Emerging Companies Vie to Participate in $29 Million Smart Grid and Smart Home Demonstration Project

The fourth annual Clean Energy Venture Summit (CEVS), a partnership between The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) and Austin Energy, names an elite judges panel to review this year's competing companies as they vie for a spot in Austin's $29 million demonstration project.

Austin, Texas, August 26, 2010 - The fourth annual Clean Energy Venture Summit (CEVS), a partnership between The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) and Austin Energy, names an elite judges panel to review this year's competing companies as they vie for a spot in Austin's $29 million demonstration project. CEVS serves as a gateway for early-stage companies to participate in the nationally acclaimed Pecan Street Project Energy Internet Demonstration, a non-profit smart grid and clean energy research and development organization headquartered at the University of Texas at Austin.


"The summit showcases some of the best emerging technologies, and provides companies the opportunity to present to industry leaders and leading investors," says Isaac Barchas, executive director, Austin Technology Incubator. "The potential for companies to demonstrate their technologies in one of the most progressive programs available today is one of the main purposes of this summit, but win or lose, our panel will sharpen them as a company."

The panel includes: Investment Director of Applied Ventures, Annette Finsterbusch; Founding and Managing General Partner of G-51, Rudy Garza; Vice President of Battery Ventures, Mike Dauber; Lead Partner for Clean Technology Investments, Access Venture Partners, David Gold; Executive Director of Pecan Street Project, Brewster McCracken; Angel Investor, Steve Smaha; Chief Strategy Officer, Austin Energy, John Baker; Senior Associate, Rockport Ventures, Kevin Kopczynski; General Partner, LiveOak Venture Partners, Krishna Srinivasan; Managing Director, DFJ Mercury, Ned Hill.

"Austin has a unique blend of creativity, market knowledge, and the ability to just get the job done. The startup DNA in Austin is special and CEVS did a great job of showing that off last year," said Mike Dauber of Battery Ventures, who will be judging at CEVS for the second straight year. "As seen in two of Battery's Austin-based portfolio companies, Smooth Stone and SolarBridge, there's a very special mix of talents in Austin that make it great for clean tech."

The competition features twenty early-stage clean energy companies in seven focus areas, including: energy management; building-integrated energy efficiency technologies; smart appliances; energy information systems; smart resource management (electricity, water, gas and waste); distributed energy storage; and distributed fueling for transportation. Summit judges evaluate entries based on innovation, overall market opportunity, stage of development, intellectual property position, resource requirements, environmental impact and potential return on investment. The top five winners receive one-on-one interviews with Austin Energy, The Pecan Street Project and ATI. The grand-prize winner is guaranteed a chance to validate their technology on the $29 million Department of Energy funded demonstration project at the Mueller Neighborhood in Austin


In addition to connecting entrepreneurs and investors, the Clean Energy Venture Summit provides a unique networking opportunity for companies and investors in the smart grid and smart building arenas. The summit includes a half-day entrepreneur workshop featuring presentations and panel discussions from investors, IP attorneys and other industry experts. Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to network with industry peers, investors and a range of clean energy leaders.

To apply to present or register to attend, visit www.cleanenergyventuresummit.com.

You can follow @CEVS2010 on Twitter and join the conversation with #CEVS2010. Additionally, connect with CEVS on Facebook and LinkedIn.


About the Austin Technology Incubator
The Austin Technology Incubator is a nonprofit unit of The University of Texas at Austin that harnesses business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition from early stage ventures to successful technology businesses. Since its founding in 1989, ATI has worked with over 200 companies, helping them raise close to $750 million in investor capital. ATI is a key program of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. For more information, please visit: www.ati.utexas.edu

About Austin Energy
Austin Energy is the nation's 10th largest community-owned electric utility. Austin Energy powers the capital city of Texas through a diverse generation mix including nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewable energy sources. Located in Austin, TX, Austin Energy created the top performing renewable energy program in the nation and is committed to helping Austin become the Clean Energy Capital of the World. The company owns the nation's first and largest green building program and is home to one of the nation's most comprehensive residential and commercial energy efficiency programs. For further information, please visit: www.AustinEnergy.com.

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