The Cleantech Group together with the British newspaper The Guardian announced the Global Cleantech 100; the first ever awards to highlight the most promising clean technology startup companies around the world.
Supported by the Carbon Trust, the Global Cleantech 100 recognizes companies at the forefront of cleantech innovation offering solutions to some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges.
The final list represents the collective opinion of hundreds of leading expertsfrom cleantech innovation and venture capital companies in EMEA, North America, India and China, combined with the specific input of an expert panel of 35, drawn from well-respected organizations such as Altira Group, Crossover Advisors, Deloitte, Emerald Technology Ventures, Google, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, New York Stock Exchange, NGEN Partners, Nth Power, New Enterprise Associates, Sterling Communications, Tsing Capital and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
The panel decided on companies that are currently regarded as having the potential and likelihood to achieve high growth and high market impact. Their thoughts were then combined with insights from the Cleantech Network(TM), the de facto industry association of international clean technology investors, entrepreneurs, large corporations and other industry insiders. Some 3,500 companies were nominated.
"The first ever Global Cleantech 100 shines a spotlight on which companies and which technology areas the global innovation community is currently most excited about, from a commercial standpoint," said Richard Youngman, managing partner at Cleantech Group. "Although none of these firms are exactly household names, their innovations and the business acumen of their leaders and investors mean that they are likely to have high impact on our future. The Global Cleantech 100 companies, and many other worthy peer companies, stand to enable environmental sustainability and generate economic growth."
More than half (56) of the companies listed on the Global Cleantech 100 are headquartered in North America, while European firms make up a further 36 percent. Five firms are based in Israel and three in India.
"The list is, both sectorally and geographically, broadly reflective of the cleantech innovation landscape today, and the cultural heritage of company-building, entrepreneurism, and venture capital," continued Youngman."While China has no companies on the 2009 list, China's importance and leadership in this area should not be understated, nor should the evident rise in entrepreneurism and company-building in that region. It will be interesting to see how the list evolves year over year, to see which areas sectoral and geographical, grow in relative importance. I expect to see more growth in non-energy clean technology companies."
The full list of Global Cleantech 100 firms is available on the Cleantech Group website. |
