Cleantech Open Northeast 2016 Recap

On October 27, 2016, Cleantech Open Northeast, the Northeast division of Cleantech Open, a global cleantech accelerator for early-stage clean technology companies, announced the 2016 regional winners of the competition. Four companies focusing on water, efficiency, and energy generation received $20,000 in prizes and will go on to represent the Northeast at the Cleantech Open Global forum in San Francisco, California on February 6-10, 2017. The 2016 regional winners are GreenBlu, Proper Pipe, PV Pure, and Surge Hydro. Selected from a record pool of 107 applicants, Cleantech Open Northeast’s Class of 2016 featured 33 companies developing a diverse array of clean technologies related to energy, agriculture, water, waste management and more. Judges selected the regional finalists from the 24 graduates. To learn more about the Cleantech Open Northeast competition, read on!

The 2016 Winners and company descriptions are listed below:

• GreenBlu, based in Princeton, New Jersey, purifies and desalinates water using low cost solar distillation with breakthrough efficiency to alleviate the dual water crises of quantity and quality.
• Proper Pipe, based in Boston, Massachusetts, is a water efficiency company that specializes in an innovative joint design that provides a Non-Destructive Test (NDT) to the piping industry that can be performed in seconds at time of install.
• PV Pure, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has developed control and maintenance methods through knowledge-based design that make small scale distributed solar powered water purification systems technically and economically feasible.
• Surge Hydro, based in Belfast, Maine, is an energy generation company that utilizes innovative and proprietary technology to create economically viable solutions from hydroelectric dams.

At the national level, Cleantech Open provides between 100-150 companies a rich program of customer discover, extensive mentoring, training, investor meetings, startup-corporate matching, and showcasing at both the regional and national levels. Since 2005, more than 70% of Cleantech Open’s U.S. alumni companies that are still operating have collectively raised over $1.2B in external funding.

The winners of Cleantech Open Northeast were selected by a panel of top Cleantech and business leaders at the Cleantech Open Northeast Innovation Showcase and Awards Night, which was attended by more than 250 people. Continuing the firm’s long standing relationship with the Cleantech Open, Mintz Levin’s Tom Burton and Sa Surmeli both served as judges for the Cleantech Open Northeast competition in seeking the next big clean tech idea. We think it is a great program and we encourage companies to apply for next year’s program!

Many of the finalists as well as our clients in attendance at the event are active in water technologies, water efficiency, and renewable energy generation. With two of the four finalist companies focused on the water sector, we are excited to see so much innovation and excitement in our region’s water industry (be on the lookout for sector events organized by the New England Water Innovation Network).

Congratulations to all of the finalists and 2016 regional winners! To read more about the competition and winners, click here.

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