CleanStart started the Cleantech Meetups with CSUS and BlueTechValley because we wanted to bring back the excitement of launching clean tech companies and connect like-minded people.  It is all part of the steady push to bring 10,000 cleantech jobs to the region and $5 billion in company revenue.

How do the Cleantech Meetups do that? Well we caught up with Peter Moritzburke who spoke about desalination at our May Cleantech Meetup on water. At that meetup Peter was introduced to BlueTechValley and afterwards he followed up with CleanStart for a introduction.  

Peter wants to build a business around groundwater desalination. CleanStart connected him with BlueTechValley’s CEO Crash Course and he is now in their Valley Ventures accelerator program.  These have helped him refine his business model and gave him knowledge about running a business, from human resources to finance. It also connected him with Startup Legal Garage to assist with incorporating and contract structures. Through all of this Peter has met stakeholders and mentors critical to developing his business. Valley Ventures accelerator at BlueTechValley has helped him to shape his business of providing solutions to water shortage and contamination problems.

Through BlueTechValley Peter connected with Dean Smith at the Cleantech Meetup. Now the College of Engineering and Computer Science is working with him to find space in Sacramento to start his business.  Peter presented with AquaOso, who also has been through BlueTechValley and knows California water issues, at the Cleantech Meetup and has built upon that relationship to expand his network and refine his value proposition.

And now Peter has a new company, Aguanaut.

All these connections – Dean Smith, BlueTechValley, CEO Crash Course, and Valley Ventures Accelerator – started at the May Cleantech Meetup.   These connections happen all the time at our Cleantech Meetups. Our meetups have quickly become a driver of cleantech growth in the Sacramento Region.  If you have an interest in being a cleantech entrepreneur, these Meetups are a great way to start to build the connections you will need.