Saturday, November 11, 2006
Oil prices have sent the first energy crunch of the 21st century rippling through the world's fossil fuel-based economy. Yet the world continues to feed a seemingly insatiable appetite for energy with oil, natural gas and coal. Global warming is also constantly in the news. Scientists worldwide are publishing ominous findings in journals. .
One of the effects of all of this is a surge in clean energy stocks that is reminiscent of the dot-com shares in 1999 with a similar buzz among investors. The 40-stock WilderHill Clean Energy Index rose as much as 90% since its August 2004 debut, before falling back somewhat. Venture capitalists are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in young companies that hope to harness the power of the sun, wind, and heat inside the Earth, or the biomass on its surface.
What does all this mean for energy technology companies with products for clean or renewable power generation, more efficient power delivery or conservation? Which of these businesses look appealing to investors? How do plans like the California Solar Initiative (CSI) affect today's picture? As a comprehensive, $2.8 billion program, approved by the California Public Utilities, CSI will provide major incentives for implementing solar power throughout the state.
Please join us on November 11th and find out, as we hear first hand from a panel representing energy industry technology experts, entrepreneurs and venture capital firms.
Keynote Speaker
John Preston
Co-founder
M.I.T. Entrepreneurship Center
Senior Lecturer at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mr. Preston is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Preston founded several of the leading entrepreneurship programs at M.I.T. including: the M.I.T. Technology Licensing Office, the $50K Competition and the M.I.T. Entrepreneurship Center. Mr. Preston was the Director of Technology Development (and Licensing) at M.I.T., where he was responsible for the commercialization of intellectual property developed at M.I.T. In this capacity he oversaw activities that led to the creation of over 250 new technology-based companies as well as the negotiation of thousands of licenses with existing companies.
Panelists:
David Jones
Partner
SAIL Venture Partners, L.L.P.
SAIL Venture Partners is a national venture capital firm that invests primarily in early-stage companies in the energy/cleantech sector, including ethanol production from biomass sources and high efficiency clean fuel additives. David Jones began his venture capital career at Union Venture Corporation and was President and CEO of First Interstate Capital, Inc. He was the founding general partner of InterVen Partners, LP. Dave is a director of CNS Response, Inc. and Earthanol, Inc.
Yaniv Tepper
Co-Founder and Managing Partner Angeleno Group
Angeleno Group is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on high growth investments in the energy and environmental technology sectors. AG currently manages two energy opportunity funds, diversified across the sector in eight innovative, well-managed, early-to-expansion stage companies. AG's specific areas of investment interest include advanced power generation, energy intelligence and control, oil & gas exploration and production technologies, transmission and distribution, power storage, fuel technologies, renewables and environmental technologies.
Leib Orlanski
Partner
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson & Graham, LLP
Mr. Orlanski is a partner with the law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP in the Los Angeles office. Mr. Orlanski worked on the Panda Ethanol, $90,000,000 equity funding on behalf of the reverse merger partner Cirracor, Inc., and is currently working with Grove Street Capital and Vornando Energy on several biodiesel transactions. He is a member of the Kirkpatrick Lockhart Renewable Energy Practice Group. Mr. Orlanski has written “Part I, Financing the Renewable Energy Project”, Energy, to appear October/November 2006.
Robert Wilder JD, Ph.D.
CEO & Founder
Wildershares, LLC
Dr. Wilder is CEO & Founder of Wildershares, LLC and manager of the WilderHill Clean Energy Index which tracks businesses that stand to benefit substantially from a societal transition toward use of cleaner energy and conservation. Rob is author of a recent Book, 'Listening to the Sea,' that links marine biodiversity to smart and cost-effective energy technologies that prevent pollution. His book chapters and articles have appeared in Nature, National Academy of Sciences Press, Engineering News-Record, UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, University of Chicago Press, the Journal of Alternative Investments, and elsewhere. His awards include a Fulbright Fellowship, an American Assn. for the Advancement of Science / EPA Fellowship in Environmental Science & Technology, and National Academy of Sciences Young Investigator Award (twice).While a Fellow at the EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., he focused on innovative technologies that prevent harm to ecosystems while being profitable.
Entrepreneur:
Andrew Beebe
President
Energy Innovations
Energy Innovations is focused on building affordable renewable energy systems. Previously, Andrew was a partner with the consulting firm Clean Edge and co-founded Bigstep, the small business services company. As CEO, Andrew led the company in building an award-winning service, raising over $60 million from top-tier venture firms, hiring over 150 talented employees including a world-class executive team, and developing partnerships with such leading companies as AOL, VeriSign, Oxygen and Compaq. After reaching profitability and with 9,000 paying customers Bigstep was sold to Affinity.
Producers/Moderators:
Lawrence Wnuk, Ph.D.
Hydrogen Ventures
Dr. Lawrence Wnuk, Senior Consultant, performs studies and assists WestStart-CALSTART in activities related to transit-enhancing services. Some of his recent duties have focused on the National Fuel Cell Bus Program which targets the development of commercially viable fuel cell bus technologies and related infrastructure. Prior responsibilities responded to transit industry needs for increased vehicle availability for the Federal Transit Administration's Bus Rapid Transit Program, through publications like the BRT Ridership Analysis Report, BRT Selection Concepts for Vehicles, the BRT Vehicle Demand and Supply Analysis for U.S. BRT Communities Report, the BRT Toolbox (available on CD-ROM) and articles for the industry e-newsletter "BRT Newslane". Previously Dr. Wnuk worked at General Motors (GM) Advanced Technology Vehicles in Torrance, California (now named the Advanced Technology Center). At GM, he forged strategic alliances, captured funds, and led the development and demonstration of advanced propulsion and charging technologies for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
Stewart Sando
Technology Venture Consulting
Stewart Sando, Principal, Technology Venture Consulting, provides business development, business planning, intellectual property licensing, and strategic consulting services to established companies and startups involved in the development and manufacturing of high technology products. His specialty is identifying applications for advanced products and technologies and engaging targeted customers in business development relationships for his clients. Some of his recent clients include startups in the Pasadena area related to Caltech, UCLA, and JPL, as well as a major medical research institution in the mid-West. Recent engagements have included business development and intellectual property licensing in the areas of MEMS devices, microwave bonding for electronic components, electron enhanced etching for semiconductor processing, and modular atomic force microscopes. AMD, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Micron, Northrup Grumman, Renesas Technology, RFMD, and Samsung are included among the companies that he has engaged with on behalf of his clients. In addition, he has experience in a wide range of technologies including, RISC cores, DSP cores, broadband devices, RF and wireless devices, fiber optics, mixed signal interfaces, visible and infrared image sensors, image processing, digital signal processing, laser devices, magnetic devices, MEMS devices, sensor devices, plasma etching, and nanotechnology. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Sando has held a series of high technology marketing and management positions with major corporations and startups, including, Intel, Gigabit Logic, Lasercom, Cypress Semiconductor, Integrated Device Technology, Hitachi Semiconductor, and Billions of Operations Per Second.
