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| Dear SET family,
We hope that you and your loved ones are keeping safe, healthy and optimistic. 2020 has unquestionably thrown us a curveball that has created a unique challenge for individuals, businesses and politicians. In particular, this includes start-ups who we care very deeply for and have put our hearts and souls into supporting in an effort to further promote innovation in the global energy transition. We have been in touch with many of the start-ups in our network who have expressed how difficult and tumultuous these times have been for them, and how they need more support from governments and policymakers. At the same time, we have talked to a lot of partners, including investors, VCs, accelerators, policymakers and corporates who themselves are facing difficulty in this time, whether it comes to hosting events, supporting their own start-ups or simply staying afloat. Despite this, these same partners and start-ups have pledged their continued support to the energy transition, no matter what adversity they face. Now more than ever, the value of community and support is crucial in moving forward, and  for us, the mission of SET becomes even that much more important. Continuing to support our community members, particularly our brilliant energy start-ups, is a top priority for us. This includes making sure the SET 2020 start-ups get the recognition they deserve by putting them in the spotlight on the global stage. The SET team is working on creating amazing content around the SET finalists and the SET 100, and of course, liaising with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to ensure the possibility that the SET Tech Festival 2020 takes place, taking into account the uncertainty we face. With that, I am delighted that the possibility of postponing the event to the end of the year is looking more and more likely. We are committed to you, our start-up family. We have surveyed roughly 80 energy start-ups globally about the implications that COVID-19 has had on them and what support they would need, and look forward to sharing the results with our community in a short time. These results will also be shared with our government partners in an effort to provide some policy recommendations. And with that, we ask all of our partners, including corporates, investors and policymakers, to join us in continuing to support the start-ups which are working on our sustainable, green future. Our determination to foster a strong network and promote innovation within the energy sector remains unchanged. Supporting the best and brightest energy start-ups is at the core of these goals. We will get through all of this together, and come out stronger and ready to work even harder on securing the energy transition. And of course, we will keep building the SET Global Innovation Platform to create even more opportunities for forward-thinking entrepreneurs. Make sure to have a look at our SET 2020 Finalists here , and our #SET100 2020 list here. Yours truly, Andreas Kuhlmann and the SET team |
