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If you’d have blinked, you might have missed it: 2025 was an acceleration year. From virtual panels to multiple events during FinTech and Tech/AI Weeks, our flagship 3-in-1 Emerald Summit with Bold World Awards & Sustainability Social Dinner, impact investor podcasts, and more, Wallet Max hasn’t just “done more.” We’ve grown exponentially.

This bulletin requires more than a typical end-of-the-year round up. We will discuss upcoming and past events, industry news, and key Wallet Max resources. But we also want to know more about you (if you do nothing else, check out our poll at the bottom).

That said, let’s start with an important announcement: Our Pitch Competition is back!

New York FinTech Week is right around the corner, and we will be hosting our annual Fintech Startups Pitch Competition. On April 20th, 2026, we will once again assemble real investors and industry experts to review startup pitches live.

But it’s not just a competition. Join us for a curated fundraising evening with a panel discussion from venture capital investors and industry executives/experts on the global investment trends and 2026 funding thesis.

Together, the startup pitches and investor panels expand fundraising opportunities for startups and quality deal pipeline for VCs. Not to forget the ecosystem builders and diverse talent matching for business expansion and career pathways.

​✅ Have a funding proposal question for a dream fintech/tech/AI venture investment firm?

✅ Looking to get a pulse on potential competitors or potential strategic acquisitions to strengthen your product?

✅ Want to stay up-to-date on the latest emerging technologies (and potentially profitable investments)?

Our events like the FinTech Pitch Competition or Emerald Summit offer participants a chance to learn, network, and collaborate with a diverse group of seasoned experts focused on sustainability, finance, and technology.

Save your seat and register today. Sign up here to attend: luma.com/FintechPitchWM26

If you are a startup team interested to pitch, an investor interested to judge, or an executive interested to speak, please submit your interest at: getwalletmax.com/contact (Deadline for all submissions is Jan 31, 2026).

Over the last year, we hosted a number of events focused on democratizing fundraising access and connecting key decision makers to accelerate innovation for people, planet, businesses, and communities, both in the US and globally. These are just two highlights:

✅ In collaboration with CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) and VU Venture Partners, we brought together a panel of industry experts to discuss funding for climate, finance, and tech startups at NY FinTech Week in April 2025.

✅ We hosted our Planet Positive Pitch Competition in June 2025. Judges included industry stalwarts like Carrie Jaquith, the Global Head of Digital Product at Abaxx Technologies and Timothy L. Hoffman, Program Director for Climate Initiatives at Columbia Technology Ventures. Three winners were selected from nine curated finalists and the Wallet Max team sponsored and awarded each with a cash prize:

✅In September 2025, we hosted our annual Emerald Summit, a one-day, hybrid event, bringing together 45 speakers and 15 programs for a non-stop 12-hours of panels, community, pitch competition, awards, and NY Climate Week dinner. Climate, finance, and deep-tech/AI leaders representing a wide range of firms, from USAID to Nokia and Fiserv, multitude of startup innovations, and impact investors investing in diverse entrepreneurs - came together to share knowledge on developing sustainable and profitable tech for planetary and human well-being with a thriving business model that’s scalable.

Discover all of our events and how you can get involved with the virtual and in-person community initiatives: getwalletmax.com/events

Peter Ellis, Director of Global Natural Climate Solutions Science at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has outlined 5 science-based and human-centric principles to help climate advocates develop realistic solutions. In brief, Ellis states that all climate solutions should be:

But for any solution to leverage these principles, they must have the resources to succeed. In our September Planet Positive Podcast, we spoke with investors Puja Balachander and Sarah Jones of Carbon13 on how they help pre-seed/seed stage climate tech startups to grow.

When we think about “resources” and "investors", it’s easy to think about money. Yet, experience is the true differentiator, especially for a disruptive industry like climate and fintech.

“I think that’s Carbon13’s special sauce,” says Puja Balachander. “We bring many entrepreneurial people together to support startups. Most have successfully started and exited their business. It’s very intensive.”

For Sarah Jones, data matters. But people are just as important when it comes to developing a successful climate tech product.

“One thing we don’t talk about enough is people,” notes Sarah. “It’s critical to get the right people to work on the right problem at the right time.”

Investors, like those at Carbon13, can help climate startups to include these principles in their frameworks without sacrificing profit.

Carbon13 is an venture investment firm that aims to support climate tech entrepreneurs to mitigate over 400 million tonnes of CO2e per annum by 2040.

The Carbon13 mission is critical not just to the firm and its startups but the world. There are certain climate tech trends that enable the team to select the best investment fits.

In particular, the question of sustainable energy storage and usage has become an overarching conversion in the industry. Artificial intelligence exacerbated the need for new energy technologies.

In the EU, specifically, there is a new push to fund European-based investments. Carbon13 is uniquely positioned to be an ecosystem bridge across regions such as the US, the UK, and the EU.

The podcast is hosted by Wallet Max Founder &  CEO Bhuva Shakti, and is for anyone interested in learning from investors and founders shaping thoughtful, practical solutions.

Want more than advice from investors? Check out our full podcast library, updated at the end of the month, every month.

You’re getting this newsletter, so you know the value Wallet Max brings. But you also have close friends and colleagues who want to change the world. 

If you know someone, whether they are representing themselves, an NGO, a startup, established business, or an investment firm, who is looking for a climate-focused finance and tech community, send them our way. 

Wallet Max isn’t just a fundraising platform, but an active membership community with local and virtual events. Take a moment and share this email with someone who “gets it.”

Sequence raised $20 million in its Series A funding round

US-based revenue and payroll platform Sequence acquired support from 645 Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Firstminute Capital, Passion Capital, Dig Ventures, and Vor Capital. These proceeds are meant to develop its agentic AI solution with the aim to eliminate manual finance operations.

Crosslink Capital raises $228 million for ninth crossover fund

Crosslink has not disclosed the target size of its new fund, Crosslink Crossover Fund 9, although it will be used to invest in tech companies from early-stage private startup fundings to public equity IPO offerings. New Mexico State Investment Council is one of the limited partners.

Student-owned Atland Ventures raises $1 million for second fund

A student-owned venture capital firm based out of the Carlson School of Management, Atland Ventures, raised over $1 million to invest in startups and digitally native companies that service Gen Z. The fund is fully owned and managed by the undergrad students.

Chief of Staff, First Round

Venture capital firm First Round is adding a Chief of Staff who works directly with Liz Wessell full-time in San Francisco. They engage across all functions of First Round, including reviewing new investment opportunities, special projects, partner branding/marketing, portfolio engagement, and management of administrative staff. The ideal candidate has no VC experience.

Platform Associate, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA)

This is an on-location role in New York City. ERA is an early-stage venture fund and technology accelerator. This role includes managing program operations and workshops for founders, helping founders leverage their network, event planning and execution, and more.

Visiting Managing Director, Forum Ventures

Forum Ventures is hiring a part-time, remote US (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston) Visiting Managing Director to support 5-10 companies over the course of 6 months. They are looking for a professional with founder experience, mentorship capabilities, and a strong network.

Discover more funding and hiring opportunities in our online member-only community.

Wallet Max aimed to become a leading hub that balances profit with people and planet. With a growing community of over 2,000 professionals, I’m happy to say we succeeded. But there’s always room to grow.

Thank you for the many successes over the past year. We at Wallet Max are looking forward to building a better world with you in 2026 and beyond.

Let’s enjoy the holidays…and hit the ground running in January. There’s a lot of good we can do.

Wallet Max is preparing an exciting lineup of programs for 2026, and we invite you to play an active role. Whether as a sponsor, speaker, or volunteer, your expertise and support can help advance innovation, connection, and impact across our community.

Happy Holidays!

Bhuva Shakti, Founder of Wallet Max and Bhuva’s Impact Global.