AI for the Planet - Grand Palais

What AI for the Planet - Grand Palais does

AI for the Planet is an annual event and community initiative produced by Startup Inside since February 2021, in collaboration with UNESCO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It convenes international actors committed to applying artificial intelligence to climate and environmental challenges, running themed editions covering climate change, biodiversity, sustainable mobility, oceans, agritech, weather and disaster resilience, and environmental education. Its flagship in-person convening is the Paris Night, held at Palais Brongniart in September 2024 with 600+ attendees and 20+ speakers; the 5th edition is scheduled for 24-26 November 2025 at Grand Palais under the Adopt AI Grand Palais banner, co-located with the AI for Finance and AI for Industry summits organized by Artefact.

The initiative does not build a software product of its own; its "platform" is a curated program of conferences, round tables, keynote sessions, a Demo-Zone, and a Call for Solutions competition that surfaces climate-AI startups to a curated community of corporates, startups, and technology firms. Operational technology is limited to the inwink all-in-one event management platform used for registration, agenda, and partner pages; AI is the thematic substrate of the initiative rather than a proprietary capability developed in-house.

The revenue model is sponsorship-driven rather than transactional. Access is gated by an invitation-request workflow reviewed by the team, so attendees do not purchase tickets. Operating income is generated through a tiered partner program (Edition, Global, Co-founding, Ecosystem, and Tech partners, including Microsoft, Google Cloud, BCG, Edmond de Rothschild, Climatico, BFM, Ecosys Group, Inwink, and Vivatech) and through prizes contributed by partners to the Call for Solutions program. No revenue figures, ticket prices, subscription tiers, or paid sponsorships are publicly disclosed, and the initiative sits within Startup Inside rather than as a standalone venture-funded entity.

Name

AI for the Planet - Grand Palais

Legal name

Startup Inside (AI for the Planet initiative)

Website

https://aifortheplanet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AI for the Planet is a Startup Inside–produced annual conference and community initiative, launched in 2021 with UNESCO and UNEP, that convenes climate-AI leaders through flagship events in Paris, including the upcoming Adopt AI Grand Palais 5th edition in November 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate AI Conferences and Events

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII) (HDAEANAG)

Keywords

• Climate AI events
• Sustainability conferences
• Environmental tech forums
• AI climate summits
• Tech for good

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Invitation-based event access (registration requests): Attendees must submit a registration request which is reviewed by the AI for the Planet team rather than purchasing a ticket; effectively free/invitation-gated access for the Paris Night events.
2. Edition & ecosystem sponsorships: Revenue/operating model is supported through tiered partners (Edition partners, Global partners, Co-founding partners, Ecosystem partners, Tech partners) including Edmond de Rothschild, Google Cloud, BCG Gamma, Climatico, BFM, Ecosys Group, Inwink, Vivatech and Microsoft (Demo-Zone host).
3. Call for Solutions prize support (financial, technical, networking): Call for Solutions program offers prizes across three categories — financial support, business/technical support, and networking opportunities — provided by partners to winning climate AI solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Core offering

AI for the Planet operates an annual conference and community initiative that convenes climate-AI leaders, large corporates, startups, and technology firms to discuss and showcase AI applications for environmental challenges (climate, biodiversity, oceans, sustainable mobility, agritech, disaster resilience). Core deliverables include flagship evening/multi-day events in Paris, themed editions, an Alliance conference at UNHQ, and the Call for Solutions program for AI-driven climate startups. The initiative is produced by Startup Inside in collaboration with UNESCO and UNEP.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Adopt AI Grand Palais: Branded event series for the 5th edition of AI for the Planet, held November 24-26, 2025 at Grand Palais, Paris.
• AI for the Planet Francophonie Edition

Products and services

• AI for the Planet 2025 (5th Edition - Adopt AI Grand Palais) Multi-day flagship conference bringing together climate AI leaders, large corporates, startups, and tech firms at Grand Palais, Paris, under the 'Adopt AI Grand Palais' banner.
• AI for the Planet Paris Night 2024 Flagship annual evening conference, networking, and cocktail event held September 16, 2024 at Palais Brongniart, Paris; convened 600+ attendees and 20+ speakers across mainstage sessions on climate AI including 'The Double-Edged Sword of AI' and 'Leveraging Data & AI to boost the transition'.
• AI for Finance Summit 2024 Co-located partner summit held September 17, 2024 at Palais Brongniart alongside AI for the Planet Night, covering AI applications in finance, organized by Artefact.
• AI for Industry Summit 2024 Co-located partner summit held September 17, 2024 at Palais Brongniart alongside AI for the Planet Night, covering AI applications in industry, organized by Artefact.
• AI for the Planet - French Edition 2022 French Edition of the AI for the Planet initiative highlighting AI applications across energy retrofit of buildings, maritime eco-energetic transition, corporate net-zero, startup climate solutions, carbon impact measurement, and Microsoft Share AI; includes partner sessions with Schneider Electric, Microsoft, BCG GAMMA, Sweep, and Metroscope.
• Call for Solutions Program Open-call program recognizing AI-driven climate solutions with prizes across financial support, business/technical support, and networking opportunities provided by partners; serves as an ecosystem recruitment channel surfacing finalists from the USA, Israel, France, India, UK, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Congo.
• AI for the Planet Francophonie Edition 2021 100% digital French-speaking edition held June 14, 2021 from 2pm to 7pm; official side event of VivaTech highlighting concrete AI-for-environment initiatives and use cases from the French-speaking world.
• AI for the Planet Sustainable Mobility Edition 2021 Themed edition held March 16, 2021 focused on AI for sustainable mobility; featured opening keynote by Dr. Emmanuel Letouzé (Data-Pop Alliance) and a round table with speakers from Movin'On, Microsoft, La Fabrique des Mobilités, Port of Antwerp, and Data-Driven EnviroLab.
• AI for the Planet Launch Event 2021 Inaugural launch event held February 16, 2021 that kicked off the AI for the Planet initiative in collaboration with UNESCO and UNEP.
• AI for the Planet Alliance - UNHQ 2023 Alliance conference held at UN Headquarters in New York in 2023, establishing a multidisciplinary global platform to drive AI solutions for climate change at scale; webcast available via UN WebTV.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature8 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GreenBiz Group: Produces the GreenBiz flagship conference and ongoing editorial/community programming at the intersection of business and sustainability. Comparable to AI for the Planet as a recurring climate-business convening and content platform targeting enterprise sustainability leaders, though without the AI-only positioning.
• London Climate Action Week: Annual week-long climate convening in London bringing together corporates, city government, and climate innovators. Comparable to AI for the Planet in model (city-anchored, recurring, mixed corporate/civic audience), but broader in scope than AI for the Planet's AI-specific angle.
• The Climate Group (Climate Week NYC): Organizer of Climate Week NYC, the largest annual climate convening in North America. Directly comparable to AI for the Planet as a recurring climate-convening platform attracting corporates, policymakers, and innovators — but with substantially larger scale and a broader (not AI-specific) remit.
• TED Countdown: TED's climate-focused event series convening scientists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers around climate solutions. Comparable in mission and curated-speaker format to AI for the Planet, though TED Countdown emphasizes broad climate storytelling rather than the AI-specific application layer.
• Climate Action (Climate Action Summit / Innovation Show): Runs Climate Action Summits and related events alongside the UN climate conferences (COPs). Directly comparable as a recurring climate-innovation convening with corporate sponsorship, but operates at a global COP-anchored scale rather than a city-anchored scale.

Broad incumbents

• The AI Summit: Global series of business-focused AI conferences. Comparable in its AI-specific framing and enterprise sponsorship model to AI for the Planet, but focused on general enterprise AI adoption rather than climate-AI applications.
• Web Summit: One of the world's largest tech conferences, with dedicated climate/ESG verticals and Paddy Cosgrave-era programming around climate-tech. Comparable as a sponsor-funded mega-event that has hosted AI and climate tracks, but at vastly greater scale and with generalist rather than AI-for-climate specialization.
• VivaTech: Europe's largest startup and tech event, where AI for the Planet previously hosted side events (Francophonie Edition was an official Vivatech side event). A broad incumbent in the same convening category — overlapping audience of corporates, startups, and policymakers, but at substantially larger scale and with a generalist tech focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ai-for-the-planet

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AI for the Planet - Grand Palais