As a staple of this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, organizers of the first ever Global Cleantech Open -a wider scale version of the Cleantech Open – will award a $100,000 prize to the innovator who presents the best idea. The competition will be a spotlight which will help to “foster and encourage clean tech big ideas from forward-thinking entrepreneurs from around the world as well as accelerate the development of clean tech solutions at a grassroots level,” according to the dailygreen.com.
As an innovator and entrepreneur myself, I will be watching closely to convey some of the fantastic new ideas presented within the competition. Because of its international emphasis and proximity to the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen, the Global Cleantech Open is certain to inspire and amaze.
[image via Hoyasmeg]
Hi there,
Cleantech Open challenge to the rest of the world was a fantastic idea, a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their innovations. At least that’s what I thought until I came across this.
The Clean Tech Idea eligibility criteria clearly state that the participating teams must have less than $0.5M USD of funding to date. http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/competition/ideas/eligibility
However, one of the participating team from Denmark, Danfoss IXA, has more than $1.5M euros of funding so far.
According to Danfoss’ own website, http://www.danfoss.com/NewsAndEvents/News/?ArticleId=1F9AFF1C-E5B9-461D-AB06-31C3BAF234F6 “Following the development of new patented technology for the measurement of gases which have an impact on the environment and the climate, such as CO2, ammonia and NO2, Danfoss Ventures and the Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation have set up a new company, Danfoss IXA A/S. The company will develop and market the technology globally. Six employees at Danfoss IXA A/S will work to develop the sensors for climate control in stables. The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation has funded the work with almost 1.5 million euros and it takes place in cooperation with the ventilation company SKOV A/S from Roslev, Denmark, and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).”
More evidence of the fundings they have received:
http://www.nanotech.dtu.dk/English/News/Arkiv.aspx?guid={9686299E-DCD7-4082-8957-57E1EDA8AABD http://www.dtu.dk/English/About_DTU/News/Arkiv.aspx?guid={9686299E-DCD7-4082-8957-57E1EDA8AABD}
http://www.danfoss.com/NewsAndEvents/News/?ArticleId=1F9AFF1C-E5B9-461D-AB06-31C3BAF234F6
Ummm, doesn’t that mean Danfoss IXA is too rich for this competition? I thought this was to be a fair competition for all.
Please judge the evidence for yourself and see if the spirit of fair competition is truly untarnished.