Got a green tech business idea? This crash course in entrepreneurism may be for you
The Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of California at Davis is planning to hold its second annual Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy from July 7 to July 11 in Incline Village, Nev. (At the Tahoe Center for Environmental Studies.)
U.C. Davis Associate Professor Andy Hargadon, who is coordinating the program, said the program was dreamed up in conjunction with Scott Lenet from venture capital firm DFJ Frontier. The idea, Hargadon said, was to help scientists outside schools like Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology get attention for their ideas and put a business plan around them. "It's really about the people with the most promising research," Hargadon said, when I spoke with him about the program late last week.
Last year, there were 44 students represented from 25 different schools. (About 60 people applied.) Hargadon said this year, the class should be about 50 people in size. "They'll put in 40 to 50 hours of focused progress on their research. They end the week with a PowerPoint that describes what they're doing and that could help them express their plan," he said.
Here's the application. You've got until May 2!
Some of the ideas that came out of last year's program include the following (I've included links wherever I could dig them up):
- Water for Humans (focused on low-cost, water purification systems) - Greenway Energy (a consulting services firm for developing fuel cell systems) - Wooster Biotech (a lab for development of bio-based pesticides) - Server Cooling Technology (pretty self-explanatory!) - iConserve (for helping people better understand and control their energy use) - Solar Module Manufacturing (tech focused on high-efficiency solar electrical concentrators) - EVO Fuels (which is using micro-algae to create biofuels) - Weingart & Keranen Environmental Solutions (a wastewater filtration system)
The program is being sponsored by organizations including the Kauffman Foundation, the Superfund Basic Research Program, Pacific Gas & Electric, the Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization, Prequent and the Sierra Angels.