Who Will be on the Next Global Cleantech 100 List? Public Nominations Open!
Every year Cleantech Group produces a list of 100 private innovation companies, predicted by the cleantech community to have the most significant market impact upon the cleantech industry over the next 5 to 10 years. We incorporate nominations from the general cleantech community as well as input from a carefully selected panel of cleantech experts (you can read more about our Methodology and how the list comes together). The Global Cleantech 100 Report provides early insights into the changing face of cleantech and allows us to provide a viewpoint on which companies and the sub-sectors are market leaders today. Many of last year’s Global Cleantech 100 companies have had continued success in 2016, raising new funding rounds or even exiting – becoming “graduates” of the list. We’ve highlighted some of the successes of last year’s list below. Who will be in the news this time next year? Public nominations are open until May 31st – share your opinion and be a part of the list creation!
Late last year, Global Cleantech 100 company Clean Power Finance stole the limelight when they merged with Kilowatt Financial to form Spruce Finance, with the intention of providing an easier borrowing process for homeowners seeking to make their homes more energy efficient. Spruce Finance provides energy efficiency and solar installation financing to 18 states across the US. It has raised $2 billion from backers such as Edison International, Dominion Resources Inc., and Duke Energy Corporation and boasts more than 50,000 customers.
Enlighted (2015 GCT100), a leading provider of IoT for commercial buildings, raised $25 million in Growth Equity in February of this year. The company hopes to accelerate its IoT app development with the intention of expanding international distribution to France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Enlighted was awarded our 2015 North American Company of the Year award, reflecting their status as a leading global IoT provider amongst the growing number of digitalization and IoT companies on the Global Cleantech 100 list.
Last month, there was a significant development for Avantium (2010-2015 GCT100), an innovative chemical technology company, as they raised over $22 million in Growth Equity to fuel the globalization of their technology. They have also partnered with BASF, with the intention of expanding their YXY technology for use in industrial scale applications. For Avantium, a company that can already claim an impressive list of corporate venture capital and venture capital backers, this deal represented a new departure into private/public partnership, as PMV and FPIM participated in the financing round.
Most recently, Green Charge Networks (2015 GCT100) has just been taken over by multinational energy giant, Engie. It was announced last Tuesday that Engie has acquired an 80 percent stake in Green Charge Networks, and subsequently plans to utilize Green Charge Network’s building energy storage and battery-solar expertise to enhance its commercial, industrial and public energy services. The acquisition of Green Charge Networks represents the third successful exit from the 2015 Global Cleantech 100 list so far, joining Kurion (2015 GCT100) and Sefaira (2013 – 2015 GCT100). This is just a small selection of stories from the cohort of 2015 Global Cleantech 100 companies that have, to date, raised $724 million over 18 separate funding rounds in 2016.
As we begin the process to put together the next edition of the Global Cleantech 100, we want to single out the cleantech companies that are set to make an impact (or are continuing to be impactful) in the next 5 to 10 years. What do we look for in a GCT100 company?
1) A breakthrough technology, concept or business plan.
2) An impressive team that can deliver.
3) A profitable company with a competitive cost structure.
4) A product or service with market demand.
5) Evidence of momentum and traction of this technology.
What companies do you think are pushing innovation boundaries and deserve a spot on the list? We hope you will share your thoughts and participate in Phase 1 of the Global Cleantech 100 Program.
Nominate companies by May 31st!
