Jan Michael Hess opens Ecosummit London 2013

Ecosummit TV: Jan Michael Hess opens Ecosummit London 2013. Our 6th cleantech conference took place on 15-16 October at the Crystal, the urban sustainability HQ of Siemens in the Docklands. 150 participants came together to discuss smart green cities and to pitch new solutions and investment opportunities. The Crystal is the perfect location for Ecosummit London. Moreover, the LEED Platinum building is a role model for other corporates that want to co-invent the urban future and invest in a long-term technology showcase and marketing tool. Our highlight was the Ecomobilité Ventures Flinc deal announced at ECO13 London. After the NRW Bank O-Flexx investment, this is already the second deal facilitated by Ecosummit.

Ecosummit London 2013 happens on 15-16 October at the Crystal

This is our preview of Ecosummit London 2013, our 6th cleantech conference that we hold for the first time in London. The agenda is online and presents 58 speakers including 31 startups and 15 sponsors. The growing list of participants features a promising startup and VC density. 2 embedded Ecosummit TV videos show my introduction of ECO13 London and my opening of ECO13 Berlin. With 2 weeks to go, there is plenty of time to get your ticket and join us at the Crystal, the perfect location for our smart green family reunion. A unique experience for the participants will be the cable car pitch overviewing The Thames and Canary Wharf. Finally, it is our pleasure to share the dates of our next 4 events in Berlin and London in 2014 and 2015 for which we look for long-term sponsors and partners.

Call for cleantech startups to pitch at Ecosummit London 2013

We call all cleantech startups in Europe to pitch at Ecosummit London 2013 on 15-16 October at the Crystal, the urban sustainability HQ of Siemens in the Docklands. ECO13 London is our 6th international cleantech conference and brings together Europe’s leading startups, VCs and corporates to accelerate smart green innovation. The theme of ECO13 London is Smart Green City. The best 5 startups, that never pitched at Ecosummit before, win a free 8-minute pitch on the Ecosummit stage and in front of the Ecosummit TV cameras. If you do not win but qualify for a pitch, we invite you to buy a startup ticket to pitch (50% of current ticket price). Please apply by creating a profile on Ecosummit Market and sending us your investor presentation as soon as possible. All applications are processed on a first come, first serve basis. Get ready for your cable car pitch and join us at ECO13 London.

Patric Gresko pitches the Corporate Innovation Platform of the European Investment Fund

Ecosummit TV: Patric Gresko pitches the European Investment Fund at ECO13 Berlin. The EIF is Europe’s leading fund-of-fund with €12B under management. Since 2006, they have invested in 9 cleantech funds managed by 8 fund managers, i.e. dedicated cleantech VC firms. Patric is the EIF’s resident Mr. Cleantech and wants to support more cleantech VCs in the future. As most players in the market, the EIF also rides the corporate wave acknowledging the increasing importance of large multinational companies for the success of cleantech startups. Consequently, the EIF set out to raise capital from corporates for their new Corporate Innovation Platform (CorIP). One of the 4 investment themes is sustainability for which 10 €10M tickets shall be raised from 10 corporates. The EIF then tops it up with another €50M. These €150M will be invested in the best cleantech VCs in Europe. If you are one of them, talk to Patric.

Richard Youngman presents the third wave of cleantech companies at ECO13 Berlin

Ecosummit TV: Cleantech is a theme spanning many industries including energy, transportation, buildings and agriculture. At ECO13 Berlin, Cleantech Group’s Richard Youngman shares his optimism and talks about the third wave of cleantech companies coming to the market with scalable value propositions that follow the idea of doing more with less. Richard confirms that cleanweb is an attractive investment area with many lean startups applying smart algorithms to all kinds of resource efficiency challenges. Geographically speaking, Richard votes for China as the key target market startups should approach rather sooner than later due to the huge demand stemming from a nationwide industrial policy inspired by cleantech.

Ecosummit London 15-16 October 2013 – join our smart green city conference at the Crystal

Ecosummit TV: We want to live and work in a Smart Green City. And we like London. The smart green capital is an important cleantech hub, provides access to the UK market and serves as the bridge to America. Therefore, we are very proud to invite you to Ecosummit London 2013, our 6th cleantech conference for startups, investors and corporates. ECO13 London will be held on 15-16 October at the Crystal, the new urban sustainability headquarter of Siemens in the Docklands. Take a look at our short Ecosummit TV video and get ready for your cable car pitch. ECO13 London explores the city of the future and your company should be part of it.

Ecosummit in London: ECO13 Berlin, Market, Award, WHEB Partners and Friedola

Ecosummit TV: This is a short video recorded at our second Ecosummit Lounge London on 2 May 2013 at Taylor Wessing. It features very nice pictures of the city, another red bus going green for London and a preview of ECO13 Berlin, our 5th cleantech conference for startups, VCs and corporates. We also talk about the launch of Ecosummit Market, our new online platform for startups. Ecosummit Market is integrated with Ecosummit Award. 43 award nominees are busy mobilising votes on Facebook until 27 May. The application deadline for new startups to join the competition is 20 May.

Jörg Fabri analyses wind energy and recommends operational excellence

Ecosummit TV: The Energiewende, i.e. the transformation to a smart green energy system, is a massive challenge for the energy industry and the government. Globally, renewable energy attracts $200B investment per year to which wind energy contributes one third. In his talk at ECO12 Düsseldorf, Joerg Fabri of allocate, analyses how we can keep up the pace in the European wind energy sector if the level of subsidies further decreases.

Peter van Gelderen pitches early stage cleantech VC Icos Capital from the Netherlands

Ecosummit TV: Peter van Gelderen is a Dutch piano-playing cleantech investor who pitches his VC firm Icos Capital at ECO12 Düsseldorf. Founded in 2006, Icos Capital has got €75M under management and a portfolio of 9 cleantech startups. Peter likes to point out that his firm is an early stage investor because this is where the fun is and smart green company builders are needed the most. To be successful as early stage Cleantech VC, close relationships with corporates are a key success factor. Peter is Ecosummit Advisor and currently raises a new fund to which he invites German corporates as new LPs. Whether you are a corporate or startup, go and find Peter to discuss the art of early stage cleantech investing and the benefits of working together.

Cleantech Forum Europe 2013 – interview with Richard Youngman about reimagining cleantech

Financing cleantech startups as well as cleantech funds is a tough game. Investors aren’t happy yet with their returns. Consequently, startups and VCs need to reassess their strategies and look for long-term investors with strategic interest such as corporates, family offices and governments. To find advice from industry insiders we look forward to joining the Cleantech Forum Europe in Bilbao taking place on 16-18 April 2013. Ecosummit supports the event and we interview Richard Youngman, Cleantech Group’s MD for Europe and Asia, to warm up for the conference and discuss the current market environment. Richard will also speak at Ecosummit Berlin 2013.

Oliver Luenstedt pitches p2p car sharing startup Carzapp

Ecosummit TV: Oliver Lünstedt, CEO of Carzapp, pitches the German p2p car sharing startup. While there are already 3 peer-2-peer car sharing startups in Germany, Carzapp is the first one to have developed their own hardware solution called ZappKit. The ZappKit enables wireless car access with smartphones used as digital keys. The magic hardware box also includes GPS and an immobiliser that prevents theft. Moreover, the Berlin-based startup has an idea for the cost-efficient rollout of electric cars and participates in the electric mobility showcase Berlin-Brandenburg by adapting their platform to support p2p electric car sharing. Carzapp is backed by angels and looks for €1M to enter the German market in the first half of 2013.

Fabienne Herlaut looks for promising ecomobility startups In Europe

Ecosummit TV: At Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012, Fabienne Herlaut, Managing Partner of Ecomobilité Ventures, presents her multi-corporate fund which is focused on investing in ecomobility startups in Europe. Ecomobilité Ventures is financed by French national railway operator SNCF, mobile telephone operator Orange and energy company Total. While the €25M fund is still young, it already invested in 3 sustainable mobility startups: Move About, EZ‐Wheel and Ouicar. Fabienne is looking for a fourth corporate investor from the automotive industry, preferably from Germany. At the same time, she is always interested in meeting fundable ecomobility startups that look for smart green investors with industry expertise.

Alois Flatz, Zouk Capital, talks about cleantech venture capital 2.0

Ecosummit TV: Alois Flatz, Partner at Zouk Capital, talks about Cleantech Venture Capital 2.0 at Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 and explains how investment strategies are changing in the current market. On the one hand, Alois thinks positive as cleantech becomes ubiquitous and affects all aspects of life. On the other hand, he has learned from 20 years of experience that VC investors (general partners) depend on fast exits to be able to raise new funds from their investors (limited partners). Thus, investment horizons are shortening and startups need to generate cash and prove their business models as quickly as possible. Zouk Capital is a late stage investor that accelerates cleantech startups that already have at least €5M revenues, multiplying the value of the company and then selling it again after a couple of years. Don’t approach Zouk without revenues and rather try to get there fast.

Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 happens on 14 and 15 November

Europe’s cleantech scene meets at the Langen Foundation. 15 sponsors are joining.

Press release – Berlin, 24 October 2012: Ecosummit is the Smart Green Business Network for startups, investors and corporates. Europe’s cleantech scene gathers at Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 on 14 and 15 November at the Langen Foundation. The international conference focuses on competitive cleantech, resource efficient business models, renewable energy, sustainable mobility, smart green city, venture capital and Lean Cleantech Startup.

Urban Keussen presents EON’s smart green innovation strategy

Ecosummit TV: Urban Keussen, SVP Technology & Innovation, presents the smart green innovation strategy of EON at ECO12 Berlin. Urban gives a very informative lecture on how a big utility like EON analyses megatrends and new key technologies that are decisive for the Energiewende (energy transformation). Although EON is still very active in large-scale energy generation with fossil fuels, it invested over €7B in renewables during the last couple of years, mostly in wind. Urban is the perfect point of contact for high-quality cleantech startups that are interested in doing business with EON. We look forward to his upcoming talk at ECO12 Düsseldorf.

Bart Markus Of Wellington Talks About The Art Of Investing In Cleantech Startups

Ecosummit TV: Bart Markus, General Partner of Wellington Partners, gives an outstanding talk about the Art of Investing in Cleantech Startups at Ecosummit Berlin 2012. Bart admits that being a successful Cleantech VC is a big challenge as Cleantech startups usually are very capital intensive and need a long time to develop until investors can exit. However, there are a number of success factors that Bart manages when advising his portfolio. One of them is having the best management team in place in every phase of the startup process. Another one is being 100% customer-centric because without solving real problems of customers revenue growth isn’t possible. Bart is a very smart and funny investor ready to share his experience and investment strategy.

Jan Michael Hess Opens Ecosummit 2012 Berlin – With A Little Help From Some Friends

Ecosummit TV: Ecosummit Founder Jan Michael Hess opens Ecosummit Berlin 2012 on 22 March at Radialsystem. The sun is shining and many smart green people are in the house, visibly motivated to share ideas and grow their network. Our third Smart Green Business Conference is climate neutral thanks to the carbon offset powered by ClimatePartner. According to Bart Markus of Wellington Partners, Cleantech includes many big markets such as wind, solar, water or efficiency. Big markets attract lots of VC money and absorb experiments and execution mistakes. According to Prof. Karl Leo, Europe is good at basic research – this is our culture – but bad at application and bringing new ideas fast to global markets. At ECO12, we aggregated 225 startups, VCs and corporates to accelerate Smart Green Innovation. And we announced Virtual Ecosummit powered by ubivent. Let the show begin!