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Cary Bullock to Address Ignite Clean Energy Competition
Cary Bullock to Address Ignite Clean Energy Competition
Published 01-31-06
Submitted by Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)
The seminar is part of the 2nd annual $125,000 Ignite Clean Energy Competition, hosted by the Energy Special Interest Group (ESIG) of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge. Designed to develop the next generation of clean, renewable, or efficient energy resources, and to spur the entrepreneurial activities that will bring these resources to market, the Ignite Clean Energy Competition offers a series of networking, team-building, training, and mentoring opportunities that culminate in a business-plan competition with awards totaling $125,000.
"I'm looking forward to sharing my experience with the emerging leaders of our growing clean-energy industry," said Bullock. "I've learned, sometimes the hard way, that a successful business needs more than a terrific product or idea. I hope I can encourage the Ignite Clean Energy participants to improve their business-presentation skills as well as their technological innovations. The goal is to make their businesses viable, and investor funding can be the key to future profits and growth," he added.
Bullock has extensive experience as an investor in and as CEO of high-tech, energy services-related startup companies. He has published extensively in the area of energy services and was named by Hart's Energy Markets as one of the top 100 most influential industry leaders in the gas and electric industry in the 20th century. Prior to his tenure at GreenFuel, Bullock was Chairman, Co-founder and CEO of Excelergy Corporation. He has founded and launched successful energy services companies such as FPL Services and Econoler/USA, and served as a VP of Kenentech Corporation, providing management consulting services to electric and gas utilities for development of non-regulated energy service companies and joint ventures.
"We're delighted that Cary Bullock will be the keynote speaker at our February 16 seminar," said Linda Plano, Chair of the competition. "Great business ideas do not get funded unless entrepreneurs present their ideas in a clear, compelling manner that is focused on the needs of investors as well as customers.
"The Ignite Clean Energy program aims to give Massachusetts entrepreneurs a competitive edge in the funding race by offering training in the best practices for creating money-winning investor pitches. Cary Bullock brings a wealth of practical experience in developing clean energy businesses. We expect that he'll inspire the competitors while teaching them many of the practical skills needed to successfully secure funding," Plano added.
The three goals of the competition are to:
"The competition is not limited to new energy sources but also encourages development of technologies that help reduce energy use, make existing energy systems perform better, or simply provide better solutions for existing technologies. Clean Energy technologies include: Renewable Energy: solar, wind, fuel cell, bio-energy, geothermal, hydro-technologies; Energy Efficiency and Demand Response: electricity end use, building use, management applications, grid management technologies; Enabling Technologies: power electronics, storage, cables and wires, sensors and instrumentation, control systems, materials and manufacturing technology; and High-Performance Buildings and Green Systems: sustainable design and integrated clean energy applications.
A key component of the competition is the Invention to Venture Entrepreneur Bootcamp, a day-long program co-hosted with the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance (NCIIA), UMass Lowell's Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) Incubator, and the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge Energy SIG. The Entrepreneurs Bootcamp features a series of panels of experts - venture capital/angel investors, industry analysts, and communication/speech trainers - who provide insights and examples into every aspect of developing a successful high tech startup, particularly with regard to clean energy technologies. The Bootcamp will be held Friday, February 24, from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm at UMass Lowell.
Students and entrepreneurs based in Massachusetts are invited to participate in the Ignite Clean Energy Competition. Upcoming events include:
The Ignite Clean Energy Competition is sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Foley Hoag, Mintz Levin, The University of Massachusetts/Lowell's Commercial Venture Development, Cummings Properties, Rich May Law, Mass High Tech Council, Maniv Energy Capital, and Constellation NewEnergy. Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available.
"The opportunity to participate in a business plan competition that helps grow innovative companies that are so useful to society is fantastic," said MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge Chairman Ross Trimby. The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, www.mitforumcambridge.org , is a volunteer, non-profit organization based at MIT whose mission is to promote and strengthen the process of starting and growing innovative and technology-oriented companies.
For more information on the Ignite Clean Energy Competition and on the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, please visit www.ignitecleanenergy.com or call 508-698-6810.
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Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)
About NESEA
NESEA is the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (www.NESEA.org), Founded in 1974, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is today the region’s leading membership organization promoting sustainable energy practices in the built environment. We as professionals in the fields of renewable energy and building embrace whole systems thinking as the path to sustainability, and we accomplish this by focusing on three core elements:
- Creating and supporting a diverse, multidisciplinary network
- Promoting sustainable energy solutions for the built environment
- Rigorously vetting solutions through our network of professionals - no greenwashing here.
Headquartered in Greenfield, MA, NESEA operates primarily in the six New England states plus New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, but we increasingly reach out to share ideas nationally and internationally.
About BuildingEnergy
BuildingEnergy is NESEA's annual building science and renewable energy conference and trade show. Held in Boston annually in March, BuildingEnergy is the is the most established, most cross-disciplinary renewable energy and high-performance building conference and trade show in the northeast. It attracts professionals from every part of the building and energy industry.
Learn more about this year's exciting BuildingEnergy line-up at www.nesea.org/buildingenergy
