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Our New Home

Sep 20, 2019

After a period of vagrancy, CleanStart has a new home at Hacker Lab in Midtown Sacramento. Many of you know we were graciously hosted by Impact Venture Capital, but when they moved offices we did too. Now we are proud to be at the co-working / maker-space of Hacker Lab.

CleanStart and Hacker Labs roots both go back year from SARTA, when our Chair, Gary Simon, collaborated with Erik Ulrich, Hacker Lab COO, to build Sacramento as an innovation hub. Though SARTA is not around, Hacker Lab has a team dedicated to educating and supporting innovators and makers in the region. Check out what they are up to by reading their blog and signing up for their newsletter.

Hacker Lab has grown to 3 locations in the greater Sacramento area giving people access to tools like Laser Cutters, Routers, Plasma Cutters and 3D printers. As an all-in-one maker-space, co-working facility and workforce incubator, Hacker Lab is bringing everything together under one roof to bring ideas to life. Look for Hacker Lab and CleanStart to partner on events soon. The first will be our September 26th Cleantech Meetup being held at the Sacramento location.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | Tobin, Moss Adams GreenbergTraurig

BlueTech Valley, PowerSoft.biz, Revrnt, Synbyo, Califronia Mobility Center

Treat Water Like it Matters

Sep 17, 2019

Every day we take for granted that we have instant potable water at our fingertips. Maybe, we leave the water running for a shower a bit long or pour out a cup of water we couldn’t finish. We aren’t alone, many companies make small decisions that cause them to use more water. These companies pay for the water and would want to save the cost but cannot see how. Water savings and conservation matters to people and companies, how can they treat it that way?

Recently, we talked with Anthony Jones a habitual entrepreneur around water with more than 10 years of experience to learn about what he has been up to. His experience and network connected him with an early stage water startup called Waterhound Futures, whose motto is “We treat water like it matters… it does!”

Waterhound Futures adds intelligence to water and waste treatment plants with a web-based software-as-a-service tool to help eliminate contamination of freshwater caused by untreated wastewater at source, by providing real time data collection, monitoring and predictive decision tools. Decision tools eliminate traditional methods of wastewater management.

Water is scarce. Wastewater treatment plants don’t measure the amount of contaminants contained in water which could be harmful. Waterhound is addressing the lack of real time data on water conditions been sent out of wastewater plants by offering a web-enabled digital tool to enable Management, plant operators,and design engineers to optimize the entire wastewater treatment processes. This will enable wastewater plants to plan for preventive maintenance and upgrades to optimize performance of the plant.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Osato Evbuomwan is a CSU Sacramento Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student who is the newest associate at CleanStart. Growing up in Nigeria with smog from backup diesel/ gasoline generators inspired Osato to work towards building a sustainable future for the world.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | Tobin, EY, Stoel Rives, Revrnt, Hacker Lab

BlueTech Valley, Buchalter, Moss Adams, PowerSoft.biz

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State

Engage the Community to Grow the Clean Tech Market

Sep 12, 2019

The theme of our September 26th meetup is the value of connecting with disadvantaged communities. We picked this theme because the clean tech community is bigger than most people realize. Typically people focus on communities that have significant excess capital that can afford to be early adopters with economically dubious technology. For Sacramento to become a global clean tech leader, we need to look beyond the usual and include and connect with regional disadvantaged communities.

Adoption in all communities is key. If you were to go and look at regional air districts pollution inventories you can see most of California’s emissions come from transportation, specifically on road vehicles. You will also find disadvantaged communities are harmed more by these emissions. Startups run on a shoestring and cannot ignore the economic challenges of building a company. Additionally, underserved communities do not have excess capital to support entrepreneurs. Selecting early adopters with excess capital can be enticing, but they represent a small portion of the market.

Working with developing areas presents a unique challenge but can also have bigger payoffs, opening additional opportunities. Building a high impact project with a community provides a blueprint for growth in a larger population. Additionally, there are more organizations willing to help with a company’s growth if they are returning part of that to communities. There are still economic problems, but there are many programs to reduce these barriers and enable all Californians to benefit from clean tech. SMUD has Sustainable Communities, the California Energy Commission has the 350 Barriers Study which has produced actual changes, and Sacramento is home to DiverseCity Ventures Inc.

It is important when working or delivering clean technology, entrepreneurs look at how they can reach as many communities as possible. Making an earnest outreach to local communities can see a return in customer discovery, finding employees, and solving large issues in adoption.

This is why I call on clean tech companies to work to engage more communities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.