Energy2019
The challenge
To be part of a competitively-selected cohort of startup and/or seed stage ventures who offer new technologies, or novel applications of existing technologies, aimed at reducing fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions in the heating and/or transportation sector.
Rural economies nationwide and around the globe are struggling to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels particularly in transportation and heating. As extreme weather events become more prevalent, the need for innovation in the private sector has never been more real.
Vermont is a leader in the incubation and development of forward-thinking energy businesses and is making a concerted effort to attract the next generation of climate-friendly businesses to the state in an effort to accelerate their success.
Consider some of the challenges and opportunities that we face in Vermont that are also applicable throughout the world. Some examples would include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Solutions to make electric transportation more affordable, accessible, and widely-available;
- New electric vehicle recharging infrastructure for homes, businesses, and the public;
- New technology to help utilities interface with electric charging infrastructure to manage demand or send price signals or enable dynamic or other rates;
- New air-source and ground-source heat pump technologies, including demand management and boiler-compatible;
- Advanced biomass and biofuel solutions for homes, businesses, and public-sector institutions;
- Solar water heating solutions;
- District heating technologies and applications.
Who applied
Entrepreneurs participating in DeltaClimeVT come from Vermont and around the U.S. and Canada, typically at a startup or seed stage of development. Companies with at least two team members, demonstrated market adoption in the form of a pilot or paying customer and some level of investment or grant other than founder capital were encouraged to apply.
The results
After three months of intense focus, camaraderie and learning we are pleased to announce the DeltaClimeVT Energy2019 cohort winner as selected by their peers: Onboard Data. In addition, for the first time, two of our core sponsors offered additional awards to conduct pilot projects with them. EV Match, Go Together and DCC have won the opportunity to conduct pilot projects with Burlington Electric Department, while EV Match will also get to do a pilot project with Green Mountain Power.
Watch Our Energy2017 Recap
DID YOU KNOW?
DeltaClimeVT offers cohort members more than 35 hours of time with mentors, investors and potential customers?
The companies
DCC is a hardware company supporting residential electric vehicle charging installations that are otherwise unattainable because of a limited power supply. With our device, EV owners now have a reliable solution if their panels are at full capacity or if they reside in a multi-unit dwelling. dccelectric.com Quebec WINNER – PILOT PROJECT WITH BURLINGTON ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT
EVmatch is a mobile platform that allows EV drivers to find and reserve charging stations anywhere they go by enabling increased access to underutilized private charging stations. EVmatch reduces the stress in locating an available charger and immediately grows the public charging network by making private charging stations available to the public. www.evmatch.com/ California WINNER – PILOT PROJECT WITH BURLINGTON ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT AND WITH GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER
Go Together is a SaaS platform for people to get where they need to go through their trusted networks using apps to do end to end trip planning to meet, collaborate and schedule carpools, biking, walking, transit, and more. Go Together leverages technology and the power of trusted communities to innovate the way people get where they need and want to go whether it’s to and from school, to practice, a game or to vote. www.gotogether.today Washington, D.C. WINNER – PILOT PROJECT WITH BURLINGTON ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT
iSun Energy develops robust, esthetic, smart and easy to install solar carport and canopy systems with proprietary hardware and software systems. iSun offers an attractive structure delivering shading and protection, while also feeding the local grid with renewable solar energy, and the ability to mate with smart energy management systems, such as EV charging. Quebec
Onboard is in the business of helping people make buildings better. We provide analytics software to service providers and facility managers that maintain our most frequented spaces: such as our offices, hospitals, and schools. Instead of chasing energy, maintenance and comfort problems, our customers can turn to our software to uncover issues before they turn into emergencies. Maintenance personnel can now save time and money while delighting their building owners and tenants. www.onboarddata.io Massachusetts WINNER OF $25,000 PEER SELECTED AWARD
The Somerville Electric Vehicle Company provides charging solutions for micro-mobility applications (e-scooters, e-bicycles, e-mopeds) by using swappable batteries paired with a battery subscription service, so that users never have to wait to charge. Somerville EV Co charges and stores batteries in self-serve swap-and-go Battery Swap Kiosks. www.som-ev.com/ Massachusetts
United Aircraft Technologies developed a robust Interconnecting Clamp (ICC) for aerospace wire harness management that replaces a metal legacy design with a new ergonomic and considerably lighter alternative. This patent pending ICC is unique because it avoids metallic installation hardware while greatly simplifying installation complexity, reducing installer fatigue, and minimizing associated repetitive strain injury. www.uairtek.com/ New York
“In Vermont, the transportation sector represents our largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, in Burlington, transportation is the largest source of local greenhouse gas emissions. At Burlington Electric Department, we see an opportunity to help our customers and all of our ratepayers benefit from efforts to expand electric transportation.” Read more…
“We plan to use the $25,000 prize money to continue to develop our software product and serve clients in Vermont and greater New England. Onboard provides analytics software to uncover hidden energy, maintenance and comfort problems in commercial buildings. These problems are a significant reason commercial buildings emit more harmful emissions than transportation or industry. We’re thankful to Vermont, the program managers and sponsors of DeltaClimeVT, and the cohort of entrepreneurs that supported us this summer. We absolutely enjoyed our time in Burlington. We’ll be here frequently to serve clients and, if possible, establish a remote presence in this great city!”
Awards
Advisors
At DeltaClimeVT, we tap an innovative group of leaders who are subject matter experts and/or have deep entrepreneurial and investment experience, based on the needs of each cohort selected.
Joseph Steig
Principal,
ecosVC
Joseph Steig is a principal at ecosVC, a consulting and training company for STEM ventures. He also consults with companies and investors in a CFO capacity. He currently works with LRVHealth, a healthcare venture fund based in Boston, and with IUNU, an agriculture technology company based in Seattle. Joseph has worked in a diverse range of industries from aquaculture to software and has extensive consulting experience with universities and innovators on technology commercialization.
Joseph serves on the Board of Directors of Greentown Learn, the educational non-profit affiliated with the world’s largest clean tech incubator, Greentown Labs. He went to Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts and divides his time between Seattle and Vancouver, Canada. More information at www.steig.com.
Darren Springer
General Manager, Burlington Electric Department
Darren Springer is the General Manager at Burlington Electric Department (BED). He previously served as Burlington Electric’s Chief Operating Officer and led the Center for Innovation team which includes the Policy & Planning, Finance, Information Technology and Energy Services divisions.
Prior to joining BED, Darren served as Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor Peter Shumlin. Before working in the Governor’s Office, Darren was appointed as Deputy Commissioner at the Vermont Public Service Department, leading the advancement of the 2014 net metering law and 2015 renewable energy standard.
Darren worked for 4 years in the Washington, D.C. Office of U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders as Senior Policy Advisor for Energy & Environment, and later as Chief Counsel. He has also worked for the National Governors Association as Program Director for Energy and Transportation. Darren has a B.A. from Florida Atlantic University and earned a J.D. and Master of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. While at Vermont Law School, he was selected as Managing Editor of the Vermont Law Review, and clerked for U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is a member of the Vermont Bar, Virginia Bar, and Florida Bar. Darren has also served as a Policy Fellow on Climate Change and Renewable Energy at the University of Vermont Center for Research on Vermont.
Paul Silva
General Partner, Launch413, and President & Founder, Innovation Accelerator
Paul Silva leads Launch413, an alternative venture fund getting startups to their first $10 million in revenue; River Valley Investors, which connects seed and early-stage startups to Western Massachusetts’ angel investors; and Innovation Accelerator, which trains nonprofit leaders to develop sources of unrestricted, recurring, and sustainable revenue.
Previously, he co-founded Valley Venture Mentors (one of the top 100 accelerators in the world). Paul served as a board member of Angel Capital Association. He also co-founded All in Play, an internet company that helped the blind socialize with their fully sighted friends and families as equals.
Marilyn Waite
Program Officer in Environment, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Marilyn Waite is currently the Program Officer, Climate and Clean Energy Finance at the Hewlett Foundation in Silicon Valley. She formerly lead the energy practice at Village Capital, where she found, trained and invested in ventures solving pressing challenges in the energy sector. Marilyn has worked across four continents in investment (Lincoln International), public policy (National Academy of Sciences), and nuclear and renewable energy (AREVA). Author of Sustainability at Work, Marilyn also serves on the Board of Directors for The Biomimicry Institute and is a former Senior Research Fellow at Paul Hawken’s Project Drawdown. Marilyn holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering, magna cum laude, from Princeton University.
Tammy Newmark
CEO & Managing Partner, EcoEnterprises Fund
A leader in impact investing, Tammy Newmark has over thirty years of experience in the field. Newmark launched EcoEnterprises Partners II, LP in 2012 under EcoEnterprises Capital Management, LLC in which she is a partner. She served as President of Fondo EcoEmpresas, S.A., EcoEnterprises Fund’s first fund under management, for The Nature Conservancy from 1998 to 2010. Newmark directed Technoserve, Inc.’s environmental business advisory services in Latin America and Africa. Prior to that, she was a founding officer of Environmental Enterprises Assistance Fund, the first venture fund that specialized in renewable energy, clean technology, and green investments in emerging markets. She established investment groups: Yayasan Bina Usaha Lingkungan and Preferred Energy Investments in Indonesia and the Philippines, respectively. She has also worked for the International Finance Corporation and JPMorgan Chase. Newmark is co-author of Portfolio for the Planet: Lessons from 10 years of impact investing, (Earthscan/Routledge Press, 2011). Newmark has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Janice St. Onge
President,
Flexible Capital Fund
Janice St. Onge is Deputy Director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund President and President of the Flexible Capital Fund (the Flex Fund). Janice brings economic and business development as well as financial expertise to the organization, having served in the technology and financial services industries, as well as higher education and state government sectors during the last 25-years. Early in her career, Janice served ten years at Peoples United Bank in Connecticut in retail management, commercial real estate lending (managing a $21 million portfolio) and organizational development roles.
Richard Donnelly
Senior Manager, Emerging Technologies & Services at Efficiency Vermont
Richard Donnelly is a Senior Manager, Emerging Technologies & Services at Efficiency Vermont. Richard’s professional background includes economic development, telecom, small business management, and as a chef. Richard is a senior fellow at the Environmental Leadership Program and specializes in systems-thinking, human-centered design, business modeling, value proposition design, and strategy development.
Ken Nolan
General Manager, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority
Since 2016, Ken Nolan has served as Vermont Public Power Supply Authority’s (VPPSA) General Manager. He joined the Authority with more than 30 years of electric utility experience. Previously, he held positions in power supply and resource planning, including 10 years at VPPSA (1988 to 1998). He then moved to the municipal utility, Burlington Electric Department, where he progressed his career from resource planning and management to Chief Operations Officer and Manager of Strategy and Innovation. In addition to his responsibilities with VPPSA, Ken serves on the Boards of Directors for Vermont Electric Power Company, Hometown Connections Inc., and VEPP Inc. Ken holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont.
David Bradbury
President, Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies
With over 20 years involved in capital markets, early stage technology firms and venture investing, David is deeply experienced with economic development, working with entrepreneurs on technology commercialization and business formation, early stage ventures, and business growth strategies. Since June 2007, David has served as President and CEO of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) which is an independent non-profit organization offering venture capital, co-working spaces, start-up mentoring and networking. In 2013, VCET was ranked #11 globally and #5 in the US by the UBI Index. When not grabbing coffee with aspiring entrepreneurs, reading technology journals or learning to code, David is snowboarding, surfing and mountain biking with his family from their home base in Stowe, Vermont.
Graham Turk
Innovation Strategist, Green Mountain Power
Graham is a member of the Innovation Development team at Green Mountain Power (GMP). His work involves designing and executing innovative pilot projects, which test new technologies and business models. These efforts contribute to GMP’s larger mission to transform our energy system into one that is more distributed, carbon-free, and community-centered, while reducing costs and increasing reliability for customers. Prior to GMP, Graham completed a Fulbright grant in Sweden on peer-to-peer solar energy markets. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in computer science.
Geoff Robertson
Business Assistance Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
Geoff Robertson joined the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund in 2017 as Director of Business Assistance. In this role he manages a suite of business assistance services to help Vermont business owners and management teams advance profitability, job creation, and sustainable business development. Most recently Geoff held the position of CEO at Empower Mobility, a mobile platform and software company, where he was responsible for managing business development, human resources, and finances. As the CFO at School Spring, LLC, Geoff negotiated the successful sale of the cloud based recruitment and applicant tracking system for K – 12 schools. He previously served as the Entrepreneurial Advisor at Davis & Hodgdon CPAs serving School Spring, the Vermont Food Venture Center, and many other small businesses in Vermont.
Mentors
DeltaClimeVT coordinates with mentors comprised of industry experts, successful entrepreneurs, business advisors and investors throughout the program. Cohort members work directly with mentors during the three sprints in addition to socializing with them at extracurricular social events as well as other business events.
Sponsors
