Judges for Entrepreneur Showcase at Cleantech Forum San Francisco Include Top Corporates and VCs


Expert panel—including executives from Credit Suisse, Chrysalix, Khosla, and Qualcomm Ventures—will choose the most promising start-up from pitches made by competitively-selected companies

SAN FRANCISCO – February 25, 2014 – The twelfth annual Cleantech Forum San Francisco, the world’s longest-running and largest annual assembly of global leaders focused on sustainable innovation, has confirmed an expert panel of judges who will evaluate pitches made by 15 start-ups, which were competitively selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants. The competition will take place in front of the entire audience at Cleantech Forum San Francisco, which attracts the world’s most innovative technology companies, corporate leaders, investors, as well as policy-makers.

“Year after year, the Entrepreneur Showcase draws a rich cross-section of highly disruptive start-ups, including past participants, LanzaTech, Sefaira, and Tellus Technology,” said Cleantech Group CEO, Sheeraz Haji. “This year is no exception. The competition will be intense and attendees will have an opportunity to take part in the excitement, alongside an impressive roster of expert judges.”

The companies that competed in the Entrepreneur Showcase in either 2012 or 2013 raised a combined total of $65 million.

According to Sanford Ewing, CEO of Tellus Technology, the winner of the 2013 Entrepreneur Showcase, Cleantech Forum San Francisco “…creates a very efficient environment for business development…We met a key investor at last year’s event, and we’ll definitely be back every year!”

Judges in this year’s Entrepreneur Showcase, which is sponsored by Autodesk, include:

  • Brook Porter, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
  • Benny Buller, Investor, Khosla Ventures
  • Wally Hunter, Managing Director, EnerTech Capital
  • Gina Domanig, Managing Partner, Emerald Technology Ventures
  • Jean-Pierre Pelicier, Head of Open Innovation, Air Liquide i-Lab
  • Jeremy Hux, Managing Director, Head of Clean Technology, Credit Suisse
  • Todd Jaquez-Fissorim, Senior Managing Director, Hercules Technology Growth
  • Wal van Lierop, President & CEO, Chrysalix
  • Nety Krishna, Partner, Bright Capital
  • David Harris Kolada, Vice President, Alliances and Market Development, SDTC
  • Paul Straub, Director, Claremont Creek Ventures
  • Gil Demeter, Senior Associate, Qualcomm Ventures

Media confirmed for the event include journalists from the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle, Greenbiz, San Jose Mercury News, GigaOM, and Greentech Media.

A number of organizations generously support Cleantech Forum San Francisco 2014.

Sponsors: Advanced Energy Economy, Autodesk, Babson College, Canadian Consulate General, ClearEdge Power, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Energy Recovery, Government of Israel Economic Mission to the West Coast, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks, The Italian Trade Commission, Italy Cleantech Network, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), LRN, Morrison Foerster, Oregon BEST, Perkins Coie, Portland Development Commission, Saint-Gobain, Swedish Energy Agency, and Wermuth Asset Management.

Community Partners for the event are: Cleanedge, DriveNow, E2, FiRE, Scoot, and Sierra Club.

Official Media Partner: Quartz

North America Advisory Board: Braemar Energy Ventures, Bright Capital, Chrysalix, Claremont Creek Ventures, Credit Suisse, EDF, GE, Hercules, Johnson Controls, Sail Capital Partners, Shell, Silicon Valley Bank, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), VantagePoint Capital Partners, Veolia Environnement, The Westly Group, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

About Cleantech Group Inc.

Cleantech Group helps clients accelerate sustainable innovation. The company’s i3 data-as-a-service platform, which tracks over $7 billion of deal flow annually across 22,000 cleantech companies, allows subscribers to discover companies and explore resource technology trends strategically with proprietary real-time data. Cleantech Forums bring together thought leaders and innovators in the cleantech and sustainability ecosystem. The company’s Advisory Services leverage expertise in designing and executing corporate strategies for sustainable growth and innovation sourcing. Details at www.cleantech.com

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