To enter the competition, all contestants need to do is briefly tell us about their idea. If selected, contestants will then present a five-minute pitch to a panel of judges in their home country. The individual or team with the top clean tech idea in each country will be flown to San Francisco, California, in November, where all finalists will attend a VIP reception and present their pitch to a live audience of 2,500 clean technology experts, investors and enthusiasts, as well as press from around the world. There, a global winner will be selected and awarded at least $100,000US worth of startup services from seasoned clean tech experts.

Download the toolkit for more details on how to plan your own event.
CTO partner toolkit

Why do it?

This is a great way to promote your organization as a force for change and economic development. Together, we are working to solve some of the most critical environmental and economic issues of our day.

 

What are the Categories for the Competition?

• Air Water & Waste - Ways to cut pollution
• Energy Efficiency - More efficient methods and devices
• Renewable Energy - Replacements for fossil fuels
• Green Building - New kinds of buildings or materials
• Smart Power, Green Grid, Energy Storage - Better ways of carrying/storing electricity
• Transportation - Greener cars, buses trucks or planes
  
  Learn more about the different categories

 

Activity Registration at:

 http://ideas.cleantechopen.com

You can email bmchaney [at] unleashingideas [dot] org with any questions.

July - August
• Local Partners sign up to assist with a country’s competition

August
• Launch of the Global Cleantech Open Ideas Competition

September - October
• Contestants register their idea and finalists are invited to compete in a
national contest
• Finalists receive help from coaches to develop their idea into a 5-minute
pitch for national judging

October
• Judges select a national winner to represent each country at the global
competition

November 17
• National winners compete at the Global Awards Gala in San Francisco, California

Q: Who is behind the Global Cleantech Open Ideas Competition?

A: The competition sponsor is the Cleantech Open (www.cleantechopen.com). Through its annual business competition and mentorship program, the Cleantech Open has helped hundreds of clean technology startups bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition since 2006, helping its alumni raise over $125m and making thousands of green collar jobs possible.
In 2009, the Cleantech Open is introducing the Ideas Competition in conjunction with Global Entrepreneur Week.  This competition, part of the “Unleashing Ideas” program, is in addition to its business competition, and is intended to hasten the development of more groundbreaking clean technology solutions at the grassroots level. More informal than its business competition, the Ideas Competition is open to entrants across the globe who are just getting started on groundbreaking concepts for technologies, products, marketing campaigns or systems that will solve large-scale energy and environmental issues.