rest of the programme receives those objections later, without compromising the peer room.

What leaves

The objections that end a deal, carried into The Split Sheet.

Feeds The Split Sheet

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
RoundtableThe Senior Tranche: Why Traditional Investors Still Hesitate

Senior exposure can carry familiar ratings and still be treated as unfamiliar credit. This room isolates what the extra premium is actually paying for.

Who it is for

Institutional credit buyers, insurers' credit arms, private-credit investors and rating or credit specialists.

What the room is trying to resolve

Buyers compare how peers read the same exposure. Managers and public finance learn which evidence changes the purchase decision.

What leaves

A written account of what makes the exposure feel unfamiliar and what reduces that premium.

Feeds The Split Sheet

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerInnpact
WorkshopThe Split Sheet: Pricing One Live Structure, Tranche by Tranche

One live structure goes on the table with commercial capital, public finance and owners working the same stack. The room separates permanent risk from unfamiliarity and prices both.

Who it is for

Asset owners, institutional credit buyers, public finance, guarantees, structurers and one live case.

What the room is trying to resolve

Owners see how the structure is built. Structurers see what dies in committee. Commercial capital tests where the concessional layer actually belongs.

The live case

A live blended structure. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

A split sheet on one live structure, with unresolved gaps and next owners marked.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Cross-market · RoundtableFirst-of-a-Kind Finance: Which Mandate Carries the Risk Nobody Owns?

First commercial facilities often sit between venture, project finance, public finance and corporate balance sheets. This room maps those risks to real mandates across sectors.

Who it is for

Private credit, project finance, DFIs, public financiers, guarantee providers and infrastructure capital.

What the room is trying to resolve

Capital providers see where their mandates stop. Sector teams get a reusable map rather than another fundraising conversation.

What leaves

A cross-market map of first-of-a-kind risk against real mandates, tested against one or two live facilities.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Resilience

The cover is withdrawn. The risk stays.

Underwriters identify the conditions making assets harder to insure. One live asset is then priced with and without adaptation, so underwriters, lenders and owners can see how cover, financing and residual risk move when the asset changes.

The arcUnderwriting the Transition The Exposure

RoundtableUnderwriting the Transition: What Insurers Will No Longer Cover

A peer room for the conditions that are making assets harder to insure, and the evidence that would change them.

Who it is for

Insurers, reinsurers, brokers and catastrophe-risk specialists.

What the room is trying to resolve

The room identifies the conditions driving changes in insurability, and what adaptation could materially change. Lenders and owners meet the downstream economics later in the day.

What leaves

An anonymised set of conditions making assets harder to insure, and the evidence that would shift them.

What leaves here is picked up in The Exposure

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
WorkshopThe Exposure: What Does One Asset Cost With and Without Adaptation?

One asset is priced twice. The workshop traces the effect of adaptation through cover, financing, asset ownership and residual risk.

Who it is for

Underwriters, lenders, asset owners, regulators, adaptation builders, engineers and the case-asset team.

What the room is trying to resolve

Owners and lenders see the uninsured exposure in their own book. Underwriters see who holds what they stop covering. Adaptation providers see what the intervention is worth.

The live case

One asset and its exposure chain. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

Two prices for one asset, the adaptation spend between them and the residual risk that remains.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Cross-market · RoundtablePermanence: Who Underwrites Permanence Once Compliance Starts Buying?

As durable removal moves closer to regulated demand, the unresolved question is who carries long-duration permanence liability, what evidence makes it insurable, and how that risk moves between buyer, project and market infrastructure.

Who it is for

Durable-removal buyers, permanence insurers or reinsurers, registries or standards bodies, selected developers and technical carbon-risk specialists.

What the room is trying to resolve

Buyers see the liability they are taking. Developers see what evidence makes permanence insurable. Underwriters test whether the risk can actually be priced.

What leaves

A written view of the evidence, exclusions and risk-transfer conditions needed for durable removal.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Food & Biotechnology

The plant is designed. The buyer has not signed.

Nothing gets financed until they do. The arc starts with what a corporate can actually put its name to, maps the instrument that funds the gap, then builds against one company’s real numbers.

The arcThe Buyer The Scale Gap The Instrument

RoundtableThe Buyer: What Can a Corporate Actually Sign?

A buyer signature can make capacity financeable, but procurement often cannot sign what founders and investors assume it can. This room makes the real limits explicit.

Who it is for

Corporate procurement, R&D, ingredient buyers and offtakers, with founders and investors where their presence improves the work.

What the room is trying to resolve

Buyers see which conditions they impose on supply. Founders and investors get the answer they usually hear too late.

What leaves

A plain statement of what a corporate can and cannot sign before scale-up finance becomes credible.

What leaves here is picked up in The Scale Gap

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
RoundtableThe Scale Gap: Which Instrument Funds Scale Before Offtake Is Bankable?

Proof of concept can be funded. Mature industrial supply can be financed. The gap between them often has no natural owner.

Who it is for

Food-focused family offices, strategic capital, agrifood venture and growth investors, lenders, development finance and selected operators who have already crossed the gap.

What the room is trying to resolve

Capital providers see where their mandates stop. Operators get a map of the real ticket-size and instrument gap.

What leaves

The scale-up gap named with the instruments and capital-provider types capable of covering it.

What leaves here is picked up in The Instrument

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
WorkshopThe Instrument: Finance One Company's Real Numbers, With Its Buyer in the Room

One company, its buyer and capital sit against actual numbers. The workshop builds or breaks the financing route rather than discussing scale-up in the abstract.

Who it is for

The case company and buyer, selected procurement seats, food capital, lenders, operators and technical or structuring expertise.

What the room is trying to resolve

The buyer sees the financing value of its signature. Capital sees the real economics. The company gets an answer against its actual numbers.

The live case

One company, its numbers and its buyer. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

A drafted financing route or instrument with gaps and required counterparties marked.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Materials & Industry

Blue-chip offtake signed, and still no plant.

One material stream traced from buyer requirement to lender condition, whether pooled demand can unlock capacity, then who pays for the work that happens before a transaction exists.

The arcPilot to Plant Demand Certainty The Pre-Transaction Gap

RoundtablePilot to Plant: Where Does the Sequence Break?

One material stream is traced from buyer requirement through offtake, capex and lender conditions, using a specific industrial case rather than a generic sector discussion.

Who it is for

Producers with live buyer relationships, brand or retail procurement, selected lenders and technical specialists.

What the room is trying to resolve

Producers see which buyer conditions matter. Buyers see what those conditions cost. Capital sees exactly where the sequence stops.

The live case

One material stream and its buyer. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

The terms a buyer contract needs to become financeable.

What leaves here is picked up in Demand Certainty

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
RoundtableDemand Certainty: Can Buyers Commit Enough Volume to Unlock a Plant?

For one material or product category, the question is whether several real buyers can align enough volume, specification and term to make new capacity financeable.

Who it is for

Three to five competing buyers of one product, selected lenders, public procurement or standards and technical/legal support.

What the room is trying to resolve

Buyers test whether peers face the same constraints. Lenders see what pooled demand must look like to finance capacity.

What leaves

The conditions under which pooled demand for one product becomes credible enough to unlock capital.

What leaves here is picked up in The Pre-Transaction Gap

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
WorkshopThe Pre-Transaction Gap: Who Pays for the Work Before a Transaction Exists?

Origination, buyer alignment, data, engineering and contract design happen before a financeable transaction exists, so normal mandates struggle to pay for them.

Who it is for

One live plant or company, buyers, lenders, public finance, institutes, foundations and the practitioners doing the joining-up work.

What the room is trying to resolve

Lenders see the invisible work before a deal exists. Producers see who could carry it. Funders test which costs can move off philanthropic or project balance sheets.

The live case

One plant or company from contract to build. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

A financing and responsibility route for one plant, with each pre-transaction step assigned to a plausible counterparty.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Nature & Biodiversity

Between the pledge and the project sits a gap nobody is paid to close.

Who builds the layer between projects and capital, who can carry first loss as public money tightens, then whether one landscape clears an institutional threshold.

The arcThe Aggregation Layer The Catalytic Layer The Stack

RoundtableThe Aggregation Layer: Who Builds the Layer Between Projects and Capital?

Nature projects arrive one by one, forcing buyers and investors to diligence each from scratch. This room works the collection layer required for institutional scale.

Who it is for

Buyers, cooperatives, producer networks, developers, measurement providers and selected investor seats.

What the room is trying to resolve

Developers learn the scale threshold. Buyers see why supply stays fragmented. Capital sees what the aggregation layer costs.

What leaves

The minimum aggregation layer required before an institutional or corporate signature becomes useful.

What leaves here is picked up in The Catalytic Layer

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
RoundtableThe Catalytic Layer: Who Can Carry First Loss as Public Capital Tightens?

Public development finance remains essential, but tighter pools make the catalytic layer harder to assemble. This room asks what private foundations, family offices, guarantees and public capital can each genuinely carry.

Who it is for

Foundation investment committees, catalytic family offices, guarantee providers, public finance and structuring specialists.

What the room is trying to resolve

Foundations see what a catalytic position actually requires. Public finance sees what private capital can complement, and where it cannot.

What leaves

The mandate blockers to catalytic first loss and at least one structural or regulatory action worth pursuing in Switzerland.

What leaves here is picked up in The Stack

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
WorkshopThe Stack: Can One Landscape Clear an Institutional Threshold?

One real landscape or value chain is modelled across multiple revenues and capital layers until the economics clear an institutional threshold, or visibly fail.

Who it is for

The project team, buyers, foundations, catalytic family offices, development finance, guarantees, banks and technical expertise.

What the room is trying to resolve

Developers see which combination of revenue and capital closes. Each capital layer sees where it belongs. Buyers see what they are paying for and why.

The live case

One landscape or value chain. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

A stacked revenue and capital model for one real project, with the gaps marked where it does not close.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
Energy & Decarbonisation

Europe has the technology and the capital, and still stalls.

The first room identifies which energy dependencies are important enough to justify paying for greater control. The second takes one project inside that strategic need and works the package required before institutional capital can take it to committee.

The arcEnergy Security The Investment Package

RoundtableEnergy Security: Which Dependencies Are Worth Paying to Control?

Europe pays a premium for some dependencies and not others, mostly without deciding which. The question is where resilience or domestic capacity is worth a measurable cost, and who holds that decision.

Who it is for

Utilities, grid operators, industrial buyers, public-energy bodies, project leaders and infrastructure investors.

What the room is trying to resolve

Public bodies see what capital would move on. Industry tests where resilience justifies higher cost. Investors see where demand certainty can emerge.

What leaves

Three or four dependencies where strategic control is worth paying for, and who owns the decision.

Feeds The Investment Package

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
WorkshopThe Investment Package: What Makes a Project Investable Before It Reaches Committee?

The problem is broader than documentation. A project can fail on grid connection, permits, offtake, EPC readiness, risk allocation or institutional diligence before the committee ever sees it.

Who it is for

Developers, utilities and grid operators, infrastructure investors, project-finance banks, public energy bodies, offtakers and legal or documentation specialists.

What the room is trying to resolve

Developers see what institutions actually need. Capital sees why otherwise viable projects arrive in a form it cannot price.

The live case

One project approaching committee. Still to be confirmed.

What leaves

A minimum investment-readiness package for one project, with the outstanding grid, permitting, offtake, delivery, risk and documentation gaps made explicit.

Co-creatorOpen
PartnerOpen →
§ 04 - Shape it with us

The programme is still taking shape.

If you hold one of these decisions, know who should be in the room, or have a live case that belongs on the table, we want to hear from you. The rooms are composed one seat at a time, around the people each question needs.

Challenge a question

Tell us what it is missing.

You know what a question is missing, what is framed badly, who needs to be in the room, or you have a live case that belongs on the table. Tell us.

Own a question

Co-create or back a room.

Shape the question with us, or fund the work behind it. Bringing a live structure, company or asset is another way in.

Apply for access

Apply for a place.

Access is approval-based. Places are reviewed for role, relevance and the contribution you can make to the day.