Rising Cleantech Stars: The Race to the Global Cleantech 100 List is On!
The nominations are flooding in! This is our fifth year collating the Global Cleantech 100 list and accompanying Summit and Gala, and it looks like 2013 will be the most competitive year yet.
With input from the players in cleantech innovation, Cleantech Group runs a rigorous process each year to determine which 100 global private clean technology companies will make the biggest market impact over the next five to 10 years. This is certainly not an easy exercise, especially given that we come across thousands of pioneers, each deserving of its own accolade.
Just this past month, we have received over 4,000 nominations (and expect many more prior to the May 31st deadline). But the Global Cleantech 100 is not a popularity contest. In our current Phase I, we are combining the votes from expert judges, accredited nominees, and the wider community with raw, solid factual data on cleantech news, which we collect daily through our i3 platform.
So far, we have come across some interesting themes and commentary from nominees. Here is a glimpse:
- “Where Cleantech outperforms Dirtytech” in transportation
- “The no need for incentives” value proposition in solar
- “They have succeeded where others have failed” in recycling
- “Harnessing the power of behavioural science “ in energy management
- “Deploying grid scale at an economically attractive price point” in energy storage
As for example data points, let us take a look at what some of our Global Cleantech Alumni have been up to:
1. The Glorious IPO exits. Despite the difficult IPO market, several of our Global Cleantech 100 Alumni have hit the stock exchange—SolarCity the provider of solar PV installations; Silver Spring Networks, the supplier of smart grid energy networks; and BioAmber, the producer of biochemical from agricultural feedstock.
2. The $80M + Mega Investment Rounds. Nest, the provider of smart wireless thermostats, and BrightSource Energy, the developer of a concentrating solar thermal technology have received mega rounds from a combination of traditional venture capitalists, corporate investors, institutional investors, and private wealth investors.
3. Investors doubling down. In the first half of 2013, Kleiner Perkins made both new and follow-on investments in four Global Cleantech 100 alumni (Enlighted, the lighting control systems provider; Clean Power Finance the provider of power purchase (PPA) financing for solar PV; Aquion Energy, the developer of advanced battery systems; and Nest, the provider of smart wireless thermostats.
4. Corporate Relationships. BASF, the multinational chemicals company, will license Genomatica’s fermentation technology, to produce butanediol from renewable feedstocks. National Grid, the large electricity and gas provider, and Highview Power Storage, the developer of utility-scale energy storage systems, will work together to build the UK’s first grid-scale liquid air energy storage plant.
Want to influence this list and add your market insights? Nominate three to nine companies by May 31st and update us on your news! Claim your i3 company profile today.
