The second annual Clean Energy Challenge convening in Chicago today will send home more startup winners than last year with about twice as much in cash prizes, too.
The highlight of today’s day-long event will be fast-pitch presentations from eight to 10 finalists in each of two categories: early-stage companies already along the path of developing a product or service in the clean-energy sector, and students launching ventures while still in school. The winner in each group will take home $100,000. An additional $10,000 prize will be awarded to five more of the competing student finalists. Last year, the winner took home $100,000, and smaller prizes totaling $40,000 were awarded to a few concept companies.
Judges include venture capitalists, corporate investors and business leaders with expertise in various segments of the renewable-energy sector. The event is sponsored by the Clean Energy Trust, a Chicago nonprofit that connects startups and entrepreneurs to expertise and capital. The Trust launched in 2010 with backing from Nicholas Pritzker, Chicago energy entrepreneur Michael Polsky and others.
The competition was widened this year to include candidates from eight Midwestern states; last year, only Illinoisans participated. More than 100 applications were submitted by the Dec. 1 deadline, and evaluators narrowed that pool to 18 finalists from seven states, says Amy Francetic, executive director of the Clean Energy Trust.
Challenge winners will be announced at the end of the day.
Crain’s met with Ms. Francetic to talk about this year’s competition.
Crain’s: You have two categories this year — one for student-led companies and the other for early-stage. Why did you set it up that way?
Amy Francetic
Ms. Francetic: With the help of key partners in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio, we applied for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for a university student business competition and were fortunate to win the Midwest award. That grant is funding our student prize of $100,000. CET (Clean Energy Trust) and the other state partners are funding an additional $50,000 in state-level prizes for the students. CET and the U.S. DOE are funding the early-stage company prize of $100,000, as both organizations did last year.
Crain’s: Are you trying to use the challenge to inspire students to be more aggressive about thinking of company formation sooner in their careers?
Ms. Francetic: One of our goals of the student prize is to encourage the talented undergraduate, MBA and advanced-degree engineering and science students to link up with their tech transfer offices and researchers at the schools and labs to push the cutting-edge clean technology out into the marketplace. We have a majority of student finalists that are featuring this kind of technology in their pitches. Many of the competing students are working with entrepreneurial centers in their school or are taking multidisciplinary classes like professor Mike Marasco’s NUVention class at Northwestern University.
Crain’s: Can you give a flavor of the range of company or technology ideas that are represented by some of the applicants?
Ms. Francetic: We have a broad spectrum of technologies represented with strong showings from the energy-efficiency, smart-grid, renewable and transportation sectors.
Crain’s: What are some of the most unique business or technology ideas among the group?
Ms. Francetic: We were happy to see a cluster of biomass and biofuel technologies submitted this year. We have seven finalists like this (three student and four early-stage) showcasing new ways of deriving energy from waste and agriculture. This is different from last year, and we expect this trend to continue. This is a strong R&D sector for the Midwest.
