7th Annual Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum - Coming up April 8, 2015

The Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, an organization I co-founded with Kevin Brown of Hobbes & Towne, is hosting its 7th annual energy technology forum, once again in partnership this year with the law firm of Pepper Hamilton. More details to come, but I wanted readers to have this head's up.

The Academy of Natural Sciences  1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103  Wednesday, April 8, 2015 | 3:30 - 7:30 PM (ET) Fostering investment and opportunity in energy technology… The future of energy technology is now. Join us for thought-provoking sessions from experts and thought leaders on trends in venture and corporate investment in energy technologies, and a showcase of leading-edge Mid-Atlantic energy companies that offers a glimpse of what’s to come at the 7th Annual Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum, hosted by Pepper Hamilton LLP’s Energy and Emerging Company Groups, in partnership with the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic. This much-anticipated event is known for fostering in-depth discussions about the future of the energy industry, the impact of technology on industry growth, and the investment climate, so mark your calendar and plan to be part of the conversation.

Agenda3:30 – 4:00 PM | Registration 4:00 – 6:00 PM | Program6:00 – 7:30 PM | Reception Ticket Pricing$50 Early Bird (on or before March 10) $65 (on or before April 7) $75 (at the door)   Call for Energy Technology Company Showcase We are currently accepting applications for companies who wish to participate in the Energy Technology Company Showcase. Click here to download the application. Forward completed applications by February 27th to Jennifer Kuban at kubanj@pepperlaw.com. Become a Sponsor We are currently seeking sponsors to participate in this forum. Click here to download the sponsorship form and please contact Jennifer Kuban at kubanj@pepperlaw.com for more information.

Gold Sponsors

Ideas on Energy: Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum Looks to the Industry’s Future

(Note: This is reposted from my friends at Pepper Hamiliton LLP, co-hosts of the Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum with the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, of which I am co-founder.)

The future of the energy industry; the technologies with the potential to impact energy exploration, delivery and efficiency; and the energy industry investment climate were on the agenda at the 6^th Annual Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum.

Pepper’s Energy and Emerging Company Groups hosted the April 3, 2014 event in Philadelphia, along with the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (which served as the event venue) and the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic. Nearly 300 energy industry professionals were in attendance.

The Forum kicked off with an investor panel moderated by Pepper partner Thomas P. Dwyer that discussed the current strategic and financial climate and what to expect in the energy sector in 2014. The featured panelists were George Coyle, manager, investments technology ventures, ConocoPhillips Company; Bill Kingsley, managing director of EnerTech Capital; Michael Smith, vice president, head of Constellation Technology Ventures at Exelon; and Annie Theriault, vice president of the Northwater Intellectual Property Fund.

Dwyer asked the panelists how the long-term viability of energy technology is perceived in the marketplace, to which Coyle responded, “Energy technology has always been there and will continue to be. While we saw a drop in cleantech investment, we’re still invested in a number of cleantech companies, including the first commercial carbon capture plant in Texas.”

“Oil and gas are booming, and those industries continue to drive the need for technologies that help them to be more efficient and sustainable. It’s difficult to supply energy and it takes energy to do that, so there’s no shortage of need for technology that streamlines those processes,” Coyle said.

Smith said that as an electric power provider, his company is seeing a paradigm shift in how businesses and individuals make and use power, which will likely change the way energy and related services are provided going forward. “Disruption in our industry is coming from the outside. People are making devices to make buildings smarter, and those innovations are coming from technology people, not energy people,” Smith said.
Dwyer then posed a thought-provoking question to the panelists: Will there be a Google or Apple of the energy space, or is the industry too regulated for that to happen?

Kingsley said, “It won’t happen in the next two or three years. The utility system in the United States is brilliant in the way it was set up in the 1920s and 30s. But, that investment model is now creaky. Everyone is looking at doing something with natural gas – there wasn’t much going on in that space 15 years ago. Utilities can’t plan effectively in that environment.”

“That’s right from my perspective,” Smith said. “Customers increasingly determine their fate, and we’re seeing an erosion of the energy paradigm that’s been around for 100 years.”

Coyle added, “We’re seeing a reversal of roles. Instead of creating more devices to take power off the grid, we’re seeing new ways of putting power back on the grid.”

Dwyer asked the panelists about trends in exits in the energy space, and Theriault said that exits involving IP in the software space are doing well. “On the M&A side and public company exits, energy is still a tricky market and will continue to be challenging,” she said.

Kingsley said, “We had people who walked away from the cleantech sector who are now coming back, so it’s a cyclical market. I like it – there are fewer investors, so the deal prices are better.”

The discussion closed with the panelists’ thoughts on opportunities and challenges for energy technology in the Mid-Atlantic region. Coyle said that while there are many very good energy technology professionals in the region, the challenge is getting the best and brightest minds to care about energy and see it as a career path, as it is seen in Houston and other parts of the country where the energy sector is more dominant. He also said that perspective may change now that Pennsylvania is one of the largest energy production states, thanks to the Marcellus Shale.

“There is no dearth of activity in this region, and I am not at all concerned about the viability of energy technology in the Mid-Atlantic,” Smith said.

A company showcase followed the panel discussion, and featured five innovative companies, which each presented a snapshot of their company’s energy-focused technologies. Kevin Brown of Hobbes & Towne introduced the presenting companies:

• Applied Communication Sciences has developed an innovative grid technology product that is getting traction in the marketplace. For example, the company’s utility pole sensors are deployed in the Sacramento Utility District to better monitor its network.
• Essess is a mobile thermal imaging technology company that can map a building’s energy loss – identifying leaks in a building envelope undetectable by the human eye – and provide remediation services.
• Infinite Invention LLC provides the ConnectDER, an electric power meter that mounts between a standard utility meter and the meter case to provide a quick, safe, inexpensive way to connect solar homes to the grid.
• Preferred Technology, LLC provides environmentally friendly resin-coated sand products to the fracking industry; coated sand prevents wells from clogging during the fracking process.
• Solar Grid Storage LLC “makes solar better with batteries,” providing a containerized storage solution that changes solar power into grid power by adding batteries to solar photovoltaic installations.

Scott Anderson of Ernst & Young’s Global Cleantech Center then introduced keynote speaker Bob Inglis, a former congressman from South Carolina and executive director of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative (E&EI) at George Mason University, to close out the program.

Inglis founded the E&EI in 2012 on the conservative principles of free enterprise and economic growth, limited government, liberty, accountability and reasonable risk avoidance to solve the country’s energy and climate challenges.

“At E&EI, we believe that free enterprise can fix climate change,” Inglis said. “Our proposal involves cutting income taxes and replacing it with a carbon tax – in effect, reducing taxes on income, which you want more of, and taxing something you want less of.”

The event program is available online at http://www.pepperlaw.com/pdfs/Energy_Tech_Forum_Program_Book_2014.pdf.

Know Your Audience (and Its Bite Size), Say Corporate VCs to Cleantech Entrepreneurs

Grant Allen of ABB TechnologyVentures

"Get your stuff together before you meet with us," said Grant Allen of ABB Technology Ventures to an audience of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate leaders gathered at the offices of Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia last Thursday. "Do your homework. We're quite clear on our web site what we do. And make sure you have a crisp, compelling script, and a strong, committed management team."

This sentiment was echoed by Michael Smith, head of Constellation Technology Ventures at Exelon. "You need to know your audience," Smith said. "Talk to us like an energy company. We're looking for ways to keep Exelon relevant."

The event, "Energy Giants: Looking for Innovative Investments," was jointly sponsored by Pepper Hamilton and the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, and featured Sumit Sarkar of NRG Ventures, in addition to Smith and Allen, on a panel that I moderated.

Michael Smith of Constellation
Technology Ventures

"Large companies aren't good at innovation," Allen offered, "our goal is to be a thorn in the side of internal R&D."

Sarkar suggested that the venture arms of corporations can sometimes be nimbler in response and are constantly scanning for technologies that offer improvements.

Each outlined what they look for in a company and how much they want to invest, their “bite size.”

There was, of course, some discussion about capital "light" companies or technologies, but given the range of their investment thresholds -- from $3M-$250M -- they understand the need for some capital outlay.

While traditional Venture Capital (VC) has been pulling out of the sector, corporate VC (CVC) has picked up some of the slack.

In 2012 for example, according to a recent study, of the total $6.46B investment in the sector, $2.7B came from corporates, up from $2.55B in 2010 and $1.7B in 2006. Q2 of 2013 saw CVC rise to 14% of total venture investment in the sector vs. only 8% in Q1. And 107 CVCs made an investment in the sector in the 1st half of 2013, versus 148 in all of 2012.

Sumit Sarkar of NRG Ventures

Corporate VCs are a little less risk averse than traditional VCs, in part because such companies are full of engineers who can scrutinize a technology's before an investment is made, but there seemed to be consensus that if the technology enables an existing technology perform better, it is going to be worth a look.

All three investors agreed that networking and investment pitch events can serve as a feeder for companies, but having an executive sponsor is best. 

The entrepreneurs in the room, representing everything from energy storage to software that helps increase the efficiency of long-haul truck drivers, seemed to nod in understanding or agreement.

At the cleantech CEO Retreat that I help manage for EY’s Global Cleantech Center this fall, a recurring meme developed around elephants dancing with mice. As small companies (the mice) began to dance with corporates (the elephants) either as strategic partners, customers, or investors.

Some of the concerns for the mice, obviously, were around how not to get crushed while dancing with elephants. But from the elephant side, how can mice get noticed and have something relevant to share?

Hopefully, the panelists at last Thursday’s event helped alleviate some of the stress between species on the dance floor.

(Disclosure: the author is co-founder of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic.)

Energy Giants: Looking for Innovative Investments

Join me as I moderate this panel on corporate investors looking for innovative technologies that fit their corporate strategies. Hope to see you there.   

Energy Giants: Looking for Innovative Investments

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Large and forward-looking corporations want to be on the ground floor of the next wave of energy innovation. Corporate investors are looking for innovative technologies that fit within their corporate strategies. In addition to financial assistance, these corporate investors are also assisting to commercialize technologies within the large and changing energy markets. Learn about this and more by attending this informative and lively dialogue in which industry experts will address these and other key questions. Sponsored by Pepper Hamilton LLP's Energy Group and Emerging Company Group and the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, this session examines the recent resurgence in corporate venture activity in the energy space - particularly among Fortune 500 companies - and the many new players involved in the industry. Join us to learn more about this complex and important topic.

5:30 - 6:00 p.m. Networking and Registration

6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Program

7:00 - 7:30 p.m. Networking

Pepper Hamilton LLP

3000 Two Logan Square

Eighteenth and Arch Streets

Philadelphia, PA  19103

Welcome & IntroductionThomas P. Dwyer, Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP

Moderator
Scott E. Anderson, Global Marketing Director, Cleantech, Ernst & Young LLP
Co-Founder, Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic

Speakers

Grant Allen, Senior Vice President, ABB Technology Ventures
Sumit Sarkar, Director, NRG Ventures
Michael Smith, Vice President, Head of Constellation Technology Ventures at Exelon

Contact Kristen Clark at clarkk@pepperlaw.com or 412.454.5049 with questions.

CLICK HERE to register for this event.

(Full disclosure: I am co-founder of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic.)

Focus on Teams, Customers, and Going to Market, Investors Tell Mid-Atlantic Energy Forum

Dr. Cheryl Martin Addressing
Mid-Atlantic Energy Tech Forum

"We focus on teamwork," Cheryl Martin, Deputy Director of ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) in her keynote address to the Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum last night. "There has to be a strong team and if we need to bring in a CEO to take the company to market, we will."

Dr. Martin, in her second year with the research and commercialization agency, spoke to a crowd of around 200 energy enthusiasts, investors, and entrepreneurs at Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

"We look for high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are solving real problems, and the dedicated teams that can bring them to market," Martin noted. "We just celebrated our fourth anniversary. We've got more to do."

Marking its own 5th year, the Mid-Atlantic Energy Tech Forum (formerly Cleantech Investment Forum) is a partnership between the law firm of Blank Rome and the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, which I co-founded in 2008 with Kevin Brown of the search firm Hobbes & Towne.

The Forum has grown into the premier showcase for the region's most promising companies in energy technology, cleantech, and resource efficiency.

Last night's presenting companies ranged from software as a service offerings such as Propel IT, which uses data and incentives to reduce fuel consumption in trucking fleets, to Rentricity's plug-in microturbine that captures energy generated by pressure reducing valves in the nation's water distribution system.

The CEO presenters included serial entrepreneurs and a former banker who each explained their solutions in 7-minutes pitches. All highlighted their management teams as well as their revenue structures and some spoke of the importance of customers.

Electric cars and dinosaurs were featured outside the Forum.

The focus on customers was raised earlier in the evening by the investor panel, which I moderated.

"In my years engaging with cleantech companies, most firms don't make delivering a superior customer experience the top priority like Apple does," Diana Propper de Callejon of Expansion Capital Partners noted.

As for opportunities in the sector, panelists Andrew Garman of New Venture Partners and Purnesh Seegopaul of Pangaea Ventures, each suggested the funding ecosystem for research and development has expanded and that sustainable solutions are needed in everything from buildings to fossil fuel use require advanced materials.

There has also been a boon in corporate venture capital, which has helped fill the investor syndicate pool as other VCs have left the water.

Success breeds success, however, as in most investing.

"We look for patterns of successful companies and want to replicate those patterns in other disruptive industries," said Seegopaul.

As one attendee told me during the cocktail reception after the program, his key takeaway was that business model innovations that can scale, focus on the customer, and disrupt their industry will win in the current market -- as long as they have a strong team and financial rigor.

Good lessons for any business, but especially in the current cleantech and energy environment.


(DISCLOSURE: The author is co-founder of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, one of the hosts of the event describe herein.)

4th Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum - April 12th

The Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, along with Blank Rome's Cleantech Group and the Academy of Natural Sciences are pleased to host our 4th Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum featuring panels of experts and thought leaders discussing the new future of shale gas development, cleantech venture and corporate investing, as well as our annual showcase of leading Mid-Atlantic cleantech companies.

The program will include:

Keynote Speaker: Mark Fulton, Managing Director and Global Head of Climate Change Investment Research & Strategy, Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors

Shale Development Panel featuring
Andrew Leitzinger, Director, Appalachian Basin UG Services, URS Corporation
N. Foster Mellen, Senior Strategic Analyst-Oil and Gas, Ernst & Young LLP
Thomas Murphy, Extension Educator and Co-Director, Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research 
Peter Terranova, Vice President Midstream Assets and Services, UGI Energy Services, Inc.
Moderated by Peg Hill, Chair of Blank Rome's Marcellus Shale and Hydraulic Fracturing Industry Group

Cleantech Investment Panel including:
Bruce Chung, Vice President-Venture Investments, NRG Energy
Michael Cichowski, Principal, Edison Ventures
Ellen Purdy, Chief Financial Officer, Renmatix
Tucker Twitmyer, Managing Director, EnerTech Capital
Josh Wolfe, Founding Partner and Managing Director, Lux Capital
Moderated by Thomas P. Dwyer and Louis Rappaport, co-leaders of Blank Rome's Cleantech Group 

When: Thursday, April 12, 2012, 3:30-7:30 PM
Where: The Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia

To purchase tickets: Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum


(Disclosure: The author is co-founder of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic.)

Wind Industry Just Hot Air? The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

On Tuesday I sat down with Stuart Varney & Company on FOX Business to talk about wind power and the relative merits of distributed generation versus big wind farms, including the need for transmission and grid infrastructure improvements to make big wind viable.

Here's the video:



And here's a link in case the player doesn't work in your browser: Green Skeptic on FOX Business

The Energy Collective Podcast: Cleantech, the Venture Capital Climate, and Policy

We had a lively and informative discussion about Cleantech Investing on The Energy Collective a couple of weeks ago, with Will Coleman of Mohr Davidow, Dan Shugar of SunPower and Solaria, and yours truly, moderated by Jess Jenkins, director of energy and climate policy at the Breakthrough Institute.

Here's how Amelia Timbers described it on The Energy Collective blog:

Will began with "cleantech investing 101", and explained how the macro economic situation and IPO backlog is affecting the venture capital world. He points to the patterns in cleantech venture capital as it matures as an industry of its own. He also points to the importance of large organizations getting involved in cleantech startups. Coleman discussed the complexity of technology risk and financing when startups are scaling from demonstration scale to commercialization.

Scott gave an example of corporate partnerships as a means of acheiving scale, and details the sophisticated 'balancing act' required by management teams in these situations. Scott also offers his insight on operating in China. 

Dan Shugar explains his experience in solar, from Sunpower to Solaria, and who remains a strong advocate of renewables. Dan emphasizes the need for growing companies to operate leanly and to operate on as much a cash basis as possible. 

And here are the slides and audio recording (about 1 1/2 hours long). You can also download the Podcast here: "How to Save the Planet on a Budget, Part 3"

How to Save a Planet - On a Budget: Cleantech, the Venture Capital Climate, and Policy

View more presentations from Social Media Today

And here is a video of the slides with audio recording:

Let me know what you think about our conversation.