by Shawn Lesser
Imagine what it would be like to replace a roof with roofing materials that generate solar electricity, without the large upfront payment. That’s what San Diego based, OneRoof Energy offers US homeowners. Instead of replacing the roof and adding solar panels separately, OneRoof works with contractors to combine roof replacement and solar installation. Homeowners don’t have to buy the system, they simply lease it under OneRoof’s SolarSelect® Lease.
David Field, OneRoof’s CEO, understood that tackling the residential solar and roofing market would be difficult. He also knew he didn’t have to do it alone. He teamed up with CleanTECH San Diego, a local business incubator specializing in clean technology. By joining CleanTECH San Diego and its larger membership in the Global Cleantech Cluster Association, he’s expanding his network of connections and accelerating the company’s market penetration in California and Arizona.
"For us it’s really been a cluster of like-minded companies," says Field. "…there’s a real focus in terms of supporting clean technology and emerging businesses here."
CleanTECH San Diego is a "cleantech cluster." It guides member companies along the path of commercialization from start-up to IPO. Like many clusters, CleanTECH San Diego does this by connecting companies with advantageous partnerships, investment exposure, mentoring, seminars and workshops that bring members best practices from all over the world.
CleanTECH San Diego joined the Global Cleantech Cluster Association last fall to give its member companies a global reach and to connect them more efficiently and effectively with potential investors, partners and customers.
The Global Cleantech Cluster Association was formed in 2010 and has been called the "cluster of cleantech clusters." To date, it is a union of approximately 20 clusters and associations.
Cluster members in North America include Colorado Cleantech, Cleantech Center (Syracuse, NY), Ecotech Quebec, and more. Abroad, the GCCA includes clusters such as Swiss Cleantech,
the Finnish Cleantech Cluster, French Cleantech and Ecoworld Styria Austria, to name a few.
"The GCCA is filling a gap in the global cleantech industry," says co-founder Christian Hauselmann of Swiss Cleantech. "Cleantech clusters are decentralized organizations with a strong regional footprint: We work to promote cleantech and green jobs in our respective regions and interact with other cluster organizations individually around the world. The GCCA offers a platform bringing us all together so we can collaborate more effectively and help our companies meet their goals faster."
As decentralized organizations, cleantech clusters like Syracuse, NY CleanTech Center and the Finnish Cleantech Cluster could bring their cluster companies and policy makers together for a cleantech conference. But this method leaves the organization and implementation of such a large-scale event up to the individual clusters; it also limits exposure to the companies involved in the two clusters.
By being a part of the GCCA, cleantech clusters and their member companies vastly increase exposure for their region and their companies worldwide. The GCCA operates as a conduit for companies to harness the knowledge, experience as well as the benefits that a worldwide association of clusters has to offer. These benefits include access to potential investors, new markets, networks, innovative technologies, partnerships as well as access to best practices from established and emerging cleantech companies.
Investment Exposure
The major challenge for new companies and investors alike is finding one another. Start-ups need funding and investors need exciting, new companies to invest in. Many cleantech investors see the search for the next big innovation in cleantech in a similar light to the search for oil. Since start-ups tend to focus more on R&D and less on promotion, they operate beneath the surface, out of view of most investors.
As with oil, the cleantech industry needs wells to go below the surface and usher emerging technologies to the surface and into the limelight. Unfortunately, many of these clusters and their associated companies miss opportunities to collaborate globally due to a lack of awareness, communication and resources.
The GCCA creates opportunities for global exposure and collaboration in a variety of ways. It co-hosts in-person events with member clusters, holds webinars and uses the crowd sourcing / social media site Skipso to facilitate online interaction across the globe. GCCA also hosts an annual award program that highlights the best innovations in clean technology, bringing international exposure to the top innovations coming out of the world’s clean technology clusters.
"The world does not have the luxury to wait for the next, game changing clean technology to gradually rise to the surface," says Ben Taube, GCCA chair. "With the GCCA Later Stage Awards we spotlight the very best the industry has to offer and expose them to investment and business opportunities around the world."
Later stage companies nominated by cleantech clusters are judged by an impressive list of over 20 industry experts and Venture Capitalists (VCs). Some of the standout GCCA Judges hail from investors such as Al Gore’s Generation Climate Solutions Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, Dow Venture Capital, Expansion Capital Partners, BASF Venture Capital, U.S. Venture Partners, and many others. Together, GCCA Judges have invested an estimated $3.5 billion in cleantech globally.
"Making it to the final round will shine an investment spotlight on these companies that they otherwise might have struggled to gain, not to mention the market and customer exposure," says Nina Harjula, another GCCA co-founder (Finnish Cleantech Cluster).
The 10 Best in Class GCCA Later Stage Award 2011 winners will be announced during the EcoCity World Summit in Montreal, Canada (August 22-26, 2011). The deadline to nominate companies is May 12, 2011. A snapshot of recently nominated companies include Moventas, Clewer, and BaseN.
Moventas was nominated in the wind category for its high-quality, energy efficient gears for wind turbines, as well as their overhaul and maintenance services. In its service package, the company includes maintenance tools and technologies that help monitor components for possible failures.
Clewer received a nomination in the waste category for its highly efficient, small-scale waste water treatment system for houses and cottages. The biological treatment process uses specialized bacteria and nutrient technology to treat waste water and remove it from the system while sludge and chemical residue is safely collected into a septic tank.
In the energy efficiency category, BaseN has developed a large-scale infrastructure monitoring and management system that can immediately make real time data available to multiple consumers – organizations and households – cost effectively. Its proprietary BaseN Platform opens up new possibilities in energy and environment measurement because it can integrate sensors and other measurement devices such as electric, water and gas meters into one system.
Companies eligible for GCCA’s Later Stage Awards have a proven track record – they have a validated technology, a growing customer base and revenues. To apply for the award, companies must be members of a cleantech cluster that is a member of GCCA and nominated by the cluster. In this way, clusters increase their membership and all member companies gain more benefits – building their networks, potential partnership and mentorship opportunities.
Cluster Benefits to Later Stage Companies
"It’s not just emerging companies that gain benefits from cleantech clusters, membership is advantageous to later stage companies as well. Cluster companies get early information on new technologies, can more readily take advantage of partnership opportunities, give back as mentors, receive assistance by industry mentors/consultants and also expand their cleantech network.
As Patrick Burtis, Bob Epstein, and Roland Hwang write in the report, "Creating Cleantech Clusters," companies in a cluster compete against one another, but they also share key resources. It’s the sharing of these resources that brings companies together, and in turn fosters efficiency, effectiveness and collaboration, which leads to faster innovation.
"The presence of a cluster may also reassure investors," the report continues. "As a cluster of successful businesses in an industry emerges, investors tend to gain confidence in placing money with new start-ups in that sector."
Cleantech clusters are fast becoming the life-force behind developments and innovations in cleantech. Until the recent advent of the GCCA, international collaboration was limited by a scarcity of resources and a lack of strategic alliances. The GCCA is combating this challenge by making global exposure, communication and collaboration for clusters and their companies, faster, more efficient and affordable.
++++
Global Cleantech Cluster Association
Shawn Lesser is co-founder of the GCCA and is president and founder of Atlanta-based Sustainable World Capital, which fund-raises for private equity cleantech funds, companies and M&A.
Loading...