We've been working diligently over the past few months to make a partnership with the Cleantech Open and Boston's Ignite Clean Energy a reality.  This partnership will create the world's largest cleantech business competition, anchored in the two leading hubs of cleantech innovation in the United States, and offering coast-to-coast coverage to attract contestants, funding, and sponsors.

Clark Waterfall, chairman of the 2008 and 2009 ICE competitions, had this to say about the move: "The Ignite Clean Energy Competition has grown exponentially in the past several years due to the overwhelming demand to build on the cleantech industry in New England and throughout the nation. We were in search of opportunities that would allow our continued growth while offering the same competitive level of resources and expertise to our contestants. Joining with the Cleantech Open does exactly that and we are excited to be a part of an impressive national team."

For his part, Cleantech Open Executive Director Rex Northen sees the partnership as an opportunity to rejoin with the organization that created the original blueprint for the Cleantech Open. "The Cleantech Open has grown over the past few years from its roots in California to a network of regional competitions and training programs with operations in Silicon Valley, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis - and now, Boston. The Ignite Clean Energy Competition provided the model that the Cleantech Open followed to help invigorate our cleantech industry nationally," said Northen. "Joining with ICE unites the two largest cleantech business competitions, ensures the highest quality entrepreneurial training and mentorship from coast to coast, and will graduate contestants that will become competitive cleantech entrepreneurs in a ferocious global marketplace."

ICE, widely recognized as the first cleantech competition of its kind, celebrated its fifth year in November 2009. Beginning in 2004 with less than 30 teams, the competition grew to 83 contestants in 2009 and expanded to include more than a dozen team building and kick off events throughout the East Coast of the US. The Cleantech Open is the largest cleantech competition in the country and the world, holding annual regional competitions throughout the nation and the first Global Cleantech Ideas competition held in 2009. Together, the two competitions attracted entries from 361 companies in 2009 and distributed over 1 million in cash and prizes. Additionally, both organizations have helped cleantech companies raise over $220 million in venture capital, secure over $15 million in research funding, and tens of millions in public grants and loans.

Read more about this great new parnership in the press release, which can be found here.

By Uma Subramaniam, Marketing Chair, Cleantech Open

Last week the Cleantech Open office saw some serious construction outside.

The street was blocked off, jackhammers were going all day, and cones were everywhere! It turns out that the our very own California Special Projects Chair, Jeremy Walker, had negotiated his way into Comcast so they could install a hi-speed line for us. All the construction was for the Cleantech Open!

Now that the construction is over, come visit our office, bring your laptop, and hang out for awhile. We’d love to have you join us for a few hours in our office to enjoy the new internet.

Cheers,
The Cleantech Open Staff

Cleantech Open volunteer Carole Low contributes this wrap-up report from the 2009 Cleantech Open Expo and Awards Gala. Thanks Carole!

"We need to have a clear vision, aim high, and keep our eye on the ball."

Bill Weihl Green Energy Czar, Google 

Black blazers coupled with pressed shirts. Ready smiles accompanied handshakes aplenty. A steady buzz of 3,000 well-heeled cleantech fanatics that included investors, entrepreneurs, sponsoring companies, corporations, members of academia, press, and others interested in hearing clean-technology ideas and getting involved, convened yesterday at San Francisco's Masonic Center. On a day filled with sparkling sunshine, clear blue skies, and cold, crisp air, you could almost momentarily forget concerns of global warming, while meeting for the "2009 Academy Awards of Clean Technology." 

Nevertheless, speakers made it clear that combating the economic downturn and global warming remained two key challenges facing us all. Fittingly, the event coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week, in which 88 countries participated this year. 

The competition section of the day's proceedings kicked off with the Global Cleantech Open Ideas competition. In tribute to the power of global ideas, startups worldwide had a chance to compete for bragging rights and $100,000 in services as the "People's Choice" Award recipient for the best global idea. Videos from New Zealand, Israel, Italy, China, Denmark, and the United States sought to dazzle the audience with ideas ranging from Danish Danfoss IXA's sensors for industrial environments to New Zealand's Nova Eco Tech's clean fuel conversion solution for vehicles. In the end, Puerto Rico-based Replenish Energy Enterprises secured the "People's Choice" Ideas Award with its micro-algae biofuels in a text invitational for the in-house audience reminiscent of Dancing with the Stars. 

To liven up the stage, entrepreneurs shared demos along with well-timed 3-minute pitches that didn't fail to entertain and at many times, delight. On entertainment alone, EcoFactor and LivinGreen Materials drew numerous laughs like no others. At the end of the day though, EcoFactor's residential energy solution of software-as-a-service (SaaS) that sits in the cloud and returns thermostat adjustments to take advantage of waste in a hands-free environment won the grand prize. 

All the stage presentations are on Cleantech Open's YouTube channel. Or watch this great video overview on Essinova.com. 

For details on all of the finalists in the three regions from attending media, take a look at what earth2tech's Josie Garthwaite and Cleantech Group's Lisa Sibley had to say, or see Cleantech Open's official press release. 

2009 National Prize Winner: (valued at $250,000, including $100,000 in seed capital) — EcoFactor 

(1^st runner-up - Alphabet Energy 2^nd runner-up - MicroMidas)

2009 Alumni Award Winner Adura Technologies 

2009 National Sustainability Award Prize: $20,000 in startup services HydroVolts 

2009 People's Choice Global Cleantech Ideas Award Winner Prize: $100,000 in startup services Replenish Energy Enterprises Watch the video here

What a great event the Gala was! The energy in the Expo! hall was palpable, the  demos were thrilling, and it was a great thrill to learn that EcoFactor is the first national winner of the Cleantech Open business competition!

For those of you who joined us, thank you so very much for your support of what we do.

I’m very pleased to announce that PlanetUp very generously offset all the carbon from our event, giving the 2009 Awards Gala a zero carbon footprint.  This is a wonderful initiative that our Sustainability Team worked on, so a special shout-out to Julia Hu and her team for making this possible.

Please visit http://www.planetup.com/cleantechopen/ for more information.

-- Katie Roberts, Marketing and Communications Manager

Thousands rallied for the Cleantech Open’s daylong festival of cleantech innovation, entrepreneurship and policy, which culminated in a grand prize award of $250,000 for one national winner.

Selected from the 12 finalists of the Cleantech Open business plan competition, the National Prize was awarded to EcoFactor (www.ecofactor.com). A finalist in the Cleantech Open California regional competition, EcoFactor entered in the smart power category, with a personalized residential energy management solution for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The grand prize is valued at $250,000, including $100,000 of seed capital, and was presented by vice president and managing executive of venture capital Trond Unneland at Chevron Technology Ventures. Separately, today Chevron announced they were joining the Cleantech Open’s roster of corporate partners as inaugural Global Partner for the 2010 Cleantech Open business competition.

“We're thrilled to be named the national winner of the Cleantech Open, especially considering the high caliber of cleantech companies we were up against,” said Scott Hublou, SVP of products and co-founder of EcoFactor. “It's a great honor to win an award in which we were evaluated and judged by our peers and people whose feedback and opinions we value.”

“This award is as much about the strength of our whole team as it is about the important work we're doing. Being named the Cleantech Open national winner really validates our solution and our business model, and proves that the market is looking for energy-efficiency solutions that don't ask people to change their behavior or sacrifice comfort,” said John Steinberg, CEO and co-founder of EcoFactor. “This award will help us further advance our mission of providing personalized residential energy management solutions, because we believe consumers shouldn't have to choose between savings, comfort and convenience.”

Did you know that the Pitch/Demo Sessions portion of the Cleantech Open Grand Expo & Awards Gala is focused on our Global Ideas Competition? 

And, did you know that your vote will count towards the winner? 

At 1:00 PM, visitors to the Expo and all Awards Gala ticket holders will be welcomed into the main hall of the Masonic Center in San Francisco to vote via text/SMS for the best idea out of dozens presented from around the world. 

Learn more about the Global Ideas Competition here.

So watch out Silicon Valley: the Ideas Competition is GLOBAL and the Danes have something to say:

Does your registration include this portion of the event? Contact the Cleantech Open at 888-989-OPEN to upgrade or learn more.

The Cleantech Open today released the line-up of keynote speakers and presenters for its November 17th Grand Expo & Awards Gala at the Masonic Center in San Francisco. Dubbed the “Academy Awards of Clean Technology”, the event marks the grand finale of The Cleantech Open’s year-long business competition. The event is designed to showcase the boldest in clean technology, the most nation’s most ambitious entrepreneurs and the brightest, most engaged investors, venture capitalists and prospective technology customers.

Speakers and presenters include:

Bill Weihl
As Green Energy Czar at Google, Weihl leads efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy while managing Google’s greenhouse gas footprint.

Dennis Hightower
Deputy Secretary of Commerce, and a seasoned business executive with a 40-year career in the public and private sectors, Hightower is responsible for ensuring that the Department of Commerce leads the way in government efficiency, effectiveness and performance management.

Steve Westly
Prior to founding The Westly Group, Westly served as the Controller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the state of California. During his four-year term, he led an effort to commit more than $1 billion to clean technology investments. He also served as the California Co-Chair for the Obama for President Campaign in 2008.

Gil Friend
CEO and President at Natural Logic, Friend is a systems ecologist and business strategist with 35 years experience in business, communications and environmental innovation.

Lesa Mitchell
As Vice President of Innovation at Kauffman Foundation, Mitchell has been responsible for the Foundation’s frontier work in understanding the policy levers that influence the advancement of innovation from universities into the commercial market.

An event like no other
Gala Presenters will join hundreds of finalist and alumni companies, along with thousands of clean technology supporters and enthusiasts, for a day immersed in networking, discovery and funding. The event opens with an exposition floor filled over 120 cleantech companies, followed by a series of presentations and pitches from Cleantech Open Global Ideas Competition finalists from around the world. The afternoon continues with the main awards ceremony, in which the 2009 National Cleantech Open Winner is announced and presented with a $250,000 prize package. Afterward, the Expo floor will reopen for continued networking opportunities. In addition a private champagne reception will host Inner Circle Ticket Holders, speakers, sponsors, finalists and the Cleantech Open 2009 Winner.

Details

2009 Cleantech Open Grand Expo & Awards Gala
Nob Hill Masonic Center
1111 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
November 17, 2009
10 am PT – 8pm PT
RSVP/REGISTRATION REQUIRED

The Cleantech Open is made possible by the generous support provided by National Expansion Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Platinum Sponsor: PG&E; Gold Sponsors: Autodesk, The Cleantech Circle, Google, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati; Silver Sponsors: Accretive Solutions and RoseRyan; and Program Sponsors: California Clean Energy Fund, Ernst and Young, and Korn/Ferry International.

Media and outreach partners include the Matter Network, San Francisco Business Times, Greener World Media, TriplePundit.com, Sustainable Industries and Sustainable Life Media.

Come see Driptech, one of the semifinalists in the 2009 Cleantech Open, at the November Awards Gala.  In September, Driptech, inc. was named to The Tech Awards Laureates 2009, one of 15 global innovators recognized each year for applying technology to benefit humanity and spark global change. The Tech Awards, a signature program of The Tech Museum, and presented by Applied Materials, Inc., selected Driptech from among hundreds of nominations representing 66 countries.

Hundreds of millions of people in the developing world face water shortages in crop production; drip irrigation delivers precisely the right amount of water and not more. Driptech’s unique manufacturing drills precision holes in thin plastic tubing, thereby reducing the number of parts and the cost of a drip irrigation system. www.driptech.com

The Tech Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity is one of the premier annual humanitarian awards programs in the world, recognizing technical solutions that benefit humanity and address the most critical issues facing our planet and its people. The awards program honors 15 scientists and innovators annually alongside the recipient of the Global Humanitarian Award. Laureates are selected by a prestigious panel of international judges organized by the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University, and made up of Santa Clara University faculty as well as leaders from educational and research institutions, industry and the public sector around the world.

“The Tech Awards is an incredible honor, recognizing individuals and organizations whose ideas and execution of those ideas are changing the world,” said Peter Frykman, founder and CEO of Driptech.  “We are proud to be among those recognized for their contributions, and will continue to develop solutions that help rural farmers increase their income and standard of living.”

“The global challenges of the day have become increasingly strident, more deeply rooted,” said Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum. “Still, there is hope. These incredibly impressive Laureates have all proven to be equal to, or better than, the challenge to make the world a better place. By celebrating their accomplishments, we are encouraging future innovators to work toward solutions to make the world healthier, safer and more sustainable.”

Established in 2000, The Tech Awards recognizes 15 Laureates in five universal categories: education, equality, environment, economic development and health. These Laureates have developed new technological solutions or innovative ways to use existing technologies to significantly improve the lives of people around the world.  One Laureate in each category will receive a $50,000 cash prize during the annual Awards Gala in San Jose, Calif. on November 19.

This year, the Laureates represent the truly global vision of the program, spanning countries such as Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana and the Bay Area. Their work impacts people in many more countries worldwide.

The Tech Awards collaborates with humanitarian, educational, and business partners through global outreach efforts, giving people around the world the opportunity to benefit from the successful technologies recognized through The Tech Awards. The selected Laureates’ projects address multiple humanitarian efforts including developing alternate ways to generate electricity, creating free educational tools, evaluating ethical wage standards and reducing counterfeit drugs.

For more information about The Tech Awards, visit www.techawards.org

SEATTLE, WA--(October 30, 2009) - The Pacific Northwest Clean Tech Open (CTO), an innovation catalyst that helps great ideas become viable clean tech businesses, announced the three winners of the inaugural clean tech business plan competition: Green Lite Motors (100 MPG Commuter Vehicle), Hydrovolts (In-Stream Hydro Power), and LivinGreen Materials (Advanced Solar Technology). The winning teams each received $50,000 in cash and in-kind services and will now participate in the national competition for up to $250,000 in cash and services next month in San Francisco. Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire headlined the event last night at Seattle's ACT Theatre, where she also met with the semi-finalists to learn about their inventions. She recognized the important contributions of the CTO for its efforts in building a viable and sustainable clean tech sector to help the economy and environment of the region. "

In its first year the Clean Tech Open has become a critical driver for the type of technology innovation our state needs to create new green jobs and find clean energy solutions for our future," said Governor Gregoire. "I commend the contestants and the Clean Tech Open community for their dedication to our state's green economy and improving the way we produce and use energy." 

The three winning teams were chosen from a field of 10 semi-finalists, winnowed down from an initial group of 56. The 10 semi-finalists have benefited from a summer of focused, hands-on mentoring from local and national business leaders to hone their business plans. Judging of the competition was conducted by a group of leading venture capitalists, angel investors and business professionals with deep experience in helping companies turn ideas into viable businesses. Teams were judged not only on the scientific viability of their technology, but equally on the team's ability to move from their idea from the lab to commercial success.

"There are two goals for Pacific Northwest Clean Tech Open," said Byron McCann, co-chair of the Pacific Northwest CTO and Founder of Ascent Partners. "First, help find and fund the best and brightest clean tech ideas. Second, develop a vibrant and lasting clean tech ecosystem to foster job growth and innovation. We've made tremendous progress on those goals and we look forward to building on this great foundation for years to come." 

The winning teams and their technologies are: 

-- Green Lite Motors (Portland, OR)

  - 100MPG Commute Vehicle
  Commuters are stuck in traffic and burning up gas money.  This
  breakthrough vehicle delivers the safety and comfort of a car PLUS:
  100MPG efficiency, express lane privileges, 250 miles of freeway
  cruising, sporty driving, and easy downtown parking.

-- Hydrovolts (Seattle, WA)

  - Power from Water
  Patent-pending hydrokinetic turbines to generate renewable energy
  from waterpower for agriculture, industry and global sustainable
  development. Turbines are easy to install, operate and maintain, need
  no dams or watercourse modification and have a capital return on
  investment in less than five years.

-- LivinGreen Materials (Seattle, WA)

  - Light-Capturing Photoelectrode
  Developing a light-capturing photoelectrode, AggraLight, to sell
  to next-generation photovoltaic manufacturers to boost solar cell
  efficiency by over 50%, reduce the cost per Watt by 40%, and thus
  provide the most cost-effective, sustainable, and versatile solar
  technology.

The Pacific Northwest CTO began with 56 regional entries spanning clean tech sectors such as energy storage, small-scale solar, wind and hydro, transportation and renewable chemicals. Throughout the seven month competition more than 70 volunteer mentors and committee members have hosted business clinics; put on the Clean Tech Accelerator, an "entrepreneuria l boot camp" and provided one-on-one coaching in a range of professional services including venture capital, business, law, marketing/public relations and sustainability. The Clean Tech Awards Gala was made possible by the support of several sponsors, including: Boeing (presenting sponsor); Ascent Partners Group, Silicon Valley Bank, Van Ness Feldman (supporting sponsors); Avista, Puget Sound Energy (annual platinum sponsors); Deloitte and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (annual silver sponsors). 

About the Clean Tech Open Clean Tech Open is a catalyst for clean tech innovation. A non-profit organization founded in 2006, it provides today's clean tech innovators with the tools, training and connections they need to become tomorrow's viable clean tech businesses. The core of CTO is an annual business competition, supported by expert volunteers and mentors, that provides entrepreneurs with the crucial business training, services and insights they need to go to market successfully. CTO has assisted over 100 companies raise more than $120 million in external funding, and has spurred the creation of hundreds of jobs in California. Fueled by a network of over 400 volunteers and sponsors, CTO unites the public and private sectors in a shared vision for making America's clean tech sector a thriving economic engine. Past alumni successes include Adura Technologies, Cool Earth Solar and GreenVolts.