The
Cleantech Open, the nonprofit organization that sponsors the largest clean technology accelerator program in the country, will hold an informational launch event for the Southeast region competition
Monday at 6 p.m. at Virginia Tech’s Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability in Arlington. This is the Southeast region’s second time participating in the program.
According to Joshua Greene, director for the Southeast region, the Cleantech Open is essentially a business competition for companies that are working to solve energy, environmental and economic challenges. Clean technology companies compete at the regional level—there are currently eight regions—and the winner of the regional level is awarded $20,000 in cash and in-kind services. The regional finalists then meet and compete at the national level for a $200,000 award.
“Whether or not [the businesses] win,” explains Greene, “the goal is to have all companies investment ready.” That’s the accelerator part of the program, in which all companies that are accepted have access to mentors, training, capital, and showcasing technology. “Entrepreneurs can get a little lost,” says Greene. “They might be an idea person, but they might not know how to do anything else.” Would-be participants can find out more at the event by registering
here.
Greene says that the Cleantech Open started as a partnership between Stanford University and the U.S. Department of Energy to “create jobs and wealth and solve environmental problems.” Organizers wanted to “grow a program that would be synonymous with ‘MBA in a box,’ but do it with benevolency, without taking equity or charging excessive fees.”
The Cleantech Open began in Palo Alto, Ca., in 2005. Since its inception, more than 700 companies in the United States have raised $800 million in capital to fund their projects.
In 2012, John Spears, the co-founder of
Sustainable Systems International (SSI), which is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., was a regional finalist and won the National Sustainability award at the Cleantech Open. Spears and his team created a solar-powered milk-chilling station for use in the developing world. According to Greene, the innovation has garnered attention from investors as well as the World Bank, which is interested in piloting the stations in Kenya and Pakistan.