Global Entrepreneurship Week Excites Students

Global Entrepreneurship Week Excites Students

Do you think you could start to build a clean tech business in 60 minutes?  We challenged students to do just that at an event we had this week kicking off Global Entrepreneurship Week at CSU Sacramento with the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Dozens of campus-wide GEW events were led by the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  In collaboration with Dean Lorenzo Smith, CleanStart created a “learning journey” through an entrepreneurship introduction and training exercise.   We titled the event “So you want to be an Entrepreneur?” We challenged students to turn their ideas into a business, coaching them on the elements of the Business Model Canvas.

Luring students with free food, we asked them to share what ideas they had to promote sustainability and the product solutions they thought customers would like.  Students placed their ideas on an Idea Wall, then with a coach followed went from station to station to flesh out their ideas and to build a startup. The coaches introduced them to actual entrepreneurs in the energy field, such as Al Rich of ACR Solar (link to blog). Then students got to talk with some actual investors to find out what they needed to be interested in putting money into a venture.  Next Dan Casas-Murray introduced them to the Business Model Canvas and how to use it to develop a complete startup plan. At the last stop, we invited them to pitch their ideas in front of a camera. We shared those real-time and will have them loaded up soon.  

Cameron Law, Executive Director of the Carlsen Center, showed up with Dale Carlsen himself and they both shared resources available to students on campus. Mr. Carlsen generously gave his time to act as one of the potential investors students could quiz.  CleanStart also made sure students left with a packet of information in had so they could follow up on their ideas.

Consistent with the theme of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the “learning journey” was intended to stimulate student curiosity about a career as an entrepreneur or as a part of a startup team.  We tried to make it fun and engaging. If all we did was make students understand what creating a business was like and want to know more, then we accomplished our mission. Overall, GEW was a huge success for CleanStart and Sac State, especially since the Carlsen Center received a donation of $1,000,000 from Western Health Advantage to continue to build its programs.

Look for updates with more student videos soon!

Thomas Hall

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, River City Bank, GreenbergTraurig

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

Big Solar Big Tilt

Big Solar Big Tilt

Ever look at giant solar carports and wonder “Wouldn’t they be more effective if they followed the sun?” “Why can’t someone make something that allows them to follow the Sun?”  Well, someone has. Scarlet Solar.

Most solar tracking systems you see are complex with chains and gears.  Complexity means more cost and more chances to break. Trackers are significantly limited by the weight of solar panels, so most available ones are not practical for large carports. The conventional wisdom is that tracking systems cost vs benefit is not as appealing as just adding more stationary panels. 

But Scarlet Solar is looking to change that with the SolarTiltPort. Scarlet Solar is a recent graduate of our CEO Crash course and is touring with their TiltPort to demonstrate it. TiltPort uses a simple technology (a jackscrew) to create a significantly better product.  We went out to their demo location near Rio Vista and it is impressive, tilting a massive solar array 30 ft in sweeping wind above us. (The wind actually cools the panels making them even more efficient.) It was impressive. The installation has been in operation for 2 years and beat  production expectations generating 2,032 kWh/kW in 2018.  

The big solar carports are an ideal opportunity for Scarlet Solar. They are usually tilted at a fixed angles depending on the location. This limits the harnessable energy available, as the panel is rarely pointed right at the sun. Scarlet Solar’s TiltPort has the ability to tilt at (+/-) 30 degree angle to the sun’s direction, facing East in the morning, West at night.  It generates  a 40% increase in electricity production for the same cost of a stationary system and can support multiple panels, making it more scalable.

The TiltPort is customizable, from hundreds of units for corporations to waterproof sheds powering farms.  Each 10-car-size, 36KW, Plug-n-Play unit is installed in hours versus weeks with traditional carports.  Scarlet Solar exhibited at the recent solar Power International show and got a warm reception from several interested customers.  Now they are looking for seed money and a production facility.  

Scarlet will be presenting at our next MeetUp on December 5 at Hacker Lab.  Be sure to come!  

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

Sustainability Innovation Award Goes to Hank, Two Others Honored

Sustainability Innovation Award Goes to Hank, Two Others Honored

At the annual Innovation Awards, AI-based startup “Hank” received recognition as the Sustainability Innovation of the year.  Hank is saving building owners over 30% of their energy bills by tuning their existing energy management systems through close monitoring and machine learning.  Hank also has closed a small investment round to give them some more runway to build a customer base. They are already generating revenue from a small number of early customers.

Also recognized for sustainability innovations were RePurpose Energy with its second-life EV battery-based solar energy storage systems and Sustainable Technology with its clever “Facet” rooftop mounts for solar PV panels.  

The grand prize winner as overall Innovator of the Year was SMUD, being recognized for its contributions to the advanced mobility center and its support of community groups dedicated to community development, diversity, and sustainability leadership.  We are proud to have SMUD as one of our largest supporters.

Big Bang! Kicks-Off its 20th Cycle, Doors Wide Open to Free Workshops

Big Bang! Kicks-Off its 20th Cycle, Doors Wide Open to Free Workshops

On October 22, 150+ people turned out for launch of the Big Bang business plan competition put on by the UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  It looks like it will be another record-setting year for prize money and the number of applicants. Last year there was $112,000 in prizes and 105 teams participated.  If you want to form a team, use the Hub Spot to identify ideas or team members. Teams can be registered up through Feb. 21.  Anyone can join. Don’t forget that CleanStart offers a $3,000 prize for the best cleantech team in the Big Bang.  

The finals will be held May 20 next year.  Between now and then, the Big Bang! offers eleven terrific workshops on how to move from and idea to a business to a winning pitch.  Here’s the best news: Even if you are not entering as a team, these workshops are all available to anyone in the community—for free.  Even better—the workshops are all live-streamed and archived for on-demand access. So even if you just want to dip a toe in the entrepreneurship waters—you can!  This is an excellent resource for the whole innovation community developing here. Consider taking full advantage of it. There’s no reason not to. Click Here and Sign up now!

As part of the event, Joe DiNunzio, Executive Director of the Institute awarded the first-ever Big Bang Innovator award to John Bissell.   John and Ryan Smith founded Micromidas formally in 2008 after working on it originally in the Big Bang. It has been renamed Origin materials, employs over 70 worldwide and has raised over $100 million.  It takes biomass and makes it into feedstock for plastic bottles, eliminating the use of petroleum products. John himself has been a huge supporter of innovation and entrepreneurship in our community, always willing to lend a hand.  The award as a champion of entrepreneurship couldn’t have gone to anyone more deserving. John couldn’t be there to accept his award since his wife was having a baby, but Ryan filled-in admirably.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | Tobin, EY, Stoel Rives, Greenberg Traurig LLP

BlueTech Valley, Buchalter, Moss Adams, PowerSoft.biz

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State