The Abrams Clean Tech Report

 

4th Clean Tech Open Competition Officially Open – Bigger Money For Entrepreneurs This Year – Sign Up Soon…

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Hey folks – The leading clean tech business plan competition, the Clean Tech Open, just keeps getting bigger and better. Call it aggressive expansion. Entrepreneurs, take note:

For clean tech start-ups, especially given current market conditions, this Competition’s a must-consider. And this year, the prize money just got bigger. Entrepreneurs will compete for more than $1 million in prizes. See below for more details.

125 startups have ALREADY participated in the short time this organization’s been around, and in total, generated 120 mio + in funding. That’s not a small number of start ups participating. And that doesn’t include those that applied and didn’t get into the competition, either. So get yourself, and your team, and get organized and enter. You’ll get fantastic support through the whole process, connections out the wazooooo, street cred that’s an immediate door-opener, and training that will benefit you through your lifetime in business. The Competition’s officially open as of yesterday, so hop to it. Entries are due by May 30, and final judging and awards will take place and be announced in San Francisco in October.

And btw – don’t expect The Clean Tech Open to just focus on the competition piece of the equation: With the announcement of the organization’s 100K Job Challenge, the organization’s Executive Director Rex Northen and CTO co-founders Mark Gottschalk and Michael Santullo are aiming for 100,000 jobs in 10 regions by 2015, while the organization continues to expand its reach. The Clean Tech Open has put a presence in both the Rocky Mountains, including Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; and the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

And to all you entrepreneurs: San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed wants to generate 25,000 jobs of the 100,000 jobs targeted by the CTO in this job challenge. I think Reed’s clean tech team is doing all they can to support clean tech companies, so that should be a “note to self” for entrepreneurs who are considering launching manufacturing, production, or other operations in the San Jose area.

Happy Friday to all.

Competition details
Early stage startups are invited to enter in six competition categories: renewable energy, transportation, smart power, energy efficiency, green building, and air/water/waste management. More information on the competition is here: http://www.cleantechopen.com/competition.php?page=home

Startups will compete first for regional prizes-$100,000 in cash and services to each of six winners in California; cash and services worth $50,000 to each of the three winners in both the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions. The 12 regional winners will then face off in a national competition, vying for the Grand Prize of $250,000 in cash and services. The competition is now open in all regions, and startups have until May 30, 2009 to submit entries. Semifinalists will be selected in each category and invited to participate in the Clean Tech Open Accelerator program, where they will be given hands-on training and experience in all aspects of starting and sustaining their businesses from national experts in venture capital, business, law, marketing and sustainability.

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