IntAct Labs

IntAct had a terrific time at the ICE finals on November 10th. Walking into the General Hooker Entrance in the Massachusetts State House was exciting, and the Grand Hall was beautifully set up for the competition. The State House was buzzing with activity as teams set up posters, and sponsors and audience members from across the country mingled in the hall. The event began with talks by ICE organizer Clark Waterfall as well as State Senator Karen Spilka and the Massachusetts Energy Secretary Ian Bowles. Their talks, together with the presence of other senior representatives from the DOE, Massachusetts government, top tier venture firms, and start-ups, were truly encouraging signs that the need for clean technology is increasingly appreciated and supported at the highest levels.

We were amazed by the professionalism and creativity of the competing teams. They included fellow students and friends at MIT, Arriba Solar and Dypol, as well as a range of really creative concepts from across the country. It made us excited to be part of a new generation that does not quite see the tension between our environmental needs and economic goals that we have heard about. As importantly, the teams we spoke with viewed starting ventures as an effective way to apply their creativity to pressing economic and environmental needs. Let’s hope we are only the tip of the iceberg (pun intended)!

Our team was really proud to be part of the finals, and extraordinarily honored to have been chosen as the winners. And thanks also to the audience for the second place audience award! At IntAct we have worked for three long years as a small start-up, working nights and weekends on NASA projects and USDA grants, all while completing day jobs as researchers at MIT and Harvard. I’m really proud of the work our team has put in so far, and excited by our positive technological results. The award will be a vital catalyst for IntAct and will supplement the SBIR funding we have received to date. But it was the process of being a part of ICE – of continuously competing and refining our business model and our presenting in front of true experts and leaders in the space – that was the real reward. I don’t want to quite say the journey was the destination, because there is so far to go, but we are grateful to have travelled this leg with the other teams.

We’d like to issue a huge thanks to ICE, especially to Kim Onsager who was tireless in her organization and encouragement. We’d also like to thanks our mentors along the way for all of their terrific advice and support. Now comes the continued and exciting work of building a business! Actually, on that note, if anyone wants to help please let us know. We will soon have an opening for a passionate researcher/engineer to help develop our microbial fuel cell technology. Check out our website and feel free to send us an email!

POWERleap

Elizabeth Redmond
President, Director of Product Development
POWERleap Inc.

I started POWERleap during my 4th year design work at the University of Michigan. There I was surrounded by passionate environmentalists, LEED aspiring architects, and innovative engineers all working together to create solutions for a cleaner and more efficient planet. It was a combination of these disciplines and the people studying them that led to my continued entrepreneurial pursuit of POWERleap. Though my focus had previously been on solving problems through design, the world of entrepreneurialism exposed me to a whole new knowledge base (and set of experiences) in business, marketing, communications and electrical engineering! While my partners and I worked towards a commercialized product, I created several prototypes of our energy generating floor systems, gained significant attention in the press, and received global customer demand.
It was an exciting time for us when we entered POWERleap in the ICE Competition last spring. We had recently located a source for the missing piece of technology needed to complete our product. Since then, we have travelled abroad to visit the company and entered a phase of due diligence and international negotiations with this partner. I’ve done my share of traveling and marketing for POWERleap, but before entering the ICE Competition I had not yet traveled to a foreign country to meet this prospective partner.
As a result, we’ve had to learn the ins and outs of various business relationship types, the associated legal fees, and the influences of each on our business and financial model. Over the summer we’ve put our mentors to good use in guiding us through our possibilities while refining our business plan and constantly revisiting the questions of, “Who is our initial customer, what is the market size, how do we position POWERleap in the cleantech industry, and where is POWERleap headed?” Today, we are planning our first set of commercial pilot installations that we hope to have in the ground within the next 6 months.
To our fellow finalists, we look forward to meeting you in November and hope to work alongside you in the coming decades. To the rest, we look forward to seeing you at the Massachusetts State House in the crowd!

One Team’s Perspective

Nothing like a competition with deadlines to focus the mind. The best thing about ICE is that it has forced our team to really focus on the key business and technical issues necessary to make this project a success.

We have technology to enable a better use of an existing approach to power transmission. We offer a way to lower losses, lower costs, and more easily install power line infrastructure using conventional technology until superconductivity proves itself ready for deployment. But upgrading the power grid is such a huge problem it is akin to boiling the ocean. We need to think about how to break this down into manageable chunks where we can deploy our technology in small projects to achieve documented success at each point along the way. We need to partner with established players in the industry.

The mentors are great. One is particularly technical and has had an ongoing dialog with our scientific crew raising a whole host of issues and making very constructive suggestions. Another is well connected with the government granting process and has helped us think about where we fit in that. They confirmed that our fundamental strategy makes sense, now we have to go and execute enough to have credibility for the September semi finalist round.

The events in June were valuable. Never mind that we face tough competition, but it is heartening to see all the energy (people kind, pardon the pun) going into solving this major challenge facing the country and the world. With all those smart folks in the room focused on this problem, hopefully we will be able to take the pressure off the energy situation sooner rather than later. In the 70s many concerned with energy conservation were talking about how we have to scale back our lifestyles to use less energy. The tone now seems to be more one of how do we continue to enjoy the conveniences of modern life but do it in a more efficient way or how do we find alternative sources of energy that are of sufficient scale and economic attractiveness to be viable as we move forward.

It is an honor to be part of this inspiring event.

DyPol – Membrane Technology

DyPol is a team spinning out membrane technology from Professor Paula Hammond’s lab at MIT. We entered the ICE Competition under the student round in February. In the Spring we spent most of our time refining our business plan and pitch deck. Since graduation (for three of us) we have concentrated on the customer and funding pieces of our business.
We are currently working on three inbound requests to test our technology. Two of the potential customers represent opportunities outside of the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell industry, which is what our tests have focused on to date. If successful, they will support our goal of becoming a membrane technology company that spans several industries. We are also in the process of writing SBIR proposals with a goal of receiving government funding. This funding would enable DyPol to get to the next step of testing scaled manufacturing processes among other important development goals.
Our mentors, PJ and Brian, have worked with us in an advisory capacity since early on in the competition. PJ’s valuable insight into the membrane market as well as help with the SBIR process has been invaluable. Brian’s advice about starting a company has also been extremely helpful as our team thinks about all the issues and potential pitfalls facing us as we launch DyPol.

Debunking the clean-greentech-renewables industry

As the Chair of the Ignite Clean Energy Competition (www.ignitecleanenergy.com), over the last 2 months I’ve had the opportunity to travel up and down the East Coast to Raleigh-Durham, NC/Research Triangle Park, Boston, New York City, Upstate New York (Ithaca & Rochester for Cornell and RIT), New Haven (Yale), Washington, DC, and Hanover, NH (Dartmouth), and Silicon Valley/the Bay area, not to mention several locally here in Boston (Harvard, the Clean Energy Conference, etc.)

It has been a wonderful opportunity to see whether the excitement about the renewable energy sector is as fervent in other geographies as it is here in Boston. I’m pleased to report that in short, the answer is yes. Students, professionals, scientists, technologists are all thinking about how they can contribute, in what ways can they lever their skills and experience to help solve the world’s energy problems. Down in RTP, North Carolina, there were more than 130 in attendance with standing room only for a panel around renewable energy, and the ICE competition (http://www.cednc.org/event/38). In each location we participated, there was passion & interest around fostering innovation in the cleantech sector. One of the most popular questions that consistently comes up surrounds the uncertainty of exactly how to define the sector. This compelling question will not likely have a clear answer until the innovation stops.

ICE is headed to the UK / England for yet another kick off event March 3rd at Oxford University. And for anyone who wants to get involved as a mentor, contestant, volunteer, or potential judge, go to http://younoodle.com/groups/ignite_clean_energy_ice and join the group of sustainable energy innovators. To get further educated and excited, visit our home page at www.bostonsearchgroup.com and click the “video tab” in the lower righthand corner for a 90-second Highlights video of last year’s ICE Finals event that took place in May, 2008, with winner FloDesign (www.flodesign.org).

Clark Waterfall

Missionary Imposters?

The last time I saw some confusion around why an executive was making a change in industry was back in 1997 to 2000. This was the dawn of the “internet age.’ Executives were leaving traditional industries like financial services, management consulting, retail, and even manufacturing, because there was a new thing called the Internet that was going to “change the world.” In the early years of 1996 and 1997, there were the early adopters. These executives were truly missionary. Money hadn’t been made yet in the Internet sector, and trails hadn’t even been blazed. Those early pioneers had caught a glimmer of a powerful distruptive technology, and were keen on experimenting with it, with the aim of changing the world as we know it, and how things get done.

There are some industries that have always been missionary, and have attracted a consistent flow of executive talent toward them. The education industry attracts innovators who want to find a better way to sculpt and expand the minds of our children and young adults. The medical devices industry wants to help innovate tools and components that will allow us to repair our bodies, or extend their useful life. The biotech industry wants to find new ways to pinpoint the reasons and sources of disease and develop novel ways to cure those, whether seeking the cure for cancer, cure for Altzheimers, or other terrible human diseases.

Clark Waterfall

ICE Floes beyond New England

This year the Ignite Clean Energy business plan competition had a goal of expanding its outreach to recruit student and professional teams beyond New England. As a former New York State resident having area contacts, I was put to the task of getting the word out about ICE to the many talented engineering and business programs in NYS universities and business communities. I gave presentations and initiated contacts in Rochester, Albany, Ithaca, and Syracuse, all with good reception.
However, I felt reluctance on the part of some larger universities and government organizations to get too involved with ICE, perhaps due to academic and state politics and a perceived affiliation with MIT, even though ICE’s parent organization is the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge – Energy SIG, a volunteer, non-profit organization that supports the greater entrepreneurial community. NYS gives much support to furthering economic development in the state by building and strengthening its clean energy community and they intend to hold their own clean energy business plan competition to advance these initiatives.
It was encouraging to see the number of individuals comprising teams from many more states this year. Our student team submissions came from universities covering the Eastern seaboard, Michigan, Indiana, China, and Oxford, U.K. Semifinalist teams this year show strong representation from across the country, including California, Colorado, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, and New York, as well as New England.
This demonstrates the effectiveness of our broader outreach efforts to take this competition to a national and global level.
-Joan Popolo
ICE Representative

Clean energy can seem like a common topic these days…the same old story about how solar and wind energy will change the energy crisis as we know it…the need for a better grid and a concentration on energy efficiency. Are renewable energy evangelists losing their place at the pulpit?

If you had been at the ICE summit bootcamp in Waltham, MA on June 18th-19th, you would have been assured that clean energy is here to stay. Semifinalists for the Ignite Clean Energy (ICE) Competition, and other professionals were present for a two-day, “in your face” seminar on how to turn ideas into real business. This year’s semifinalists are clean energy all-stars, with cutting edge, revolutionary ideas.

One of the major challenges of any startup is implementation. ICE attacks this head on. With world-class mentors, teams from across the globe gain access to people who have done this all before. The bootcamp was true to the mission of bringing in the best of the best; On Thursday, Konarka CEO Howard Berke gave a fantastic discussion on his company and also the energy scene. Speakers from Foley Hoag, Deloitte, and others discussed the challenges and milestones to overcome, in order to be a successful clean tech startup. The bootcamp was capped with government funding experts and a pitch session to the New England Clean Energy Council Fellows.

On a personal note, our company found this event extremely beneficial from a networking perspective. Being located in West Lafayette, Indiana has its advantages, but also requires some effort to meet people from the coasts. Not only were we able to meet our mentors face-to-face, but also had a chance to meet some up and rising entrepreneurs/competitors; people like Shreefal Mehta, CEO of Paper Battery Company and Michael Callahan, CEO of PowerMundo.

With that, we’ll be looking forward to return to Boston in September for the ICE semifinals!

Carlos Kemeny
CEO, Novellume

Great experience for entrepreneurs

LED 2.0 is very happy to have been selected as a semi-finalist in ICE, and the ICE event at Foley Hoag was great experience for budding entrepreneurs like myself. First, I had the thrill of driving up the wall-lined driveway toward the citadel of the Bay Colony Corporate Center, a building complex that holds a number of institutions of prestige and power. Clark Waterfall, an engaging host, set the context (work on your plan/get some mentoring/save the planet/make some money), and managed to keep the presenters in line. We learned about all kinds of NCIIA opportunities for funding and resources for university affiliates; but, alas, I am not affiliated with a university. Howard Berke, who has done a few interesting things (founded or co-founded 13 start-ups, etc.), spoke about everyone at the Good Energies investment firm is falling over each other hoping to fund my company, LED 2.0. He said it is important to focus; I can assure people that LED lights help bring things into focus. He discussed a number of “P” words like people, personality, purpose. While he did not mention my name, Perry, he was probably implicitly speaking of my partner, Rajesh, who is not only a great guy, but who also has purpose in developing efficient electronics drivers for LED lights and created an innovative thermal management solution that reduces the cost of LED lighting. Peter Rothstein, of Flagship Ventures, also practically cried out to fund LED 2.0, which addresses the key issue of energy efficiency of which he spoke. He also emphasized platform technologies; for example LED 2.0 drivers and thermal management could be platform technologies for the global lighting market. Mouli Ramani, of Lillipution Systems, suffered the indignity of people rushing out for a bathroom break, and/or more breakfast. He said sell what people need; that makes sense to me, people need light. Ray Vallabh, of Foley Hoag, said file patents, and seek broad and narrow claims. Unfortunately, I am going to have to fly to India and drag Rajesh down to the patent office, as our patent protection is currently taking way too long. Sam Horn, the creativity consultant, had to follow the tough act of the patent attorney. She said plan for the sale in the last seconds of your pitch, but she failed to address what discount rate to use in our industry in the current economic climate for Net Present Value (NPV) analysis; nor did she address convertible debt versus equity financing, or FIFO versus LIFO accounting. Lunch was tasty. Zam told us to set up 2×2 competitive analysis tables with axes (perhaps cost/watt, and lumen/watt?) that highlight our advantages over competitors (hey, what do you know, LED 2.0 looks pretty good). Zam also sounds pretty much ready to finance LED 2.0. I think he is getting the second mortgage together on his house now. The panel on funding discussed different options. “Angel” funding sounds good to me. LED 2.0 could go for some of that. “Bootstrapping” sounds a bit too gritty for our tastes. Alas, as an Indian/US venture, the US government probably does not want to sink too much money into us.

Friday, the presentation on the legal and regulatory environment was very interesting, if you are the kind of person who gets turned on by acronyms (like CEDO, EERE). It is important to keep on top of opportunities for government funding, and to seek opportunities to sell to the government, but you probably don’t want to empty your piggy bank at this stage to retain a high priced lobbyist with nice shoes and a Hermes tie. ICE semi-finalists got to do 3 minute pitches. There are cool companies doing cool things. Few ending with an explicit request. I asked for $500K. I am still waiting.

After lunch we met with our mentors. Man, they have high expectations: IP protected, NDAs in place, team gelling like Magellan, our homes quadruple mortgaged, our credit cards maxed out, and our kids sold to the highest bidders so that we show that we are really committed, and they want to see customers lined up at our doors. Gotta run, I’ve got work to do.

Perry Grossman
LED 2.0

I loved to hate Wal-Mart….
June 12, 2009 by Vanessa Fox
But not anymore; I am warming up to them — just a little.

Change has been afoot for a while, but here is proof. Wal-Mart’s sustainability commitments go a long way to show how one (rather large) company can be sustainable without sacrificing the ultimate goal of profitability. Their sustainability goals are admirable and include 100% renewable energy supply and a zero waste policy. See the recent article in Fast Company, includes a video of Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia and One Percent for the Planet, and an overview of Wal-Mart’s sustainability report.

If Wal-Mart can do it, so can the myriad of other companies in their ecosystem and beyond.

One day soon, I hope to read a similar article saying that Wal-Mart’s sustainability efforts will include healthcare for ALL of their workers.