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National
Date of Publication
10/23/2020
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Partnerships
Summary

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October 23, 2020 (Arlington, VA and Los Angeles, CA) – Cleantech Open and the Solar Impulse Foundation, through its World Alliance for Efficient Solutions, have established a synergistic collaboration with the goal of expediting the impact of clean and efficient technologies from all sectors of industry. 


The announcement was made by Ken Hayes, Executive Director of Cleantech Open (CTO) on Oct 23 at the start of the annual Cleantech Open Global Forum. The event brings together cleantech companies, entrepreneurs, sustainability experts, investors, and partner organizations to celebrate the progress and achievements toward the creation of a sustainable green economy. Since 2006, Cleantech Open has been instrumental in the growth of more than 1,600 early-stage cleantech innovators.

Two alumni of the Cleantech Open's innovation ecosystem have received the Solar Impulse Efficient Solutions Label, making them eligible for inclusion in the Solar Impulse 1000Solutions portfolio. 

“Like all our solutions, California's FastOx Gasification by Sierra Energy and Massachusetts-based Plasma Vortex by OnVector went through an extensive third-party assessment to validate profitability and environmental protection throughout the lifecycle," said Solar Impulse Chairman Bertrand Piccard. "The Cleantech Open's work to accelerate the growth of startups in clean water, energy, construction, mobility, industry, and agriculture is highly commendable. It's a perfect match for our combined goals, and it’s fantastic that Cleantech Open will be feeding more alumni into the portfolio to encourage governments and industries to adopt ambitious environmental targets and policies.”

"As a business accelerator, Cleantech Open works with early-stage entrepreneurs on some of the most innovative technologies to improve our world. We're excited to collaborate with the Solar Impulse Foundation to give CTO entrepreneurs a path forward to greater exposure and recognition so that their innovations can scale and grow internationally, not just in the United States," said Cleantech Open Executive Director Ken Hayes.

Pushing through boundaries and limits is second nature for Bertrand Piccard, keynote speaker at the October 23 Cleantech Open event. "More than to demonstrate a technological feat, the purpose of my round-the-world flight in the solar-powered Solar Impulse airplane was to show that nothing is impossible. Right now we have a window of time to create the market opportunity of the century – and protect our planet in the process," said Piccard.

The Solar Impulse Foundation, founded by Bertrand Piccard after his historic solar-powered airplane flight around the world, discovers and validates innovative solutions for profitability and compliance with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in order to motivate governments and industries to adopt ambitious environmental targets and policies. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland and Arlington, VA, the foundation awards cleantech entrepreneurs through the Efficient Solutions Label, giving them access to mentors, investors, supply chain partners and more to scale and grow businesses for a prosperous circular economy. 

Cleantech Open is the world’s oldest and largest cleantech accelerator and is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs and technologists the training, networking and access to resources needed to launch a successful cleantech company. Our mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental, and economic challenges. Cleantech Open is a program of Community Partners, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization in Los Angeles. Fueled by a network of more than 2,000 volunteers, Cleantech Open unites the public and private sectors in a shared vision for making America’s cleantech sector a thriving and diverse economic engine. For more information, visit us at cleantechopen.org and follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.