Israel Announces National CleanTech Finalists

TEL AVIV, Israel — Six startups have been selected to advance to Israel’s national round of the CleanTech Open Global Ideas Competition, hosted in September at Tel Aviv University. The event will take place in front of an audience of entrepreneurs, researchers, managers, investors and government representatives, and will offer the winner a chance to compete at Global Entrepreneurship Week in Silicon Valley, Calif. this November.

The CleanTech Open Global Ideas Competition is an international green technology competition that aims to find, fund and foster companies that address the worlds most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. The competition specifically highlights solutions related to energy generation, energy efficiency, water and waste, smart grid technology, energy distribution and storage, green building and smart transportation.

The competition has helped numerous clean technology startups bring their ideas to fruition since 2006, and has created thousands of green-collar jobs. It is held as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), a global initiative with nearly 150 participating countries all aimed at developing and promoting new ideas, technology and the entrepreneurial spirit.

This year, a large number of Israeli companies entered the competition in an attempt to secure a spot in the international competition. Finalists are judged on their ability to clearly and concisely explain their idea concept, as well as their level of innovation in thinking or design. Additionally, applicants must prove the viability of their proposed business or product, and that the outcome will have a positive impact on the environment.

Israeli national finalists include AutoAgronom, which provides a unique solution that empowers growers to practice sustainable agriculture; BreezoMeter, a real time air pollution mapping platform; EVR Motors Ltd., which produces a lightweight direct drive generator for wind turbines; GreenIQ, an IoT startup that develops & markets a smart garden hub; Paulee CleanTec, a technology that transforms animal and human waste into harmless fertilizer free from pathogens and bad odor; and Solarpaint L.T.D., which is developing technology to convert every surface into a solar panel.

Additionally, representatives from a variety of companies throughout Israel have supported CleanTech Open. The event’s primary Israeli partners include GEW Israel, Capital Nature Investment Group, the Institute for Business Environment and Society at Tel Aviv University, MIT Enterprise Forum – Israel, and the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute.

Previous grand prize winners of the CleanTech Open include PowWow Energy of Sunnyvale, Calif., which enables farmers and ranchers to detect potential damaging water leaks; and HEVT of Chicago, a firm that developed game changing motor technologies that feature smart software and hardware to empower the next generation of electric motors.