Smart green accelerator panel featuring Startupbootcamp, Climate-KIC, Rockstart and Swedish Energy Agency
Ecosummit TV: Accelerating smart green startups should be the key motivation for everybody working with startups on a day-to-day basis, not only accelerators, but also angels, VCs, corporates and service providers. At ECO14 Berlin, we discuss the art of faster startup development with Alex Farcet (Startupbootcamp), Franka Birke (Climate-KIC), Yme Bosma (Rockstart) and Bigge Lidgren (ex-Swedish Energy Agency, now Cleantech Invest). A typical accelerator programme lasts 90 to 180 days with intensive mentoring on product development, customer development, fundraising and team building. Private accelerators like Startupbootcamp and Rockstart follow the business model of investing €20K for 8% of equity at a rather low valuation. Then they work hard to create value, increase the startup’s valuation and attract follow-on investments. Public accelerators like Climate-KIC and Swedish Energy Agency usually do not take equity and rather provide grants and soft loans. A key challenge for all accelerators is to attract coachable founders that are, at the same time, very talented and skilled at building successful startups. Only then do the accelerators get returns on their investments.
Read moreAnna Yukiko Bickenbach interviews happy participants at Ecosummit Berlin 2014
Ecosummit TV: Ecosummit TV moderator Anna Yukiko Bickenbach interviews happy participants at Ecosummit Berlin 2014 – our fifth Ecosummit in Berlin that took place on 3-4 June at the one and only Radialsystem. This Ecosummit TV video features Hans Maenhout (Finindus), Alexander Bigge Lidgren (Swedish Energy Agency), Robert Czaja (Tesla), Gina Domanig (Emerald Technology Ventures), Christian Huder (Freelance Consultant), Alexander van Os (Yellow&Blue), Nils Aldag (Sunfire), Jay Marathe (Cartagena Capital), Björn Petersson (Ecosummit Ambassador), Eva Bjorseth (Oceanshore Ventures), Andriy Shmyhelskyy (CareToSave) and Jan Michael Hess (Ecosummit). We look forward to hosting our next smart green innovation conference Ecosummit London 2014 on 7-8 October at the Crystal. Come and join us.
Read moreAlexander Bigge Lidgren presents Swedish Energy Agency and its cleantech portfolio
Ecosummit TV: At ECO13 London, Bigge presents the Swedish Energy Agency that turns out to be the most active funder of cleantech companies in the Nordics with over €120M invested in 2013 and 2012 respectively. As of October 2013, the Swedish Energy Agency had funded 53 energy-related companies with soft loans that either go to projects or directly to the companies. Only if the startup is a success and starts invoicing, the agency gets their money back. Ecofective, ATC Industrial Group and Ecospark are the 3 cases that joined ECO13 London. Clean Motion and their electric 3-wheeler Zbee and Sol Voltaics are also backed by the agency. If you are interested in innovation and dealflow from the Nordics, meet Bigge again at ECO14 Berlin.
Read moreMats Pettersson pitches Ecofective from Sweden
Ecosummit TV: Mats Pettersson pitches Ecofective at ECO13 London. The Swedish-German startup focuses on energy cost savings in existing buildings by using their energy management system called EE2. Founded in 2009 as a consulting firm, Ecofective pivoted in 2012 to become a product company and sell a cost-effective solution for the mass market of multi-tenant and small office buildings. Moreover, Ecofective is getting ready for Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) as a mechanism to accelerate the rollout of their smart green building solution. EE2 enables cost savings of 13-25%, has been installed in over 120 buildings in Sweden and Germany and was approved by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics.
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