15 August 2012 – Green building companies and related technology businesses dominated the semi-finals of the Australian Clean Technologies Competition 2012 with the winner to be announced in October.
Thirty semi-finalists were chosen from clean technology activity which includes transportation, smart power, green grid, energy storage, green building, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and air, water and waste management.
Australian CleanTech managing director John O’Brien said the competition had drawn a record field of 104 entrants who represented “the best in Australian clean technology innovation and opportunity”.
The Australian Clean Technologies Competition is part of the CleanTech Open in the USA.
The judging panel included Geoff Hoffman – Clayton Utz, Marc Newson – CleanTech supplier advocate, David Clark – Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick, Paul van Bergen – KPMG, Ken MacLeod – Scotia Macleod, Ben Wright – ATP Innovations and Andrew Pickering – Cleantech Ventures.
The semi-finalists and their categories are:
- Active Bioculture, Ourinbah, NSW – Air, water and waste
- Advanced Plant Nutrition, Toowoomba, QLD – Air, water and waste
- Aeratron, Smiths Lake, NSW – Energy efficiency
- Bennett Clayton, Ivanhone, VIC – Green building
- Biofiba, Point Frederick, NSW – Green building
- Casafico, Braeside, VIC – Green building
- CINTEP, Brisbane, QLD – Energy efficiency
- ELE Australia, Balmain, NSW – Renewable energy
- Elemental Energy Technologies, Sydney, NSW –Renewable energy
- Energy Saving Networks, St. Ives, NSW – Energy efficiency
- enLighten Australia, Artarmon, NSW – Energy efficiency
- Environmental Sciences Australia, Ainslie, ACT – Green building
- GenesisERT, East Perth, WA – Renewable energy
- GreenSync, Melbourne, VIC – Smart power, green grid and energy storage
- H2O Organiser, Cessnock, NSW – Air, water and waste
- Intelligent Software Development, Adelaide, SA – Smart power, green grid and energy storage
- Intresto, Armidale, NSW – Green building
- Katru Eco-Inventions, Baulkham Hills, NSW – Renewable energy
- nDure Technologies, Mulgrave, VIC – Transportation
- Recycling Solutions, Burleigh Waters, QLD – Air, water and waste
- Rotary Heat Exchangers, Bayswater North, VIC – Energy efficiency
- Silenceair International, Rozelle, NSW – Green building
- SkyCool, Hornsby, NSW – Energy efficiency
- Smart Roof Australia, St Kilda, VIC – Energy efficiency
- Solar Dwellings, Mount Hawthorn, WA – Energy efficiency
- Switch Automation, Chippendale, NSW – Green building
- Tat-G Corp, South Pambula, NSW – Air, water and waste
- Timbercrete, Bilpin, NSW – Energy efficiency
- Tropiglas Technologies, Yokine, WA – Green building
- VR TEK Global, Knoxfield, VIC – Air, water and waste
The semi-finalists will join the CleanTech Business Accelerator Program which includes individual mentoring to help with the development of business plans; a mentoring workshop; and the submission of a final business plan.
Up to six companies will then be selected as finalists with the Australian winner announced in October. The winner will represent Australia at the international Global CleanTech Open Competition in the US in November.
Australian Clean Technologies Competition entry criteria include that all entries must be a start-up business that has received less than $1 million in external private financing at the time of competition entry.
Grant funding and any money from the business owner, friends and family are excluded from the $1 million but, in total, funding received by the business must be less than $5,000,000. Any Australian resident with a “cleantech” idea is eligible to compete.
The Australian competition is supported by Enterprise Connect, Commercialisation Australia, CSIRO and Austrade. Details: www.auscleantech.com.au