2017 Cleantech Open Northeast Impact Report

Cleantech Open Northeast 2017
Impact Report

Letter from the Director
2
Beth Zonis, Tim Hoffman, Gina Bellato, and Rob Parker
Over the last year, Cleantech Open reached new milestones, met new challenges and created new
opportunities. Here in the Northeast, we graduated 26 aspiring cleantech startups, bringing us to a total of
360 Cleantech Open alumni in the Northeast, where our cleantech ecosystem continues to flourish.
I was honored to take the helm as Northeast Regional Director of Cleantech Open last fall after being a
Cleantech Open mentor for the past nine years, and most recently working at MIT to set up a center of
entrepreneurship and innovation in Moscow, and running an MIT Media Lab program fostering innovation to
solve pressing challenges in India.
Our successful 2017 program was due in large part to Program Manager Gina Bellato, who along with key
volunteer chairs in the Northeast did an amazing job keeping things running and supporting the Cleantech
Open companies. I was excited to begin my role last October at the Regional Finals where I met our 2017
cohort and was able to experience the full scope of the Cleantech Open machine in action! Our passionate
sponsors, and our dedicated community of volunteers, mentors and judges are essential to this program’s
success.
All of the 2017 Cleantech Open Northeast alumni, and especially the four winners -- change:WATER Labs,
CoolComposites, Joro and P2S Technologies -- demonstrated how much of a difference the Cleantech Open
accelerator can make for startups. They all grew personally and professionally, and we are proud that two of
our winners (change:WATER Labs and CoolComposites) were recognized as national category winners. They
came with great ideas, worked hard, strengthened their business models, expanded their networks, and
gained recognition. We expect them to achieve great success.
At the national level, Cleantech Open officially became part of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) in
2017. This strengthens the Cleantech Open overall, and the site serves as a welcoming hub for cleantech
startups on the West Coast.
As we look toward the 2018 accelerator season, we aim to recruit the best and most diverse teams, continue
to bring in new volunteers, secure new sponsors, and keep the program running smoothly. We are also
exploring ways to increase alumni engagement and awareness of Cleantech Open overall. I welcome and
appreciate your interest, involvement and suggestions.
Looking forward to a productive 2018 together!
Beth E. Zonis
Northeast Regional Director
Cleantech Open
NECEC leads the Cleantech Open accelerator and business plan competition in the Northeast.
Cleantech Open Northeast l 2017 Impact Report

PROGRAM
3

In cash prizes awarded Expert judges Northeast graduates
$40,000 60 26
4
2017 Accelerator at a Glance
Mentors matched
per team
4

June – September
• East Coast Academy is held at the
Boston Federal Reserve Bank with
46 companies from around the US
• The Northeast region hosts 9
summer business clinics in New
York City and Boston
Year in Review
5
February – April
• Applications open for 2017 accelerator
• Northeast region hosts recruiting
events: in Boston, New York City, and
Portland, where 16 startups gave
1-minute pitches
• Cleantech Open alumni speak about
their accelerator experience at kickoffs
May
• The Northeast region receives
77 applicants, admits 31
participants to the accelerator,
and four to Company
Development Program
• Companies and mentors take
part in mentor mixers resulting
in 108 pairings
October
• Regional Finals held at New York
University School of Law
• 26 Northeast graduates participate in
an Investor Connect, Public Showcase,
Private Judging, and Public Pitching
• VIP judges select four winners:
change:WATER Labs, CoolComposites,
Joro, and P2S Technologies
• $10,000 in cash prizes plus additional
in-kind services awarded to each
winner
January 2018
• Five members of the 2017
Northeast Cleantech Open cohort
travel to the Cleantech Open
Global Forum held at the Los
Angeles Cleantech Incubator
(LACI)
• Companies participate in Investor
Connect, Public Showcase,
Innovation Tours, and Final Judging
• The Northeast wins two category
awards – change:WATER Labs and
CoolComposites
November – December
• Beth Zonis (a longtime Cleantech
Open mentor) joins as Northeast
Regional Director
• Regional winners prepare for
Global Forum with help from
mentors and in-kind sponsors
• 13 accelerator alumni showcase
at Greenbuild Expo in Boston
• Cleantech Open celebrates
volunteers at Mentor
Appreciation nights in Boston and
NYC

Events in Numbers
20 1801
Total attendeesEvents in Boston
and NYC
6
98%
Of attendees want to
attend future events

Northeast Regional Finals
The two-day event held at NYU Law on October 5th and 6th
brought together more than 200 attendees to celebrate the
graduation of the 2017 Cleantech Open cohort in the Northeast.
The 2017 cohort took part in an Investor Connect where each
company had six 1-on-1 meetings with local investors from
private investment firms, corporates, and government entities. A
public showcase followed, highlighting the 2017 cohort. On the
second day, 60 judges reviewed private investor pitches from
companies. Judges selected the top eight companies to give
public pitches in front of a live audience. Our VIP judges (Jiong
Ma, Ed, Margarett Jolly, Stephen, Mathew Sachs, June Choi, and
Michael Shimazu) chose four Northeast regional winners to each
receive $10,000 in cash prizes, plus additional in-kind services
and the opportunity to pitch at the Cleantech Open Global
Forum. The 2017 Northeast regional winners selected were
change:WATER Labs, CoolComposites, Joro, and P2S
Technologies.
7
Top 8
Regional
Winners

8
Global Forum
National
Track
Winners
The three-day event was held at the Los Angeles Cleantech
Incubator and the Los Angeles Downtown Hotel from January 28-
30th. On the first day, winners from each region presented their
pitches to a panel of judges. Each panel then selected a category
winner to move onto a final pitching event in front of VIP judges.
The Northeast region took home two category winners;
change:WATER Labs for Agriculture, Water and Waste, and
CoolComposites for Advanced Materials. On the second day,
more than 60 companies took part in an Investor Connect and
Public Showcase. On day three, attendees visited local innovative
organizations and facilities before attending the Global Forum
Awards Ceremony. Cleantech Open selected Inovues of the South
Central region as the 2017 National Winner.
Regional
Winners

9
“We participated in the 2017 Company Development Program (CDP).
CDP excels in people. Everyone from the regional office to your local
mentor is available to help you reach your next milestone. The 10
online modules are nicely arranged and include an abundance of
resources! If you're a cleantech company looking to improve your
business model, this is the right place.”
- Donna Sanders
Co-Founder & CEO, Social Solar (CDP 2017)
Company Development Program (CDP)
4
CDP Participants
CDP is designed for early stage cleantech startups that are not yet prepared for the in-
depth and comprehensive commitment of the full Cleantech Open accelerator. The
program offers a dedicated match to one Cleantech Open mentor for the duration of
the accelerator and discounted access to exclusive accelerator events. CDP
participants can fully engage with Cleantech Open curriculum and events but are not
eligible to compete in Regional Finals.

10
STARTUPS

Technology Breakdown of 2017 Cohort
11
Information &
Communication
Technologies
Agriculture, Water & Waste
Chemicals &
Advanced
Materials
Energy Distribution &
Storage

2017 Regional Winner & Crowd Favorite
2017 National Category Winner: Agriculture,
Water, and Waste
12
change:WATER Labs is developing a toilet that can
be deployed to every vulnerable household. We
are developing a revolutionary evaporative ("self-
flushing") toilet—a low-cost, compact, off-grid,
portable solution that decouples household toilet
access from sewerage infrastructure. Our
evaporative toilet rapidly shrinks onsite sewage
accumulations down to 5-10% of produced daily
volumes. Sewage is 85-99% water. By cheaply,
quickly eliminating that water, we eliminate 90% of
the sewage problem.
“Our team of mentors brought such an incredible level of
commitment that it compelled us to step up our game
and be just as committed! Our mentors pushed us to
develop a much stronger go-to-market strategy,
sustainability plan, and financial projections. They
helped us make valuable connections that will benefit us
as we head into manufacturing and market launch. We
are so grateful for having participated in Cleantech Open
Northeast, and now being part of this empowering
ecosystem!”
-Diana Yousef
Founder and CEO
change:WATER Labs

13
We are improving the thermal performance of
buildings with an additive called CoolFlux. By
storing energy when heated and releasing that
energy when cooled, CoolFlux automatically
lowers the use of air conditioning by 50%.
Competing products require substantial building
modifications, are very expensive, or both. Our
additive doesn’t change the look, feel or
installation of materials that architects and
contractors are already using, and is priced for a
payback period of under five years.
“At CoolComposites, we had an amazing team of mentors that
really helped us better articulate our business and set us up for
our next steps. They drilled down to the the core of what we
are doing and made us grapple with the ways we are creating
value for customers. Thank you to the CTO team for making
this possible!”
- Alan Ransil
Co-founder, CoolComposites
2017 Regional Winner
2017 National Category Winner:
Advanced Materials
CoolComposites

14
Joro provides real-time, automated, holistic
carbon emissions tracking and tailored feedback
to help citizens make energy-saving choices
about everyday activities and purchases. The
Joro platform enables users to compete and
engage with friends and family, in order to earn
rewards for environmentally conscious
consumption, to save money, and to reduce their
overall carbon footprints.
“CTO provided the structure, guidance, and
community to help our team focus and accelerate
progress. The Northeast Regional team in
particular has been an incredible resource for us
getting started in the Boston area. We’re looking
forward to continuing to be a part of the
community!”
– Sanchali Pal
Co-Founder and CEO, Joro
Joro

15
We are building the first comprehensive and user-
friendly, system for corrosion monitoring and detection
in pipelines, integrating both hardware and software
components. These hardware devices attach to existing
wires inside each test point. When a survey device using
Lync Reader software is in range, the hardware device
broadcasts the calculated AC/DC output values to the
reader. Those survey devices then use their internet
connection to send the data to our servers. The cathodic
protection data is captured and stored in digital form,
making it very accessible for reporting and analysis.
“Our mentors were there for us and always made themselves available
when hard decisions needed making, or when we needed some schooling
on a topic we didn’t know enough about. CTO provided us with amazing
resources and seminars that young CEOs can find very useful as they begin
to understand the intricacies of setting up and scaling a business. They also
connected us with experts, Corporate investors, VCs, and Angel investors,
without asking for anything in return other than our drive and
commitment.”
-Sean Weiss
CEO, P2S Technologies
P2S Technologies

16
Alumni Impact
360
graduated startups in
the Northeast

98%
Participant Satisfaction
of participants continue to say they’d recommend the
Cleantech Open Northeast accelerator to another startup
17

18
COMMUNITY

Mentor Program at a Glance
19
200 +
Active volunteersMentors would recommend
the program
56%100%
Mentors met with their
teams at least once a week

20
Paul Barrett
2017 Distinguished Service Award
COO, NavResearch Corporation
“The most rewarding aspect of the program
is that every year I get to engage with a new
set of mentors and teams who are advancing
their individual aspirations, with each
interaction serving as a personal learning
experience. Witnessing the spark of
understanding from these entrepreneurs as
they learn to build a sustainable business
around their ideas with the help of our
mentoring teams never gets old.” – Paul
Barrett

21
Manoj Rengarajan
2017 Volunteer of the Year
VP Investment Management, Prudential
Financial
“Very inspiring and fortunate to be
part of a passionate, deeply
experienced, and diverse volunteer
community which strives to make a
positive impact on the environment
year after year.” – Manoj Rengarajan

22
Allexe Law
2017 Mentors of the Year
Murray Froikin
Founder, Art Science GroupCOO and Managing Principal, Starlight
Investments, LLC
“I really enjoyed the experience as a CTO Mentor
last year. I found the teams were well screened for
readiness to collaborate with their mentors, and
hone their plans. Working with and learning from
other great mentors was also rewarding. Our
team, POEM Technologies, evolved rapidly in
honing their sales strategy and embracing financial
modeling as a critical part of their planning. The
efforts is now resulting in sales and investment
funding.” – Murray Froikin
"Whether it is mentoring an entrepreneur,
conducting a workshop, or providing your
expertise on a specific issue, there are many
opportunities to participate in the Clean Tech
Open community. Being part of a community of
entrepreneurs who are passionate about their
quest to solve a problem and a group of skilled
mentors providing their time and expertise to
help these entrepreneurs succeed is an
extremely rewarding experience that I look
forward to each year.” – Allexe Law

Featured Volunteer
23
Cayman Somerville
Recruitment and Wet Lab Project Manager,
Greentown Labs
"CTO is a tremendous program that meets
the pressing need for mentorship and
business plan support focused on early
stage cleantech startups. The staff at CTO
recognize that it takes a village to launch
a company in this space. Volunteering for
CTONE has been a phenomenal way to
connect with and support startups
working to solve the world's greatest
energy and environmental issues (prior to
being ready for incubation at a place like
Greentown Labs)." – Cayman Somerville

24
PARTNERS & SPONSORS

Our 2017 Partners
25

Northeast Regional Affiliate
26
“NECEC is proud to be the lead organization running the world-class Cleantech Open accelerator in the
Northeast. Together, we work to help the most promising cleantech startups in the Northeast ecosystem
accelerate their businesses to bring the most viable clean technologies to market, while spurring
entrepreneurship and economic growth across the region.”
- Peter Rothstein, President, NECEC

Premier Sponsors
27
MassCECNYSERDA
“NYSERDA is proud to sponsor
Cleantech Open Northeast which
provides vital resources to support the
expansion of the clean energy industry
in New York and throughout the
Northeast. I want to congratulate this
year’s Global Forum winners and I look
forward to New York’s graduates
becoming part of our vibrant clean
energy ecosystem that is thriving
under Governor Cuomo.”
- Alicia Barton,
President and CEO, NYSERDA
“Cleantech Open Northeast is an
invaluable partner in our shared
mission to support cleantech
companies. MassCEC is proud to
work with CTONE to foster the
growth of the cleantech sector,
which is creating jobs and pursuing
solutions to energy challenges
across the region.”
- Stephen Pike,
CEO, Massachusetts Clean Energy
Center

Our 2017 Sponsors
28

29
Thank you to our Photographers
Gina Bellato –
• Tell Your Story Day (Page 19),
• Greenbuild Expo (Page 10, 17) ,
• Investor Connect (Page 5, 9),
• Global Forum (Page 8)
Tamara Kohno –
• Boston Kickoff (Page 6, 18)
Jonathan Lantz –
• NYC Kickoff (Page 2, 21),
• Regional Finals Public Pitching (Pages 4,7,12-15,18, 20 ,22,24)
Bill McCormack –
• East Coast Academy(Page 3),
• Green Tie Gala (Page 26)
Laura Rudich –
• Cleantech Open Global Forum (Page 1)

2017 Cleantech Open Northeast Impact Report

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to 2017 Cleantech Open Northeast Impact Report

2017 Cleantech Open Northeast Impact Report

Editor's Notes