Ecosummit 2011 (ECO11) was our second international Smart Green Business Conference for investors, startups, corporates and utilities fostering cleantech, renewable energy, emobility and sustainability. ECO11 took place on 24-25 March 2011 in Berlin and attracted 300 participants. Below are the ECO11 Sponsors that supported Ecosummit 2011. We are grateful for their support.

ECO11 Diamond Partner

With the development of the Clean Tech Business Park Berlin-Marzahn the Berlin borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf is discovering new paths designed to promote economic development and growth – supported by the Berlin Senate and the business development agency Berlin Partner GmbH. With both federal and state financial support, the Clean Tech Business Park Berlin-Marzahn will be set up on 90 hectares and offer an ideal business park for companies active in the industrial production of solar cells and modules as well as other Cleantech related products. Furthermore, it will offer advantages for companies such as business and research networks, highly qualified staff, special infrastructure, reduced investment requirements and quicker time-to market. The future Clean Tech Business Park is located in the Berlin eastside Business Park. With a total of 1.200 hectares, it is the largest inner-city industrial and commercial area in the capital city. Roughly 2.500 companies from a wide array of sectors are already enjoying excellent conditions for business and production.

ECO11 Platinum Sponsor

At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.2 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device – from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers. Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi, including music, maps, apps, email and more. Nokia’s NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally.

ECO11 Gold Sponsors

Bank Sarasin AG, with offices in Frankfurt am Main, Munich and in Nuremberg, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd. Bank Sarasin AG offers the highest degree of client servicing in line with the traditions of sustainable Swiss Private Banking. Its core competences include asset management for private and institutional clients as well as fund distribution drawing on the knowledge and experience of the entire Sarasin Group.

WHEB Partners invests in cleantech companies with high-growth potential, from initial product commercialisation stage through to expansion stage. A pioneer in the European clean technology sector, WHEB began as an award winning clean technology incubator and corporate finance group in 1995, and now manages two major cleantech venture capital funds. WHEB Partners actively works with its portfolio companies to provide strategic advice, expertise and industry contacts. The WHEB team combines many years of specialist experience in clean technology, technology commercialization, venture capital and private equity investing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy and government policy.

Taylor Wessing is a leading International law firm with a single-minded approach: to help our clients succeed. What makes us different is our forward thinking approach to serving clients. We think creatively about business issues and are constantly looking for new and better ways to add value with truly innovative solutions that help to grow our clients’ businesses. By keeping close to our clients we can proactively identify better ways to help them achieve their ambitions. Today’s world is undergoing fundamental change and that creates the need for intelligent solutions. Our aim is to be at the forefront of developing those solutions by serving clients in the sectors that we believe are the industries of tomorrow. We are very clear on the issues and opportunities throughout the value chain and advise the full range of industry participants, from the early-stage cleantech investor to full commercialisation of technologies, to the development and financing of renewable energy projects.

With its unique business model as one of the world’s first sustainable incubators, MAMA combines classical private equity, venture capital, eco fund and project developer with a global marketing organization. We are a team of experienced entrepreneurs which came together from different fields in the end of 2009 to make a contribution to adressing today’s challenges through the foundation of MAMA. Our lead investor 3M gives us the support of a worldwide company which has specialized since over a century in developing customized innovations in various domains ranging from health to aviation and from household items to solar energy production.

Green Technology Staffing recruits cleantech specialists for the Green Economy. For planet saving companies. Companies in green technology development. In sustainable power generation and sustainable power storage. In low emission mobility. In efficient raw material processing. In water supply technology. Green Technology Staffing enthuses creative masterminds and visionary makers in this industry and for this industry. Identifies talent, willing to contribute actively in designing our environment. Committing themselves to work on it. Designing intelligent solutions for tomorrow. With passion, creativity and emphasis. Aware of the difference between “a work place” and “a mission.”

Berlin Partner GmbH is the company for business development and location marketing of the state of Berlin. We assist foreign investors in the locating process and accompany Berlin enterprises in questions regarding foreign trade, location support and expansion. As a public private partnership supported by more than 180 private enterprises, the Berlin senate entitled us to do the capital and location marketing. We offer our customers tailor-made, individual service packages in accordance with our slogan: “We enable growth”. The service packages include the Business Welcome, Business Financing, Business Locating and Business Recruiting Packages. The Business Location Center (BLC) provides investors with the most important and up-to-date economic information from one convenient source. Investors and entrepreneurs have quick and easy access to sector-specific data, property offers, geographic data, and information on incentive programs and the labor market. It also offers a Real Estate Portal that allows prospective investors to tour available commercial properties via a 3D virtual city model. The BLC features the Berlin Solar Atlas, which provides information on whether a particular roof is suitable for the installation of solar panels and how much solar power they are capable of generating.

eMO is Berlin’s Agency for Electric Mobility and concentrates the capital’s competences in science, business and politics. While Germany wants to become a global leader in Emobility, Berlin shall be the German Capital of Emobility. The goal is to locate and integrate the complete value chain necessary to offer end-to-end mobility services, from R&D to production and marketing. As part of Berlin’s Masterplan 2010-2020, the foundation of eMO is an important milestone in enabling Berlin to become the Smart Green Capital of the Future.

ECO11 Silver Sponsors

Smart green VC: High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) invests in young, high potential high-tech startups. The seed financing provided is designed to enable startups to take an idea through prototyping and to market launch. Typically, HTGF invests EUR 500.000 in the seed stage, with the potential for up to a total of EUR 2 million per portfolio company in follow-on financing. Investors in this public/private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the KfW Banking Group, as well as strategic corporate investors including ALTANA, BASF, Bayer, B. Braun, Robert Bosch, CEWE, Daimler, Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Telekom, Evonik, Lanxess, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, METRO, Qiagen, RWE Innogy, SAP, Tengelmann and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gründerfonds has about EUR 576 million under management in two funds (EUR 272 million HTGF I, EUR 304 million HTGF II).

Inventux Technologies not only develops and produces silicon-based thin-film solar modules but is also a system provider of micromorph solar technology. The Berlin-based company was established in the spring of 2007. Just 18 months after launching Europe’s first series production of micromorph thin-film solar modules, Inventux was able to increase the efficiency of its modules to 10 percent. At present, Inventux maintains a staff of some 240 employees and is a winner of the 2010 red dot design award as well as the 2011 iF product design award, among others.

Kienbaum is the market leader for executive search and HR management services in Germany and ranks among the top management consultancies in the industry. With its integrated approach to consulting, Kienbaum supports companies from all leading sectors of the economy through their change processes, from the conceptual design to its eventual realization. Kienbaum combines proven HR competence with comprehensive know-how in the areas of strategy and organization.

WeSustain’s software suite is the first comprehensive, web-based solution for sustainability management. It integrates existing isolated applications as well as backend systems and provides a central authority for the sustainability set-up and the related reporting. The solution comprises modules for the areas of governance, stakeholder management, operations, reporting as well as collaboration & communication. The open-ended platform concept makes it possible for software providers to offer complementary solutions as part of a partner ecosystem.

Our specific investment approach concentrates on co-investments with large international and German Venture Capital companies, especially in early stage investments to exploit our specific expertise. Sonne+Wind Beteiligungen is the only private equity company to pursue an ethical investment approach. This investment approach and the focus on renewable Sonne+Wind energies are very attractive for entrepreneurs in this sector and allow S&W preferred access to investment Beteiligungen opportunities. Since its foundation S&W has been supported by specific expertise of its founder Versiko AG with respect to the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector as well as the network to find and conclude attractive transactions. The core business of Versiko has been the design and distribution of ethical and ecological insurance and investment products.

LGM Interactive (LGMi) is a Berlin-based consultancy specializing in digital and interactive solutions for organizations, companies and governments in the fields of CSR, renewable energy, social change, and environmental awareness. We use our vast experience and knowledge in the fields of experience design, usability, content production, marketing, gaming and social media to make sustainability engaging and inspiring. Our solutions range from websites, media (films, videos, articles …), microsites, social media campaigns and online games that showcase a company or organization’s green and social efforts. Too many sustainable efforts remain hidden or are poorly displayed on the net. We think this is a wasted opportunity to create value AND positive change for the world.

piâbo is an owner-managed communications agency headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Our team combines profound industry knowledge with a pragmatic approach. Our shared wealth of experience is made up of sound knowledge in the areas of PR, online marketing, branding, design, IT, editorial services, media management, communications and social sciences.

The ForestFinance Group is engaged in ecological afforestation in Central America and South-East Asia. Providing a wide range of sustainable forestry investment products and services for private and institutional investors, ForestFinance is always governed by the ideal to achieve an ideal symbiosis of profitable investments and ecologically meaningful activities. By afforesting only mixed forests with a share of at least 60% of native tree species, ForestFinance forests ensure – unlike monocultures – a high degree of biodiversity. By now over 6,000 customers benefit from the sale of certified timber, high quality seeds and carbon credits. Part of the ForestFinance Group is “CO2OL”, the brand and consulting agency for corporate climate protection strategies and development of high-quality climate afforestation projects. As a specialist for carbon neutral events, meetings and hotels, CO2OL has offered coherent concepts as well as concrete solutions and products for an effective realisation of climate protection strategies since 1997 and is Europe’s market leader in the consulting and supervision sector of green events or green meetings, having realised more than 500 carbon neutral events and sold more than a million tickets for carbon neutral concerts.

A world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, Autodesk enables customer innovation by delivering the broadest product portfolio for the digital design, visualization, and simulation of real-world project performance. The Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program supports early-stage clean technology companies with design and engineering software they can use to accelerate their development of solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. For more information visit www.autodesk.co.uk/cleantech or www.autodesk.de/cleantech.

Institut für Bildbewegung (IFBBW) is a fresh and innovative video production company, known for its reliable while cost-effective approach. Run by Mark Rump who formerly played a lead role in the setup of RTL new media, IFBBW has specialised in the documentation and live transmission of events (concerts, fashion shows, conventions) to Web and TV, the creation of web-series and the production of image clips. Combining up-to-date technical expertise with open-minded artistic and stilistic skills its services have already been the perfect all-in-one solution for clients like TAZ, Otto, DHL, Jung von Matt, Michael Michalsky, MTV, Cast a Clip, MySpace, Pilot Media, 3min.de, Sony-Music Germany and Servus TV. Services of IFBBW include the media-specific conception of events, the integration of corporate video brandings, and the development of web-video formats from scratch. Supplied by a vast pool of freelancers, IFBBW is able to easily adjust to the genuine needs of the projects and budgets of its customers.

amiando offers the easiest way to organize your event. More than 70.000 events worldwide use amiando to sell tickets online and to create professional registration forms for events. Thus your event registration becomes easier for your participants and you save costs and work at the same time when organizing your event.

The Cradle to Cradle (C2C) project seminar module “Science means responsibility” at Leuphana University in semester 2010/2011 engages the Cradle to Cradle design concept of Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and William McDonough. The design concept’s foundation principles are first independently studied, presented and discussed, the C2C principles being: waste equals food, use current solar income, celebrate diversity, and the bio- and techno-spheres. Thereafter, the students took up group projects. They divided themselves into four different projects, each project being conducted in cooperation with external partners:

• C2C at Leuphana University Lüneburg: C2C Coffee-to-Go cup (in coop with EPEA)
• The C2C House in Lüneburg (in coop with Esyoil)
• Terra Preta: Topsoil Recovery as Climate Saver – the C2C perspective on climate change (in coop with Prof. Dr. Bruno Glaser, Dr. Haiko Pieplow and Wendepunktzukunft in Wendland)
• C2C Product Design: Case study of Phillips’ “Econova” Television (in coop with Phillips)