The new annual event, organised by Cambridge Cleantech, took place this week in the heart of the London investment community, at the offices of KPMG in Grosvenor Street, Mayfair.
The event brought together highly innovative cleantech companies which are in search of finance for product development, with fund managers and financiers who specialise in the cleantech sector and who are seeking to provide investment funding for such companies.
The conference was a sell-out with registration closing two weeks ago. And it certainly lived up to its aim of being ‘the best meeting place for cleantech companies and investors’.
More than 50 innovative cleantech companies applied to pitch at the event and the top 20 investment ready companies were selected by the judging panel. The companies which pitched are detailed below.
The innovators pitched their innovative product or service for funding, to a full room of; fund managers, including the IP Group, Adapt Low Carbon Group and Greenbackers; Corporate venture arm managers, including E-on, LafargeHolcim and KVART inc and high net worth individuals.
The pitching sessions were interspersed with keynote presentations from cleantech sector ‘thought leaders’, including; Adrian Gault, CEO, Committee for Climate Change, Bernie Bulkin, Chairman ID Solar Power and Professor Richard McMahon of Warwick University.
To organise the London event, Cambridge Cleantech teamed up with the Nordic Innovation Accelerator which has successfully staged a similar event in Finland for the past 10 years. To underline this partnership, there was also a pre-event for investors and cocktail reception at the Residence of the Finnish Ambassador in London on Monday 30 October.
The grand finale of the Cleantech Venture Day was in the evening of the 31 October when the winners of the Global Cleantech Cluster Later Stage Awards were announced.
Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge (pictured at the event), welcomed the delegates from across the globe to the awards ceremony which was a showcase of the very best international cleantech solutions.
The winning companies were:
1. Iteros (San Diego)
2. HUB Controls (Ireland)
3. Origami Energy (Cambridge)
Martin Garratt, CEO at Cambridge Cleantech comments:”We have been delighted with the overwhelming response to the Venture Day from both innovators and investors; we had over 50 applications to pitch and we had a capacity, sell-out room full of investors.”
He went on to say that “access to finance clearly remains the number one issue for our cleantech company members and so this new Venture Day will provide them with a first-rate opportunity to pitch for funding to a room full of specialist cleantech sector fund managers, corporate venture fund managers and high net worth individuals. It really was the best place for cleantech companies and investors to meet.”
He continued: “Hosting the Global Cleantech Cluster Awards in the UK has also been an honour for Cambridge Cleantech and demonstrates how the cleantech cluster, based in Cambridge, is now spreading to London and other parts of the UK and indeed has global recognition.
“We are particularly delighted that two Cambridge Cleantech member companies, Azuri Technologies last year and Origami Energy this year have secured a top three winning slot.”
Peter Bance, CEO of Origami Energy, said: “We are delighted to have received the Global Cleantech Cluster Association Award which recognises the significant benefit Origami Energy’s technology brings to the energy industry.
“The Venture Day has been a fantastic event to allow Origami Energy to showcase our technology platform. The format of the event provided a great opportunity to both present formally to a room of investors and to network with them on a more informal basis. The success of being announced as a top three winner in the Global Cleantech Cluster Association Awards this evening has provided a fantastic finale to the event for us.”
Emmi Kaipio, CEO of the Nordic Innovation Accelerator comments: “For us this partnership is a great first step to scale up the successful event concept that has been developed in Finland since 2006. We have been excited to share our knowledge and experience with Cambridge Cleantech to make the first London event such a success. Lately there’s been much good news from the cleantech sector, so the timing was perfect for bringing the event to the UK.”
More information and the agenda is here: http://www.cleantechday.com/london/
The 20 highly innovative cleantech companies chosen to pitch were:
For more information visit: www.cambridgecleantech.org.uk