On June 23, innovative students and their promising clean energy technologies were showcased in Denver for the Department of Energy’s national Cleantech University Prize (Cleantech UP) competition. Cleantech UP drew the best teams from 8 regional partner competitions, including Evergreen Climate Innovations, to further support student entrepreneurs and their technologies through $100,000 in prize funding.
The 2016 Evergreen Climate Innovations Challenge, held this past April, established NovoMoto, Hazel Technologies, and INjoo Networks as Evergreen Climate Innovations’ top teams eligible to compete at the national event.
The first of a packed three days brought teams and regional organizers to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden for valuable business development training. The following day, semifinalist pitches by 21 presenting teams from 11 states were made at Metropolitan State University in Denver to groups of judges evaluating company products, solutions, market strategies, and industry impacts. The day was bolstered with breakout mentorship sessions between energy industry CEOs and participants as well as instructive presentations from past competitors and industry thought leaders. Evergreen Climate Innovations was proud to have multiple teams, NovoMoto and Hazel Technologies, advance with 7 others to pitch the following day.
Ultimately, the top two prizes of $50,000 and $30,000 went to teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, respectively. NovoMoto, a University of Wisconsin-Madison company bringing solar powered microgrid technology to sub-Saharan Africa and winner of $90,000 through the Evergreen Climate Innovations Challenge, secured the third place prize of $20,000. Evergreen Climate Innovations is excited to continue bringing the Midwest’s most promising entrepreneurs to the forefront of national cleantech development and looks forward to further successes from NovoMoto, Hazel, and INjoo!
For more information on the Cleantech UP program, visit http://www.energy.gov/eere/technology-to-market/cleantech-university-prize.