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Read the Cleantech Open 2021 Impact Report.
**You can view the report directly from your browser using the arrows under the slideshow on the SlideShare website.
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 per year, 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
