Interview on the “Transatlantic Green Tech Awards”, for excellence in converting innovative Green Tech ideas into products for the market
Organizers of the prize:
Patrice Lefeu, CEO of the Europe Plus Foundation, Executive Director of La Baule World Investment Conference, http://www.labaulewic.org/
Jean Bernard Guerree, Managing Director EuroStart Capital Partners, http://www.californiatechshowcase.com/
Jean-Pascal Tranié, co-founder of Aloe Private Equity, http://www.aloe-group.com/, Moderator of the Green technology presentation session
What is the background for your decision to create the Transatlantic Green Tech Awards?
Patrice Lefeu: The development of renewable energy - particularly energy from wind, water, solar power and biomass - is a central aim of the European Commission's Renewable Energy and Climate Plan Package. The EU's "20 20 by 2020" plan pledges that by 2020, the EU will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 %, increase use of renewable energies by 20 % and increase energy efficiency by 20 %.
The conferences and workshops of last year’s World Investment Conference dedicated to enhancing transatlantic cooperation for emerging Green technologies and services were a huge success and generated a strong demand to develop this issue further.
In fact, on both sides of the Atlantic interesting initiatives are taking place, and acceleration of scientific and technological progress comes from cooperation and partnerships among the key players of innovation: Industry, University/Research, Investors and Policy Makers. Success stories and best practice provide a powerful incentive, and this is what the Transatlantic Green Platform is about.
How did you select the companies for this competition?
Patrice Lefeu: The companies have been selected among the most innovative Green Tech start-ups by expert committees consisting of technology creators and –users (Research, Corporate, Investors).
How is the Jury composed ?
Jean-Pascal Tranié: The genuinely international Jury covers a broad expertise. Members represent experts from Investment, Industry, University and specialized organisations from both continents. The Jury has been impressed with the quality of the presentations and encourages us to develop this awards scheme.
And the selection procedure ?
Jean-Pascal Tranié: The companies have been selected on four criteria which are key for the success of their future developments. We have intentionally not limited our scope to innovation, whether it is technology or product, since companies with superior technologies can fail without a proper marketing strategy and a good management team. These criteria are the following: innovation and technical excellence, capacity of internationalization, maturity of the product/process of the company and growth/market potential. The selection is based on the marks given by the Jury members.
What was decisive for the selection of the two Winners?
Jean-Pascal Tranié: Perpetuum had particular high scores on the innovation and technology criterion and on growth and market potential. The company has developed a “vibration harvesting technology” which converts waste energy from vibrations into useful electricval energy. The founders have identified a first market segment, powering of wireless sensors in the industry, which became a reality with customer references at US Navy, Shell or Yorkshire Water. The jury valuated the fact that the managers were able to first prove the validity of one market, before starting a second step with other promising applications such as the implementation of the equipment in pace makers to eliminate the need to change the batteries and the related surgery. This is a proper controlled growth development.
As for Solazyme, a leader in algal synthetic biology with 40 patents filed, the jury enjoyed of course the flexibility of the technology which can work with a wide range of feedstock from agricultural byproducts (producing 10 times more oil per hectare than soybeans) to waste streams. But the roadmap for commercialization (cosmetics, chemicals, lubricants) was also very convincing with progressive steps according to production costs improvements, and the market potential is huge. As a side note, the CEO made one of the best presentations of the day.
What’s next?
Patrice Lefeu: Next year several initiatives are foreseen to associate more innovative companies, including setting up an agreement with the European Business Innovation Centres network gathered in EBN, the European BIC Network. We shall mobilize more Green Tech Investors, Venture Capitalists, Business Angels and Public funds to accelerate the Green Tech movement. We shall reinforce our cooperation with the Research/University sector to identify and promote research projects, best practice and case stores from both sides of the Atlantic. Last, but not least, our plans for next year include setting up meetings between innovative start-ups and large Energy/Environment groups to bring technology to market.
The three organizers conclude: The Transatlantic Green Platform holds great promise for the future, judging by the enthusiasm of the participants from both Europe and the US. The Platform and the Awards present a useful tool to favour the emergence of innovation and new industrial application in the fields of environmental technology and renewables. The public recognition by and international Jury, the presentation to a targeted forum of experts, investors and policy makers, the promotion at the World Investment Conference and in communications of the Europe Plus Foundation contribute to attracting positive attention to the winning companies and to facilitating their development.
