Yes SF: A Unique San Francisco Climate Tech Accelerator
From blue jeans, to the television to It’s-It ice cream, San Francisco has been the home of many inventions since the City by the Bay flourished in the wake of the Gold Rush. This past April, more than 750 organizations kept that tradition alive through SF Climate Week, demonstrating why San Francisco is a leading city for climate tech innovation.
No event underlined the exciting innovations at work in San Francisco quite like the showcase for SF Climate Week’s sponsor Yes San Francisco (Yes SF) Urban Sustainability Challenge, where startups demonstrated the climate tech projects that are poised to help make San Francisco the first among many resilient cities responding to climate change. We spoke to some of the current cohort of Top Innovators to understand how the Yes SF program helped launch their solutions, and what the program may offer the next cohort, which is currently accepting applications.
What is Yes SF?
The Yes SF Urban Sustainability Challenge launched in collaboration with Deloitte, Salesforce, the World Economic Forum, Citi, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and more than 20 other organizations. The Challenge is a unique call to action for entrepreneurs to submit sustainable solutions that contribute to the significant needs of San Francisco through scalable improvements to urban spaces in its downtown area. Ultimately, its purpose is to mobilize startups already working on sustainable solutions to meet the objectives laid out in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 11 to make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and, in doing so, contribute to San Francisco’s climate action and downtown revitalization goals.
Why Should Climate Tech Founders Apply to Yes SF?
In a city that has seen more than $42 billion for climate tech raised over the past five years, Yes SF is looking to tackle some of the most pressing sustainability challenges that traditional funding avenues and accelerator programs have overlooked.
The timeline for traditional venture capital returns have proven to be a persistent challenge for some climate tech hardware founders, along with the steep capital expenditures and technology risk inherent to moving atoms instead of bits. Yes SF is looking to break that cycle by putting together a cohort of climate innovators, assessing their individual needs and making connections to the talent and experience in San Francisco that busy founders typically don’t have the time or resources to make on their own.
Apply for Year Two of the Yes SF Challenge
Yes SF is now accepting applications for the 2nd Yes SF Challenge until November 13.
In the second year of Yes SF, the Challenge is looking for climate tech companies – at the beginning of their journey towards creating urban sustainability in San Francisco – to submit their impactful solutions that are viable and scalable. Some examples include innovations using AI and solutions for infrastructure, urban green and blue spaces, renewable energy and water and waste management.
Important Dates:
November 13, 2024: Submission deadline
November - March 2025: Review and selection by UpLink
April 2025: Cohort announcement during San Francisco Climate Week
Explore the application and submission criteria today! Innovators will be considered by UpLink from the five solutions areas listed below and will be selected based on their fit across four criteria, that demonstrate a commitment to providing solutions to San Francisco’s sustainable development.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency
Sustainable transportation and mobility
Resource management
Sustainable construction and materials
Other areas of sustainability
Interested in learning more about the applicants so far? All submissions are publicly viewable via the Uplink platform - check them out here!
Hear From the 1st Yes SF Top Cohort 1 Innovators from the 1st Challenge
We caught up with a handful of the Top Innovators from the first Yes SF cohort to tell us what they gained from the program, and why climate tech founders and innovators should apply.