India's growing clean technology economy attracts investors and businesses to inaugural Cleantech Forum event in India Global leaders
As India's booming technology sector positions the country to become a center of Cleantech technology innovation, the Cleantech Group™, founder of the Cleantech investment category, today announced its inaugural Cleantech Forum® in India.
Tweet-- As India's booming technology sector positions the country to become a center of Cleantech technology innovation, the Cleantech Group™, founder of the Cleantech investment category, today announced its inaugural Cleantech Forum® in India.
Held October 7-9th 2008 in Mumbai, Cleantech Forum XIX will provide an opportunity for policymakers, investors and corporate leaders to convene with Cleantech entrepreneurs for three days of unparalleled analysis, networking and deal flow aimed at breaking down market barriers and accelerating the growth of India's Cleantech economy.
"Cleantech Forum XIX reflects a growing focus in India to advance technological innovation and entrepreneurship, and to position the country as an emerging global leader in Cleantech," said Ravi Viswanathan, partner, New Enterprise Associates and a member of Cleantech Group India's Advisory Board. "The Cleantech Group has been influential in driving interest and deal-flow in India's growing Cleantech marketplace. The Cleantech Forum in Mumbai will bring together business leaders from India and abroad to explore the opportunities and set the direction for India's rapid Cleantech expansion."
At Cleantech Forum XIX, companies will present investors and Indian policy-makers with technologies that address issues related to emerging resource constraints, as well as agriculture, transportation, water, manufacturing and clean energy challenges.
Cleantech Forums are the world's premier Cleantech investment platforms exclusively designed to facilitate the financing of emerging clean technology companies and broader market-based solutions. Cleantech Forums have been held throughout North America, Europe, China and now India.
Since the initial Cleantech Forum in 2002, presenting companies have raised over USD1.4 billion in capital. India in particular is showing substantial growth in clean technology, with 2007 investments up 58 percent from 2006 and continued growth in the first half of 2008.
In the keynote address, Shri Vilas Muttemwar, the Minister of State for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, will outline the strategic approach to shaping the Cleantech market. Mr. Muttemwar, appointed in 2004, has focused on building India's wind energy, small hydropower, and bio power generation, and has set a goal for renewable energy to provide over ten percent of the country's power generation by 2012.
"India's inaugural Cleantech Forum will bring capital and innovation together to address some of India's most pressing challenges and to chart the course of a new industry," said Jaswinder Kaur, India country director, Cleantech Group. "The Forum is an opportunity for investors to get involved early and connect with the people and companies that are laying the groundwork for India's new Cleantech economy."
Leading companies participating at the event include BP, Unilever, Ernst & Young, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Tata Power, Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd., MPPL Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd, REVA, Greenko Group, Deeya Energy and Waterhealth Global.
Top-tier venture capital and investment firms participating include Sequoia Capital, Global Environment Fund, IDFC Private Equity, Kenda Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Acumen Fund, Crossover Advisors, Sail Venture Partners, Nexus Capital India, Barings Private Equity India, and Aavishkaar India Micro-Finance, Emergent Ventures, Nomura, New Enterprise Associates, SUN Group and Khosla Ventures.
Full information on the Cleantech Forum XIX conference, including agenda, is available at http://cleantech.com/indiaforum.
Notes to Editor
Cleantech Group LLCAccelerating the next wave of innovation®
Stresses in the global economy are being compounded by repercussions from climate change, scarcity of food, water and other commodities, and concerns about energy independence. Investing in clean technologies holds the greatest promise of addressing these challenges, while generating superior returns and job creation.
Speeding cleantech innovation and returns since 2002The Cleantech Group, formerly the Cleantech Venture Network, pioneered clean technology as an investment category in 2002. The company has played an influential role in the development of the category, fostering growth through information products, world class research and the highest caliber industry connections. The Cleantech Group is credited with originating the term cleantech, and owns it as a registered trademark.
Cleantech definition
Clean is more than green
Clean technology, or "cleantech," should not be confused with the terms environmental technology or "green tech" popularized in the 1970s and 80s. Cleantech is new technology and related business models that offer competitive returns for investors and customers while providing solutions to global challenges.
While greentech, or envirotech, has represented "end-of-pipe" technology of the past (for instance, smokestack scrubbers) with limited opportunity for attractive returns, cleantech addresses the roots of ecological problems with new science, emphasizing natural approaches such as biomimicry and biology. Greentech has traditionally only represented small, regulatory-driven markets. Cleantech is driven by productivity-based purchasing, and therefore enjoys broader market economics, with greater financial upside and sustainability.
Cleantech represents a diverse range of products, services, and processes, all intended to:
- Provide superior performance at lower costs, while
- Greatly reducing or eliminating negative ecological impact, at the same time as
- Improving the productive and responsible use of natural resources
Cleantech industry segments
Determining what is or isn't cleantech isn't always easy. The Cleantech Group established and continues to refine criteria to baseline the sector definition so as to ensure consistent reporting of data in the global markets it tracks.
Cleantech spans many industry verticals and is defined by the following eleven segments:
Energy Generation
- Wind
- Solar
- Hydro/Marine
- Biofuels
- Geothermal
- Other
Energy Storage
- Fuel Cells
- Advanced Batteries
- Hybrid Systems
Energy Infrastructure
- Management
- Transmission
Energy Efficiency
- Lighting
- Buildings
- Glass
- Other
Transportation
- Vehicles
- Logistics
- Structures
- Fuels
Water & Wastewater
- Water Treatment
- Water Conservation
- Wastewater Treatment
Air & Environment
- Cleanup/Safety
- Emissions Control
- Monitoring/Compliance
- Trading & Offsets
Materials
- Nano
- Bio
- Chemical
- Other
Manufacturing/Industrial
- Advanced Packaging
- Monitoring & Control
- Smart Production
Agriculture
- Natural Pesticides
- Land Management
- Aquaculture
Recycling & Waste
- Recycling
- Waste Treatment