Clean & Cool Mission Blog
Clean & Cool Press Releases
February 22nd, 2010
1st Feb 2010 -20 of the UK’s best growing Clean Tech companies to visit Silicon Valley (pdf)
19th Feb 2010 – Clean & Cool Mission Takes Off to San Francisco
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In At The Deep End
February 22nd, 2010
Several years ago, someone advised me not to read the biographies of event participants until after I’d met them. That way, they reckoned, you avoid being intimidated. By the time you finally meet, so the theory goes, they will have become so familiar that their towering achievements will fall comfortingly into the background.
Sadly, reader, this was not an option for me on the Clean and Cool Mission. Omitting to do my homework would have been a dereliction of duty as co-host, and so it was with some intrepidation that I began reading about the 19 companies who join us here in San Francisco.
The very first delegate in my briefing pack has 20 years internet and software development experience and has, and I quote, a background in astrophysics. Another has undertaken extensive research in hybrid and electric vehicle systems and medical robotics. Business aside, and no less intimidating, I learn that one of our founders began his career as a commercial diver and is a former ice hockey coach. My head buzzing with backgrounds and current activities of my fellow travellers, the chance to meet face to face couldn’t come soon enough.
Sure enough, I should have followed the original advice. We have here with us the most fantastic group of founders and directors. Come with me on a quick run-through of just a handful;
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19 businesses, their UK supporters, a sprinkling of journalists, some valley bloggers, VCs, one child and two dogs – an apartment full to say the least.
February 22nd, 2010
Claire Cunningham – Technology Strategy Board – Mission Delegate.
Members of the Clean and Cool Mission 2010 spent their Sunday morning in a plush San Francisco apartment as guests of Susan McTavish Best, of Best PR, one of the best connected women in the city.
What a wonderful way to relax before the start what is going to be a very busy week in San Francisco. Susan was a fantastic hostess, ensuring that we were all well fed and watered.
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The Creative Value of Knocking Ideas Together
February 21st, 2010
I am always amazed at what happens when you get creative people from different disciplines in a room together. What comes out is always much more than the sum of the parts.
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The good ship Clean and Cool 2010 has arrived and put down anchor.
February 21st, 2010
Claire Cunningham – Technology Strategy Board – Mission Delegate.
A group of 19 intrepid companies, accompanied by representatives of some of the most prestigious business focused organisations in the UK such as the Technology Strategy Board and Enterprise UK disembarked in San Francisco yesterday ready for a week of meetings, visits and networking designed to help them open their business up to the US and international markets.
As we all flew over yesterday it really felt exciting, as if we had the wind in our sails. Like early trade missions led by Sir Francis Drake, the ‘good ship Clean and Cool’ arrived full of representatives of some of the best clean technology companies in the UK, and accompanied by a handful of journalists from some prestigious UK titles. It also felt great to be accompanied by an American on our journey across the Atlantic, Elizabeth Block an independent specialist clean tech journalist who is based in the UK. Not only did we all feel excited and confident on our arrival, if a little bleary eyed, but we also had a US citizen in our group.
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CleanTech is More Than Low-Carbon
February 21st, 2010
I have noticed when talking to people about sustainability and clean technology the discussion quickly becomes dominated by energy, carbon and climate change.
There is of course a very good reason for this. Emissions of greenhouse gases and the implications of climate change are right at the top of many agendas. It is what you see, hear and read in the media, and it is what politicians, policy makers and regulators are most focused on. Shifting to a low carbon economy is also a major challenge. Reducing carbon emissions by 80% or more will not be easy, but solving some of those problems will provide big business opportunities for innovative companies as industries transform around the world.
But energy and carbon are not the only issues; we face problems with other critical resources. Clean technology has a role to play in managing these resources for a sustainable future.
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What is CleanTech?
February 18th, 2010
Over the last couple of weeks I have been telling all sorts of people about the Clean and Cool Mission 2010. Once we have got past the cries of “why don’t I ever get a job like that?”, the next questions are usually; what is clean technology, why is it important, is there a real business opportunity, and why California?
So here are my thoughts on what clean technology is and why it matters.
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Juice Technology Prepares For Take-Off
February 17th, 2010
We’re delighted that some of the companies joining the Clean and Cool Mission will be sharing their stories as the week progresses. Some of them will be writing here on the blog, and others will be contributing to other publications.
Here are some pre-mission thoughts from Ian Turner, CEO of Juice Technology as he packs his bags for San Francisco;
“It’s interesting, I’ve been travelling to the US for over 20 years on business and I’m still excited by the prospect of heading there again on the Clean and Cool Mission 2010 with 19 other CleanTech entrepreneurs from the UK. I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve, I keep waking up during the night wondering if Santa has arrived yet – sad isn’t it!
This trip is a little different however; it’s my first trade mission and clearly focused on the CleanTech sector, so my hope is that it will provide my company, Juice Technology, with a number of business and funding opportunities. The company is perhaps a little different from the others on the trip in that it is already established in North America having started a Joint Venture called JuiceWorks there 18 months ago with one of the largest US lighting companies. In fact the first LED lighting fixture developed for the JV has just won a Next Generation Luminaires Award, the most prestigious award in the US lighting industry.”
Read the rest of Ian’s post here on Startups.co.uk
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Clean & Cool Mission – A History
February 14th, 2010
It is often easy to identify the moment when an idea crystallises but then to forget all the half-formed ideas and blind alleys that led to it. As we get close to the actual Clean and Cool Mission, I was explaining its history to a colleague and realised what an interesting story it was, so thought recording it might have value. (Imagine this scrolling up across your screen as in the beginning of Star Wars…)
For the record, it was about 8 o’clock in the evening on Tuesday 29th September and 4 of us were a mohito into a discussion of WebMission 09, which is where the story should start…
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Mission Results Announced
February 1st, 2010
Some of the UK’s most successful and promising clean technology businesses are to take part in a mission to Silicon Valley where they will showcase their technologies and work to start opening their businesses up to an international market.
Clean and Cool Mission 2010, will give the entrepreneurs behind some of UK’s most innovative and growing clean technology companies, the opportunity to engage with the US’s top technology businesses and see how they are approaching the emerging market opportunities that the race to address climate change presents. The mission, which takes place between 20th and 26th February, is designed to ensure that the 20 companies taking part benefit from the collective impact of a well run trade mission.
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