Scaling Circular Investment: From Barriers to Opportunity
What is still preventing circular businesses from scaling in Europe, and what practical changes are needed to unlock circular investment at scale?
That is the central question at Scaling Circular Investment: From Barriers to Opportunity, the final event of the CircularInvest project, taking place on 15 October 2026 at Maison Grand-Place in central Brussels, as a side event to the European Week of Regions and Cities. The day brings together investors, circular entrepreneurs, city and regional representatives, policymakers, incubators and innovation-support organisations for keynote discussions, start-up case studies, interactive workshops and cross-sector dialogue on investment, regulation and the conditions circular businesses need to grow.
Registration closes on 30 September 2026, and the event is approaching full capacity.
Climate KIC's contribution
Climate KIC’s Marco Antonio Segovia Bifarini joins the panel discussion “The role of cities and regions in scaling circular start-ups,” alongside Simon Clement (ICLEI Europe) and Bart Volkers (Circulair Groningen Drenthe).
Marco will share the lessons learned from the CCRI Community of Practice on supporting local circular businesses, which Climate KIC led. That community brought together cities, regions and business-support organisations from eight different countries to work through the practical challenges of helping circular businesses take root and grow locally, exactly the kind of place-based, peer-to-peer knowledge this panel exists to surface.
On the programme
The day opens with a session on enabling circular start-ups, moderated by Katrina Sichel with contributions from the European Commission and Circle Economy Foundation, followed by first-hand experiences from CircularInvest beneficiaries. Marco’s panel on cities and regions runs late morning, and the afternoon centres on an interactive workshop, “From barriers to solutions,” where participants tackle real challenges from the perspectives of investors, founders and policymakers. The event closes with a shared reflection session and a networking cocktail.