WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cleantech Group, provider of the i3 market intelligence platform and global consulting services, today released the fifth annual Global Cleantech 100 list and report. The list recognizes the one hundred most promising and innovative companies most likely to make a significant market impact over the next five to ten years across 15 industry categories, including Energy Efficiency, Biofuels & Biochemicals, Conventional Fuels, Smart Grid, Transportation, and Water & Wastewater. Cleantech 100 company profiles can be accessed through Cleantech Group’s i3 market intelligence platform.
“The Global Cleantech 100 is a natural extension of our vision to accelerate sustainable innovation around the world,” said Sheeraz Haji, CEO of Cleantech Group. “This list celebrates inspiring entrepreneurs, and serves as the industry standard on gauging where innovation is headed in our resource-constrained world.”
“The composition of the 2013 Global Cleantech 100 represents a distinct shift in thinking from deal-makers in the marketplace,” said Richard Youngman, Cleantech Group’s Managing Director, Europe & Asia and Global Cleantech 100 report author. “We have fifty-one new entrants on this year’s list, reflecting the popularity of new cleantech subsectors among investors. Efficiency companies lead the list this year, while solar companies have a lighter presence than in years past.”
To qualify for the Global Cleantech 100, companies must be independent, for-profit, cleantech companies not listed on any major stock exchange. This year’s list drew from 5,864 nominated companies from 60 countries and Cleantech Group’s i3 market intelligence platform, which tracks over $7 billion of deal flow across 22,000 cleantech companies annually. A 90-member expert panel, including leading financial investors and representatives of multi-national enterprises such as 3M, ABB, BP, Ecolab, EDF, GE, General Motors, Grundfos, IBM, Johnson Controls, and Veolia Environnement, gave input on the shortlisted 300 to get to the final list of 100 companies from 18 countries.
“This year’s Global Cleantech 100 provides an invaluable window on the latest breakthrough innovations that address the enormous economic, environmental and energy challenges facing many large industries today,” said Wal van Lierop, Co-Founder, President & CEO of Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital. “The solutions being developed by these 100 companies are a testament to the fact that cleantech is no longer for a select group of early adopters—it is quickly becoming part of the mainstream energy provision.”
"We are pleased to see so many start-ups in energy efficiency on this year's list,” stated Kevin Self, Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development, Johnson Controls. “There are great opportunities to make existing buildings more energy efficient and to promote energy saving technologies and products in new construction. It is encouraging to see innovative new companies capitalizing on this market opportunity."
Cleantech Group presented awards in nine categories at the Global Cleantech 100 Gala at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC on October 9. More than 30 of the companies on the Global Cleantech 100 list were in attendance at the Gala.
Company of the Year was awarded in each of three regions to the highest-ranked company from that region:
- North America: Nest, designer of a networked “learning” thermostat for the home
- Europe & Israel: Organica Water, provider of Fixed-Bed Biofilm Activated Sludge (FBAS) wastewater treatment plants in urban and residential population centers
- Asia Pacific: Hydrexia, developer of solid hydrogen storage systems based on magnesium alloys
Other categories:
- Rising Star of the Year, given to the highest-ranked new entrant on this year’s list: Ambri, developer of an all-liquid metal battery technology for grid-scale energy.
- Continued Excellence, given to the highest-ranked of companies that have made it onto the Global Cleantech 100 list for at least the last three consecutive years: LanzaTech, developer of a process that increases industrial energy efficiency by capturing waste gases (CO, CO2) and converting them to fuels and chemicals.
- Early Stage Company of the Year, given to the highest-ranked product development stage company: Alphabet Energy, developer of low-cost thermoelectric technology for waste heat recovery.
Awards were also given in three investor categories:
- Corporate Investor of the Year, given to the corporate investor with the largest percentage of its cleantech venture portfolio in the 2013 Global Cleantech 100 (with a minimum of three on the list, and a minimum of eight qualifying portfolio companies overall): GM Ventures
- Financial Investor of the Year, given to the financial investor with the largest percentage of its cleantech venture portfolio in the 2013 Global Cleantech 100 (with a minimum of four on the list, and a minimum of 10 qualifying portfolio companies overall): VantagePoint Capital Partners
- Graduate of the Year, given to the company the most impressive exit (as rated, by the financial investors in the expert panel) of a Global Cleantech 100 alumnus company (i.e. that has at one time been on the Global Cleantech 100 list). The exit must have happened in the 12 months prior to the cut-off date (in 2013 that meant pre-July 31): SolarCity
2013 Global Cleantech 100 Quick Facts:
- 18 countries are represented in the 2013 list. The United States is the most highly represented country with 56 companies.
- Energy Efficiency remains the hottest and growing sector within cleantech, with 27 companies on the list, up from 22 in 2012 and 19 in 2011.
- Solar’s representation in the 100 falls again, down from 20 companies in 2011, nine companies in 2012 to six companies in 2013. Those that remain on the list are primarily solar financing companies.
- Corporations continue to be ever more active in global cleantech innovation as investors, partners, licensees, customers, and acquirers of Global Cleantech 100 companies. GE is the most active overall partner with 2013 Global Cleantech 100 companies, followed by Waste Management, Siemens, Google, and IBM.
- Over 400 investing entities, from 26 different countries, have a shareholding in the 100 companies. Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers is the most prolific shareholder of 2013 Global Cleantech 100 companies. It has invested in 19 companies in the list, unchanged from 2012.
About Cleantech Group
Cleantech Group helps clients accelerate sustainable innovation. The company’s i3 market intelligence platform, which tracks over $7 billion of deal flow across 22,000 cleantech companies annually, allows subscribers to discover companies and explore resource technology trends strategically with proprietary real-time data. Cleantech Forums bring together thought leaders and innovators in the cleantech and sustainability ecosystem. The company’s Advisory Services leverage expertise in designing and executing corporate strategies for sustainable growth and innovation sourcing. Details at www.cleantech.com
