Cleantech Open names 16 semifinalists
By Erik Siemers, Business Journal Staff Writer
Business Journal Staff Writer
Three Oregon companies are among 16 semifinalists chosen to compete in the Pacific Northwest regional Cleantech Open business competition.
The three Oregon finalists are Arcimoto Inc., a Eugene-based company developing a two-seat, electric-powered car; Puralytics, a Beaverton-based firm developing a way to purify water using LED light technology; and Columbia Power Technologies Inc., a Corvallis company working to develop and commercialize wave energy devices.
The semifinalists will present their business plans in October to a committee of professional investors and experts in Seattle, with three companies walking away with $30,000 in cash and in-kind services.
The three winners will also move onto the national Cleantech Open on Nov. 17, where the grand prize is $250,000 in cash and services.
Over the next few months, each semifinalist will receive coaching from the Cleantech Open’s network of mentors and endure a "business bootcamp" that organizers refer to as the "Cleantech Academy."
Last year’s regional winners included Portland’s Green Lite Motors, which is developing commuter vehicles, as well as Seattle-based companies LivinGreen Materials and Hydrovolts.
This year’s other semifinalists include:
- • Aquapulser (Seattle), high-performance sparkplugs
- • Clarian Power (Seattle), plug-and-play energy efficiency hardware
- • CyVolt Energy Systems (Seattle), fuel cell technology to recharge lithium batteries
- • EnVitrum (Seattle), construction materials from recycled waste glass
- • Greenstone International (Seattle), green road materials
- • Hydrovolts (Seattle), in-stream, hydrokinetic power (Hydrovolts was a regional winner last year, but if companies still meet the Cleantech Open criteria they can compete again.)
- • Innovatus Energy (Seattle), a biomass energy platform
- • LaserMotive (Kent, Wash.), wireless power transmission
- • Mercurius Biofuels (Ferndale, Wash.), cellulosic biofuels.
- • Nanocel Inc. (Seattle), liquid-cooled plastic heat sinks.
- • Zebigo (Spokane, Wash.), online, on-demand ride sharing community.
Two non-Northwestern companies — Current Motor Co. of Ann Arbor, Mich., and viaCycle of Atlanta — were also named finalists under a rule that allows companies residing in an area without its own regional competition to enter one of the other five regional contests.
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