"Cleantech Companies to Watch" in Philadelphia

One has an odorous solution to a growing risk...

One takes brown grease and turns it into gold (well, diesel fuel)...

One takes the wait out of recharging Electric Vehicles with the ease we've come to expect with EZPass at toll booths on the turnpike...

These were three of the promising start-ups from the mid-Atlantic region that presented  last night at the Entrepreneurs Forum of Greater Philadelphia's "Cleantech Companies to Watch" program.

Held at the Haub School of Business at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, the event was part of an ongoing series of entrepreneur-focused programming offered by the organization for its members.

Enersol, which we've been familiar with since last year, has developed a technology to odorize hydrogen gas. Why? Because, as Founder and CEO Patrick Flynn says, "with the growing demand for hydrogen in industrial and commercial applications there is an increased risk of accidental escape and combustion of this highly flammable, odorless gas."

That smell you smell with natural gas that tells you when you have a leak? It's added for the same reason. Without it, sensors would have to detect any leak and, while they are generally reliable, the risk of accidents increases as use of the gas becomes more ubiquitous.

Recently named one of Always On GoingGreen East's Top 50 companies, BlackGold Biofuels is no stranger to readers of this blog. (CEO Emily Landsburg was a part of the first cohort of GoodCompany Ventures last summer and we've continued to work together.)  But what was really impressive is she made this presentation -- and didn't skip a beat -- just six days after giving birth to her first child, Max, who was in the audience.

BlackGold has a patent-pending technology to convert sewer grease -- a multimillion dollar municipal pain in the, well, sewer -- into biodiesel.  Literally turning a liability into an asset. They are installing their first full-scale plant in the city of San Francisco, having beat out two west coast competitors.

Very intriguing was the final presenter, Momentum Dynamics, which is developing a game-changing proprietary technology that solves one of the biggest issues facing the electric vehicle market: it's wired. Not only that, but as inventor and CEO Andrew Daga said, full-cycle charging reduces battery life and takes a minimum of 30 minutes to charge.

So, where once the car provided freedom, electric vehicles as currently being developed require you to plug in, which means you need to be able to do so at home, office, wherever and whenever. But you can't and won't; we all forget to charge our phones, don't we?

Momentum's solution charges automatically, whether parked overnight or for just a few minutes or even while traveling at normal speeds. Think the EZPass lane compared to cash-only toll lanes.  This breakthrough gives EV drivers, as Momentum's tag line says, "Freedom to move."

"The Entrepreneurs Forum hasn't had an opportunity to focus on cleantech in the past," said Dan Ross, the EF's executive director. "But we felt it is an emerging growth area in the region."

The Forum intends to look for other ways to spotlight cleantech entrepreneurs in the Greater Philadelphia area.

VerdeStrategy: Announcing My New Venture

Over the past year and a half since leaving Ashoka,  I've learned a lot about what entrepreneurs need to succeed.

I've also learned a lot about the needs of companies struggling with how to be green and sustainable in a time of increased scrutiny and transparency.

Somewhere at the intersection of these two learnings is where my new venture, VerdeStrategy, took root.

And I'm pleased to announce its launch today.

VerdeStrategy is a consulting and advisory firm focused on the cleantech, energy, and environment sectors. Working with start-ups, corporations and social enterprises, we will help create robust, sustainable businesses that attract investment, improve profitability, and extend market share.

If you're a start-up needing to raise capital to build your prototype, but not sure where to turn or struggling to explain your concept in a simple, compelling way, we can help with that.

If you're a company wrestling with what sustainability means to your company or trying to take the next step in a sustainability journey already begun, we can help with that.

If you're a CEO who needs coaching, a sounding board for management issues, or to polish your presentation skills, we can help with that.

If you're the leader of sustainability or green efforts at your company and need help navigating the confusing sustainable path, we can help with that.

I'm very excited about this new venture and about starting it in Philadelphia, where my involvement with GoodCompany Ventures, Philly Startup Leaders, and the launch of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic (formerly REBN, Mid-Atlantic) conspired to inspire this new venture.

Here's a link to our web site: VerdeStrategy.  Let me know how we can help.

GoodCompany "Un-Panel" at GreenSpaces NY

Last week's GoodCompany Ventures event at the TriBeCa, NY, offices of Green Spaces brought together some of the top minds in early stage and patient capital investing, including Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, Jacob Gray from Murex Investments, Roger Ehrenberg of IA Venture Strategies, and Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund, along with yours truly as the "un-moderator."

A great dialogue on our "un-panel" ranged from balancing long-term impact with maximizing returns to the need for solid metrics for social return.

[Hoping to have a link to video of the panel here next week.]


Four GoodCompanys  from the inaugural class of 2009 presented, including Black Gold Biofuels, Couchange, CalendarFly, and PublicStuff.

Roger Ehrenberg wrote a thoughtful post on his Information Arbitrage blog about the need for a new model for investing in "social" impacts and Jason Keramidas wrote a recap on the GoodCompany blog.

Applications for the 2010 Incubator are being accepted here.

(Disclosure: I am on the Advisory Board of GoodCompany Ventures.)

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Busy Weeks: Good for Business, Bad for Blogging

This is just to say that this has been a busy couple of weeks.

We launched the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic website last week, we've been planning our 2nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Forum, which will be held at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia on March 25th.

And I attended CleanLinks New York, our sister organization in the City and its environs, hosted by SJF Ventures, where one of the companies I've been working with, BlackGold Biofuels had a presence. (BGB's CEO Emily Landsburg is part of the first cohort of SJF Cleantech Mentorship Fellows.)

Next up: I'm leading a panel for GoodCompany Ventures on "Entrepreneruship and Social Change" this coming Thursday at GreenSpaces NY (see my previous post or Fred Wilson's here) and then heading to Boston for the MIT Energy Conference on Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile, my new consulting and advisory venture, VerdeStrategy, is kicking into gear. I'm lining up some very interesting clients. You can read more about what we're offering at VerdeStrategy.com

A busy couple of weeks, leaving precious little time for blogging. But I'll have so much more to blog about after this week is over.

GoodCompany: Can Venture Capital Change the World?

GoodCompany Ventures will announce its 2010 Venture Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs at a launch event next Thursday, March 4th from 6-8 pm in New York City.

I'm excited to be moderating a conversation between some of the most prominent advocates for both early stage investment and social enterprise, including

Fred Wilson, founder of Union Square Ventures, an advocate for early stage investment and author of the influential A VC blog;

Jacqueline Novogratz, author of The Blue Sweater, and the founder of Acumen Fund, a global nonprofit venture philanthropy fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty;

Roger Ehrenberg, founder of IA Venture Strategies, one of the most active angel investors in New York, and author of the blog Information Arbitrage;

and Jacob Gray, a partner at Murex Investments, a leading double-bottom-line venture fund, and a GoodCompany board member.

We'll be talking about the power of capital -- early stage and patient -- to catalyze change through investing in entrepreneurs and their innovations. GoodCompany believes that financial and societal returns are not mutually exclusive.

As Garrett Melby, co-founder and CEO of GoodCompany Ventures said in a press release, "Our mission is to help entrepreneurs and investors reconcile purpose and profit. We are excited to have four such influential and innovative investors come together to highlight new models for harnessing private capital to drive lasting social impact"

GoodCompany's 2009 pilot program in Philadelphia was the first incubator in the country to adopt venture capital strategies to the needs of social enterprises.

The 2009 program attracted social entrepreneurs from around the globe, in fields such as Cleantech, Education, Public Health, Social Finance and Community Development. Several companies from the 2009 cohort will do Ignite-style flash pitches at the event.

Applications for the 2010 GoodCompany Ventures Program will be accepted beginning March 5th.

The launch event is being hosted by GoodCompany Ventures, in partnership with Green Spaces, at their Tribeca co-working facility located at 394 Broadway, New York NY 10013.

Green Spaces forwards the sustainability movement globally through widespread local hubs that incubate social and environmental entrepreneurs.

Advance tickets are required for this event and are available at http://gcvpanel.eventbrite.com.


(Disclosure: I am on the Advisory Board of GoodCompany Ventures.)

Venture Fair Wraps Up GoodCompany Ventures' Inaugural Class

Tomorrow the summer comes to an end for the ten companies to be graduated from the inaugural class of GoodCompany Ventures, the social business incubator.

The session wraps with a Gala Venture Fair. The Venture Fair, sponsored by Blank Rome LLP, Investors' Circle, and RSF Social Finance, features Karen Randal of the Philadelphia Department of Commerce as a key note speaker.

For the last few months, ten companies in the social business sector have been participating in GoodCompany Ventures’ incubator program. The curriculum has included expert speaker panels, strategic and industry advisers, and information sessions aimed at providing the companies with the resources they need to maximize growth.

One of the entrepreneurs, Emily Landsburg, co-founder of BlackGold Biofuels, credits the incubator with providing BlackGold "the structure and space to think more strategically." For Landsburg, the incubator's expert speaker panels offered "new insights and approaches to business planning."

Similarly, for Angela McIver, founder and CEO of Math Foundations, "GCV's support has been key in positioning our company to become a major player in the education industry."

GoodCompany Ventures' Gala Venture Fair brings together investors, entrepreneurs, and colleagues who seek to promote good business in Philadelphia.

The graduation is a two-part event that formally begins with company pitches to accredited investors at 2:00pm, followed by speakers including Bart Houlahan of B Corporation.

The Venture Fair will provide a showcase for some of the region’s most promising early and expansion-stage triple bottom line businesses, and will also mark the launch of Investors' Circle's Philadelphia chapter.

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A Tale of Two Incubators, or Entrepreneurial Phun in Philly

Image via CrunchBase

I spent the day with a bunch of cool companies at two start-up incubators here in Philadelphia. Yes, that's right, Philadelphia, home of the original American entrepreneur Ben Franklin.

The first incubator, now in its second season, was DreamIt Ventures. Today was "Demo Day," where this year's cohort, including postling, parse.ly, and kidzillions presented to a group of investors. This was the culmination of their three-month business development program under the tutelage of mentors from the Greater Philadelphia start-up scene and guest speakers from around the country like Howard Lindzon and Brad Feld.

The second, was GoodCompany Ventures, the social enteprise incubator launched this year. Today's session at GoodCompany was a dress rehearsal for the entrepreneurs in advance of their own day of presentations to investors to be held next month. I was one of the judges working with two of the companies, BlackGold Biofuels and BLOX, to refine their pitch.

A fantastic group of companies from the region and outside participated in both programs this summer, proving once again that Philly is a good place to launch a start-up.

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GoodCompany Ventures Launches Social Enterprise Incubator in Philly

"GoodCompany Ventures is such a good idea," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told the crowd gathered on the porch of Building 101 at the Navy Yard. "I wish I'd thought of it."

GoodCompany Ventures, an incubator for businesses with social impact, launched today with a virtual ribbon cutting by Mayor Nutter. "We'll all close our eyes and imagine the ribbon being cut, because that's how business gets done these days," the Mayor quipped.

All kidding aside, Mayor Nutter seemed genuinely pleased today to be welcoming GoodCompany Ventures -- and the ten start-up social enterprises that will be working at the Navy Yard over the summer -- and recognized how this effort supports his overall goals to make Philadelphia the nation's greenest city.

He pointed to development at the Navy Yard, which he called "Center City South," an area the size of Center City, which has been redeveloped over the past ten years or so since the U.S. Navy closed its base there.

"I hope these companies will enjoy their time here at the Navy Yard this summer," said Pennsylvania Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) head Peter S. Longstreth, "And that they will want to move in as tenants as they expand their businesses developed here."

The Navy Yard is home to more than 80 companies employing 7,500 people, including Urban Outfitters and Tastykake, in 5.5 million square feet of renovated space. PIDC, is the developer of the Navy Yard and a partner in GoodCompany Ventures.

"GoodCompany Ventures is designed to demonstrate that you can make money and do good," said Jacob Gray of Murex Investments and a partner and co-founder of GoodCompany. "And I think the companies we have lined up for this first cohort exemplify that goal."

The GoodCompany Ventures incubator will provide guidance and support to a group of hand-picked social entrepreneurs each summer. Through group sessions, one-on-one mentoring, and providing access to pro bono services, GoodCompany will help businesses at varying stages of their development.

BlackGold Biofuels and the GoodCompany Ventures launch were featured in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday: read it here.

Other companies in the inaugural cohort of the incubator include BLOX, a partnership between Philadelphia developer Onion Flats LLC and modular building manufacturer Landmark Building Systems Inc; Cyrus-XP LLC, which is developing a computer information platform for the growing long-term care market; and Math Foundations, which was launched by Angela McIver, a former math teacher, to provide math-remediation consulting to schools and job-training programs.

More on GoodCompany Ventures can be found here: GoodCompany Ventures

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