Latest News & Blogs
National CleanTech Venture Forum Open for Entries
Here's a great opportunity to consider if you are looking to raise money. Rice University in Houston holds an annual forum for cleantech companies to present to dozens of investors. It is one of the best forums of this type in the US. In the past 16 years,...
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Big Bang Attracts Big Crowd
Last Thursday night was the UC Davis’s Big Bang Awards Event, the culmination of all the effort since November of last year. Over 50 teams were winnowed down through the process to five finalists. Besides cash awards for first and second...
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EVs Predicted to Dominate New Car Sales in 30 Years
According to a new report just issued by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, sales of new battery-based and plug-in hybrid EVs will likely grow more rapidly than most think. Global sales this year are likely to reach 1.6 million vehicles, up from...
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Cleantech Meetup Attendees Discuss Water In California
At the 5th Cleantech meetup of the year we moved from our usual focus on energy. About 40 attendees brought their interest in water conservation to hear from three presenters on sustainability of our water resource. This is a bigger issue than many...
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Good News on Clean Tech Innovation: CalCEF Showcase Night
It is always a pleasant surprise to hear about new and very clever clean tech being pursued by eager entrepreneurs. We recently had that exciting experience when we attended the California Clean Energy Fund's latest investor night on May 15th in San...
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Welcome Back, HeliosAltas!
After a three-year hiatus to step back to rethink its product and markets, Helios Altas is preparing to introduce a new and improved PowerBall and PowerWheel to the market. Mike Carroll, CEO, and his team have been working hard to unlock the...
read moreAbout CleanStart
CleanStart was founded in 2005 as a nonprofit organization designed to accelerate the development of clean technology ventures within the Northern California region. Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge, capital, and connections that are critical to creating a successful new business. We do this by:
CONNECTING the Northern California region’s clean tech community through CleanStart PowerUP! networking events.
PROMOTING the region’s clean tech economy in the annual CleanStart Progress Report, on social media & news outlets and at statewide and national events.
EDUCATING Clean Tech business leaders through classes and the Entrepreneurs Showcase sponsored by Velocity Venture Capital.
Our Team
Gary Simon, Chairman
A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.
Mark Henwood, Board Member
CEO of Henwood Associates, Inc., an owner and operator of hydroelectric facilities in California. Mark also leads Powersoft, LLC, a SaaS provider and was a co-founder of CleanStart with Gary Simon.
Ken Bossung, Board Member
A proven sales executive and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in building high-performance sales teams and business development strategy.
Benjamin Finkelor, Board Member
Thomas Hall, Executive Director
Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.
QiDong Jai, Associate
Qidong recently graduated from UC San Diego and has a B.S. in Managerial Economics. His multicultural background helps companies approach problems from new perspective.in the region. His passion of understanding new technologies that could change the world supports CleanStart and the Sacramento Region.
Kate Newton, Associate
Kate is a recent graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has a strong background in entrepreneurship and global politics. After helping launch an AgTech startup on the central coast, Kate is back in her hometown looking to take her experience into the world of Cleantech and help grow the Sacramento region.
Ken-Ichi Hino, Guest Contributor
Ken-Ichi is a director with the Cleantech Group, where he works with clients throughout the cleantech innovation ecosystem across the energy, transportation, agriculture, and water sectors. Prior to joining Cleantech Group, Ken-Ichi held positions in strategy consulting and energy project development and financing. Ken-Ichi holds a BA in mathematics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
CleanStart Accomplishments & Updates
CleanStart has been busy working to build the clean tech hub in the Sacramento region. We have been supporting local growth through education, networking, and promotion. Some of our recent successes include:
- CleanStart Restart, our successful crowdfunding campaign that exceeded its goal, brought stakeholders back and promoted several regional companies.
- 2017 CleanStart Networking Kickoff at The Urban Hive in Midtown Sacramento. With over 60 people from regional companies, Tenkiv live blogging their Kickstarter from it, and California Sunlight showing their solar power solutions.
- Our Legal Essentials Class nearly sold out and was highly recommended by attendees. Douglas Bosley of BTNT Law presented to a full room at Impact Venture Capital.
- The 2017 Progress Report was completed and released on April 26th.
- The 2017 Progress Report shows the 93 companies in the core clean tech sector is generating $3.2 billion in revenue and 5,300 jobs, up 26% from $2.54 billion and 4,150 jobs from the last survey released in 2015–five times faster than the overall economy grew.
- CleanStart will be hosting a class for companies interested in Crowdfunding. Leveraging CleanStart’s own experience and connections into the local crowdfunding community, CleanStart is proud to present “Is Crowdfunding Right for Your Tech Startup?” on June 20th.
CleanStart Companies
Upcoming Events
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Sacramento, CA 95814
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