2021 Impact Report - 101M Metric Tons CO2e Reduced

2
Letter from the Director
What a year! 2021 was the second year that Cleantech Open Northeast ran entirely virtually, although we held a few outdoor social events in
New York and Boston. The program grew with the participation of international startups from multiple countries in Europe, as well as
Africa and Asia. This year Princeton NuEnergy of New Jersey won the National Grand Prize! The National Finalists from the Northeast are
InfiSense and STAC Technology. The four Regional Winners are Innovia GEO who also won the People’s Choice Award, Osmoses who also
won our first Carbon Sequestration Prize (sponsored by Sire Foundation), Princeton NuEnergy, and STAC Technology.
Peter Rothstein, President of NECEC, received a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was instrumental in bringing Cleantech Open into the
NECEC family in 2015, and this partnership continues to grow stronger. Peter is retiring after 11 years in this role, and turning over the reins
to Mayor Joseph Curtatone of Somerville, MA. Cheikh Dramé is our Lead Mentor of the Year, Barbra Batshalom is Sustainability Mentor of
the Year, and Pam Reid and Cordula Schmid are Rookie Mentors of the Year. Thank you all for your dedication, expertise and leadership!
We are working with Browning the Green Space to encourage our startups to incorporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) into their
ventures from the beginning. We are focused on building relationships with organizations that represent minority communities. With
support from NYSERDA we introduced programming with the NY State Pollution Prevention Institute and Clean Energy Ventures to enable
our startups to calculate their Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Potential (GHG-ERP). This exercise will help them in conversations
with investors that increasingly care about environmental impact. Our 2021 cohort estimates that when at scale they will collectively reduce
101 million metric tons of CO2e, which is equivalent to taking 22 million cars off the road. Plus, this is a diverse group: 62% of the
founders in the class of 2021 are women or minorities or both.
Thank you to our premier sponsors MassCEC and NYSERDA who continue to believe in us and support us year after year. You push us to be
better. Our work is critical—training cleantech and climate tech entrepreneurs with promising innovations to improve our planet. Our
incredibly supportive and growing community makes it all possible. Congratulations to the Cleantech Open Northeast class of 2021! You
give us hope for the future.
Sustainably yours,
Beth Zonis, Senior Director, Cleantech Open Northeast, NECEC
Cleantech Open Northeast | 2021 Impact Report

2021 Impact Report Contents:
Program
2021 Cohort
Alumni
Community
Sponsors
Team
3

Program
Cleantech Open Northeast | 2021 Impact Report 4

5
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Potential

2021 Diversity and
Inclusion
6
62%
of startup founders
are women,
minorities or both
36%
of matched mentors
are women, minorities
or both
47%
of judges are
women, minorities
or both
57%
(4 of 7) of ﬁnals
judges are women,
minorities or both

“I would like to take a minute to congratulate your team for
selecting a group of fantastic mentors. Each brought perfect
expertise to this summer’s session. They were all engaged, formally
and off-the-cuff, and truly supportive. It has been, again, a true
privilege and pleasure serving CTO and its clients. I love your
program and will continue to sing your praises.” — Michele
Migliuolo, Lead Mentor, Professor & Director of the Center
for Excellence in Entrepreneurship at Duquesne University
2021 Accelerator at a Glance
7
115
Expert judges
$350,000+
Cash prizes plus in-kind
offers available to startups
196
Mentors matched
44
Graduates
“Ecotone Renewables would like to thank you for an amazing
experience. We’ve made significant progress this summer, met
valuable mentors, and have made strides in the development of our
company that would have taken much longer had we not been in
this program. Thank you for that.” — Kyle Wyche, Ecotone
Renewables

2021 Highlights
NOV-DEC |
Wrap Up & Prep
OCT | Regional Finals
& Global Forum
SEPT | Final Clinics
and Regional Finals
JUL-AUG |
Accelerator
JUN | Academy
& More
MAY | Cohort
Selection
FEB-MAR-APR
(Recruiting)
- Virtual Kickoﬀ recruiting events in
collaboration with Maine,
New Jersey, Circular
City Week New York, & MIT
- Virtual Q&A Sessions
- 71 Applicants
- 59 Accepted
- 50 Participants
- Virtual Mentor Mixer events
8
- Three-day virtual National
Academy
- GHG-ERP Workshop 1
- DEI Webinar
- Team Building Webinar
- Northeast Happy Hour
- Go to Market Business Clinic
- Financial Modeling Webinar & Clinic
- Legal Webinar
- GHG-ERP Workshops 2 & 3
- Tell Your Story Clinic
- Perfect Pitch Webinar
- IP Webinar
- In person social networking events
- Northeast Happy Hours
- Life Cycle Analysis Webinar with
Sustainable Minds
- Mock Judging Clinic
- Insurance Risk with CHUBB Webinar
- Investor Webinar and Panel
- Semi-Final Judging
- MassCEC Introduction Webinar
- Regional Finals Live Pitch Competition
- Finalist Mock Judging
- Starting and Managing
Partnerships Webinar
- Global Forum and National Pitch
Competition
- Networking at Greentown Labs
- In person social event
- Begin 2022
Recruitment
- Release alumni
survey

Events in Numbers
9
52
Events*
2,971+
Total Attendees
16.5 Total
private coaching /
workshop hours
“Always a pleasure to engage with you, CTO and the startups! Thank you for including me [in
Mock Judging]. You have by far one of the most engaging, well deﬁned processes for these
types of events. Please continue to count on my support.” — William Sapon, Peoples
Natural Gas
“The Financial Modeling business clinic was one of the most helpful events we've had during
our time at Cleantech Open.”— Ian Goodine, rStream Recycling
“The Academy was wonderful. It seemed to me there were three objectives: level the playing
ﬁeld so we could build on the same universal knowledge going forward, get a taste of every
segment CTO helps us with, and provide opportunities to have some of our immediate
problems answered. It was a very informative Academy.” — Chris Bassett, Pharos Seafood
*includes recruiting, training, and programming events (most events were virtual)

The two-day event from September 28-29, 2021 brought together 519 attendees to celebrate the 2021 Cleantech Open
Northeast cohort. 60 judges and 10 facilitators reviewed pitches during the private semi-finals judging event. The
top six companies pitched in front of a live audience. Seven VIP judges—Brandon Blaesser of Ecosystem Integrity Fund,
Alba Forns of Seeds Renewables , Jane (Jing) Ge of Vectors Angel, Dan Goldman of Clean Energy Ventures, Nneka (Uzoh)
Kibuule of Aligned Climate Capital, Daniela Vargas of Social Capital, Adam Wallen of Breakthrough Energy
Ventures—selected the four Northeast Regional Winners, each of whom won $10,000 in cash, plus additional in-kind
offerings. Innovia GEO was the People’s Choice Award Winner. Osmoses won the first Carbon Sequestration Prize
worth $10,000, taking home $20,000 combined with the Regional Winner prize.
10
Regional
Finalists
Regional
Winners
Northeast Regional Finals

11
2021 Global Forum
The three-day event from October 20-22 brought together 20 Regional Finalists from across the country to
compete for the Grand Prize. The 6 Northeast Regional Finalists: InﬁSense, Innovia GEO, Osmoses,
Measured Air Performance, Princeton NuEnergy, and STAC Technology, as well as the two Northeast
Runners Up: aqualumos and Julius, participated and pitched privately to panels of expert judges. Three
Northeast teams, Princeton NuEnergy, STAC Technology, InﬁSense, advanced to pitch in the National
Finals Judging on October 20. The Investor & Partner Connect took place from October 12-14th, with 102
participating companies, 59 investors & partners, 714 meetings, and 903 introductions. There were 44
Northeast startups that participated in the Investor & Partner Connect!
National Winners
National Grand Prize → Princeton NuEnergy (NJ)
National Runner-Up Prize & People’s Choice Award → Leap Photovoltaics (CA)

2021 Cohort

13
2021 Northeast Cohort by Cleantech Category
➢ Chemicals & Advanced
Materials is the 3rd largest
category
➢ Agriculture + water + waste combined
make up the largest category → these
areas are well-known issues
➢ Energy eﬃciency + green
buildings combined make up
the 2nd largest category

14
2021 Northeast Cohort
by Location
The 2021 business accelerator cohort
consisted of 48 cleantech startups plus 2
development teams
Most startups are
from MA and NY
Because the program was
held virtually, startups
could participate from
around the world!

Domestic Geographic Breakdown
of the 2021 Cohort
15
New York
10
Pennsylvania
2
Massachusetts
10
Rhode Island
1
New Jersey
3
Maine
2
New Hampshire
1
Virginia
1
Puerto Rico
1
Connecticut
2
Alabama
1
Vermont
1
35 total domestic
startups

International Geographic Breakdown of
the 2021 Cohort
16
Denmark
1
Spain
1
UK
1
France
1
Canada
3
Italy
5
15 total international startups
Ethiopia
1
Thailand
1
Estonia
1

Princeton NuEnergy (PNE) is developing a novel
lithium-ion battery recycling process to directly recover
and regenerate used battery materials. Compared to
current industrial battery recycling processes, PNE's
process is simpler, more cost eﬀective, and more
environmentally friendly. With our process, critical battery
materials such as the cathode and anode can be recycled,
restored, and reused in new batteries, without the need to
break the materials down into the raw elements.
17
National Grand Prize &
Regional Winner
“Cleantech Open is a great platform to support us on business development, investor engagement, and
customer base establishment. This award will help us with the execution of our pilot production line in Q1
2022. Additionally, the consulting and legal support will strengthen our position in intellectual property,
business strategy and marketing.” — Chao Yan, CEO

18
National Finalist & Regional
Winner
"We are humbled and honored to be selected as the winner of the 2021 Cleantech Open Northeast ﬁnals. We
enrolled in Cleantech Open with an open mind and listening ear and have been determined to make the most of
an incredible opportunity. Winning the Cleantech Open Northeast will help us to forge new partnerships, recruit
the best team and open doors into a larger ecosystem that can foster further success." — Bobby Svenning,
COO
STAC Technology invents and develops turbo-compression
systems for use in large-scale cooling applications. Our patented
system and novel compressors employ only water (R718) to
simultaneously produce ice slurry and hot water. As a solution
capable of retroﬁt into existing buildings, industrial processes or
district heating and/or cooling networks, our system lowers
energy consumption and emissions versus available solutions as
well as eliminating the need to employ conventional refrigerants.

19
National & Regional Finalist
"For InfiSense, Cleantech Open gave us tangible, real world results and the honor of being a national finalist.
We had an amazing group of mentors who pushed, prodded and questioned all of our assumptions, forcing us to
hone our value prop and our story. CTO is a game-changer." — Tim Guiterman, CEO
InfiSense is a sensor and software company that provides clean,
consistent, and actionable data to the businesses that are solving
today’s toughest problems, including decarbonization,
quantifying sustainability with ESG data, and growing food
indoors with higher yields and less resources. InfiSense makes it
efficient and cost effective to access hard-to-reach data and
immediately drive results by simplifying a complex wireless
sensing ecosystem. Our customers deploy sensors at scale and pay
us to ensure accurate data feeds are at their fingertips 24/7.

20
Regional & the Northeast People’s
Choice Winner
“Winning the CTO Regional Final is a launchpad for us as we get ready to launch our GEOPiles to the market and
seek investment partners to help support our growth plans.” — Andrew Lee, CTO
Innovia GEO is focused on decarbonizing how we
heat and cool our buildings and homes by developing
innovative renewable heating and cooling solutions.
Our flagship GEOthermal Piles significantly cut the
cost of implementing clean and efficient geothermal
HVAC systems by integrating geothermal
functionality into steel foundation piles, thereby
enabling their dual use as both a foundation structure
and a geothermal ground heat exchanger.

21
Regional & Carbon Sequestration
Prize Winner
“It is an incredible moment for clean technology, and being part of this revolution makes all of us very proud.
Winning the Northeast program and the Carbon Sequestration Prize is such an incredible milestone.
It validates our efforts and passion to create sustainable solutions for the energy and chemical industry, and will
help us attract talent and connect with great global partners.” — Francesco Benedetti, CEO
Industrial purification and separation processes account for
15% of the world energy consumption and 16% of the CO2
emissions. This is because we still use energy-intensive,
century-old technologies. At Osmoses, we developed a clean
solution to change this: molecular filters that can purify
hydrogen, natural- and bio-gas, and can perform carbon
capture at scale. We are committed to transform chemical
separations and contribute to tackle climate change while
generating value for our customers.

22
"Cleantech Open was a great experience. We received ongoing input from professional investors and other
cleantech experts on our new energy eﬃciency product development and launch strategy. It was an extremely
valuable use of our time." — Steven Graves, President
High dilution lab exhaust fans run 24x7 to dilute potential
contaminants in the lab exhaust air. However, lab exhaust
air is clean 80%+ of the time. SmartStack® monitors the
cleanliness of lab exhaust air and indexes the associated
lab exhaust fans accordingly, driving signiﬁcant savings.
SmartStack® is one of the required technologies for all new
high dilution lab exhaust fans in California per their Title
24 Energy Code. We recently patented another lab exhaust
monitoring product.
Regional Finalist

23
Company Development Program (CDP)
2 CDP Participants
The Cleantech Open Company Development Program
provides development support for a limited number of
very early stage companies. CDP companies can take
advantage of workshops and clinics while they work with
their mentor. Companies that participate in the CDP
program are eligible to apply to participate in the full
Cleantech Open Northeast accelerator in a succeeding
year.
“Despite connecting online from Asia, the 2021
CTO program exposed me to a vibrant
community of clean-tech thought leaders. Highly
recommended for entrepreneurs looking to take
their business to the next level.” — Peter
Hamilton, Biovert Protein, Thailand

Alumni

25
Alumni
Engagement
523
Total Cleantech Open
Northeast Alumni
27
Alumni who took
on a new active
CTO role for the
2021 accelerator
83
Alumni referenced
in 2021 social media
66
Alumni in the
2021 News
➢ 11 speakers
➢ 2 application reviewers
➢ 1 member of mentor committee
➢ 4 mentors
➢ 9 judges

Alumni Fundraising Highlights (1/2)
26
Natel Energy (2005) raised $20M in
funding led by Breakthrough
Energy Ventures & with
Chevron Technology Ventures
California
Sealed (2013) raised $16M
with funding from Fifth
Wall and Robert Downey
Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition
Ventures
New York
Techstyle Materials (2018)
won $2M from the U.S.
Department of Energy's
Oﬃce of Energy Eﬃciency
and Renewable Energy
Massachusetts
CLIP.bike (2020)
closed a $1.57M
round of SEED
funding
New York
Pecos Wind Power (2017) received a
$1.15M grant from the DOE
Massachusetts
Bloc Power (2013) raised
$63M in a Series A round
New York
Thiozen (2020) raised
$3M in Series seed
funding
Massachusetts
Osmoses (2021) raised $3M
in pre-seed funding, led by
The Engine
Massachusetts

27
Alumni Fundraising Highlights (2/2)
AeroShield (2019) won $500,000
in cash and $75,000 in vouchers
from the DOE & $244,329 from
the 2021 MassCEC Catalyst
Program
Massachusetts
Farm to Flame
(2020) won a
competitive
$100,000 EPA
Small Business
Innovation
Research
(SBIR) grant
GreenBlu (2016), Andluca Technologies (2020),
Farm to Flame (2020), and RenewCO2 (2020),
were all awarded $75,000 from the New
Jersey CSIT through the Clean Tech Seed
Grant Program
New Jersey, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey
Andluca Technologies
(2020) won $400,000 from
the Luminate Accelerator
New Jersey
New York
Greensky Capital Inc. invests
approximately $1M in anessa (2019)
Canada
HEVO (2013) received
a $750,000 award
from the Department
of Energy
New York

28
2015 Cohort
2005 Cohort
2019 Cohort
Alumni in the News (1/5)

Mike Tinmouth of
ACUA Ocean presented
as a winner of the Clean
Maritime
Demonstration
Competition at COP26!
Joe Curtatone, incoming president of
NECEC, and Peter Miles, CEO of
eHempHouse, discussed how
cleantech and innovation are key to
combating climate change at COP26.
29
From left to right: Peter Miles, Joe Curtatone, Tim Lyde.
2021 Cohort
2021 Cohort

30
2013 Cohort
2016 Cohort

31
As she represents her
country as a top student
entrepreneur, the
high-stakes global finals is
her opportunity to win
worldwide attention and a
$100,000 grand prize to
make her life-changing
business ideas a reality and
transform the world.
“Own the Room” chronicles five
students from disparate corners of
the planet as they take their
budding business ventures to
Macau, China, to compete in the
Global Student Entrepreneur
Awards...Daniela, an immigrant
fleeing the crisis in Venezuela, is
taking on the chemical industry
from her lab at NYU...
2020
Cohort
2020 Cohort

32
Prisere (2020) has worked with
organizations such as the United Nations
Oﬃce for Disaster Risk Reduction and
NASA. Most recently, the U.S. Department
of Energy selected Prisere for a Small
Business Innovation Research award.
Along with Yelena Kann, Taylor
co-founded Radical Plastics (2018),
creating a replacement for conventional
plastics that is economical, recyclable and
fully biodegradable.

Read more about Cleantech Open
Northeast alumni in the news here.
33

Community

35
2021 Lifetime Achievement Award
Peter Rothstein - President of Northeast Clean
Energy Council
Peter Rothstein was instrumental in bringing
Cleantech Open into the NECEC family in 2015, and
this is a partnership that continues to grow stronger.
Peter is retiring after 11 years in this role. He has
made a lifetime of impact on the Northeast clean
energy sector. We look forward to having Peter
participate as a mentor in the future.
Thank you very much for your support over the years
and good luck in your retirement!
“It is so rewarding to see the business
and leadership growth of the CTO
participants. As a mentor, you get the
immediate reward of working with a
team, but you also appreciate all the
time, energy, and thoughtfulness that
the professional staﬀ and leadership
bring to making the program work for
you and your teams.”
— Peter Rothstein, President

71
New mentors
in 2021
196
Mentors
matched to a
team this year
136
Mentors
returning from
the previous
year
36
“Innovia GEO is honored to be chosen as the 2021 Cleantech Open Northeast Winner and congratulations to all the companies
in the Northeast cohort for completing the rigorous program. This win validates our eﬀorts in decarbonizing the heating and
cooling of our buildings and homes, one of the largest uses of energy and sources of greenhouse gas emissions in our world. We
would like to thank all those involved with the Cleantech Open Program for their tireless eﬀorts. The structured approach of
the CTO program and support from our diverse mentor group really helped us identify the critical aspects of our business
to focus on in order to accelerate the advancement of our technology and business.” - Andrew Lee, Innovia GEO,
Regional Winner
“Our business developed a lot in a short period of time. As I said before, I really, really appreciate you giving ExoCell the best
Cleantech Open Mentor Team. The program was a great learning experience!” - Matt Mayer, ExoCell
Mentor Program

37
Matched mentors are from 11
states and 5 countries

38
2021 Lead Mentor of the Year
Cheikh Dramé - Mentor for Voltpost
Cheikh Dramé, Market Development Lead, US Commercial Strategy
& Portfolio Planning at National Grid, is in his 2nd year as a mentor.
He was lead mentor to Voltpost. He’s active on the Mentor
Committee, and he recruited a colleague to participate as a mentor.
Cheikh is a dedicated and enthusiastic mentor. He’s always willing to
speak with entrepreneurs.
“With the Voltpost team I have been blessed to be part of an amazing team
of experienced and deeply committed mentors. This experience oﬀered me
the opportunity to improve my leadership skills, and gain exposure to the
latest technology applications to decarbonize mobility in cities.” — Cheikh
Dramé, Mentor
“Cheikh led the mentor
team with transparency
and respect. His
experience at National
Grid adds a unique and
vital perspective to
Voltpost.”
— Jeﬀ Prosserman,
CEO, Voltpost

39
2021 Sustainability Mentor of the Year
Barbra Batshalom - Mentor for Hydronic Shell
Barbra is a social entrepreneur, angel investor, educator and change
agent working to institutionalize sustainability with measurable
results. She has a diverse background in ﬁne arts, social psychology,
architecture and sustainability.
“Participating in Cleantech Open Northeast (CTONE) is the most
rewarding volunteer activity I engage in! Not only are the staﬀ amazing, the
mentor community is a blast, and I enjoy every group I've been in. The
team's ideas and enthusiasm are endlessly inspiring and there's nothing
quite like being a part of their evolution! The world urgently needs these
teams and their solutions, and this program helps them be more successful!”
— Barbra Batshalom, Mentor
“Barbra was highly engaged
with us throughout the program.
She never missed a meeting and
always gave us thoughtful and
helpful feedback. She has a lot
of experience in the world of
construction and architecture
and helped us make a number
of valuable connections. She
was super nice and very fun to
work with and I really can't say
enough great things about her.”
— David Goldstein, CEO,
Hydronic Shell

40
2021 Rookie Mentor of the Year
Pam Reid - Mentor for Moduly
Pam Reid started as a new mentor in 2021, and she stepped up to take
a leadership role with the team she mentored, adding a lot of value to
the process, not only for her team for also for others in the cohort and
for other mentors. Pam put her extensive business and
entrepreneurial experience to work for her team.
“I had recently sold my second start-up and was looking for a new way to
apply my skills. Environmental issues have always been a passion of mine.
Being a Cleantech Open mentor was a great way to get involved in climate
change initiatives. With the structure and framework of CTO, I was able to
hit the ground running. I highly recommend Cleantech Open as a wonderful
introduction to the cleantech ecosystem." — Pam Reid, Mentor
“Pam is passionate and
dedicated to helping
entrepreneurs. She is
proactive, attentive and
generous with her time. She
does her research, gives good
advice, brings creative ideas,
and continually challenges
us. Pam had a positive
impact on Moduly and we
are very grateful.”
— Jonathan Lamer, CEO,
Moduly

41
2021 Rookie Mentor of the Year
Cordula Schmid - Mentor for Xizan
Cordula Schmid is Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer
Engineering and a Researcher in solar photovoltaics at UMass
Lowell. Her research is focused mainly on reliability and durability.
“I became a Cleantech Open mentor to share my engineering knowledge.
What I experienced during the mentoring process was that in addition to
providing advice, I extended my network with high level executives and
gained a lot of knowledge in business and legal aspects of start-ups, so it was
a wonderful win-win experience for me.” — Cordula Schmid, Mentor
“Cordula has been very
supportive and very
proactive in responding to
my technical needs and
providing many contacts to
support my technical
development in the US as
part of the company's
development strategy.”
— Luis Casla, CEO,
Xizan

2021 Impact Report - 101M Metric Tons CO2e Reduced

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (6)

Similaire à 2021 Impact Report - 101M Metric Tons CO2e Reduced

Similaire à 2021 Impact Report - 101M Metric Tons CO2e Reduced (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

2021 Impact Report - 101M Metric Tons CO2e Reduced