With the threat of climate change right on our doorstep, we have some hard decisions to make. If we’re going to reduce our impact on the environment, then we have to start doing things differently. Obviously, doing things the same way as we have for the last 200 years isn’t going to change anything. Innovation, however, isn’t always the cheapest route, and plenty of cleantech companies have simply folded up for lack of investment, marketing, or public interest.
In order to get any business off the ground, some serious legwork is required before even releasing a product. If you’ve got a great idea, you’ll need some help turning it into reality, and that’s where incubators come in. Where can you find the best cleantech incubators? Hawaii!
Over the last three years, Hawaii’s Renewable Energy Development Venture [PICHTR] has funded ten companies with $12 million in order to encourage the growth of the clean energy community. A new cleantech business accelerator, the Energy Excelerator, is set to launch this month under PICHTR’s oversight, to give even more innovators the chance to succeed.
The Energy Excelerator is a two part plan, the first of which includes a one-week program to get startup companies off the ground. This Lightning Excelerator helps entrepreneurs to form a business plan, technology strategies, and customer contacts. The mentors and instructors are all industry experts helping these startups to compete for up to $90,000 in startup funding.
The second part of the plan, the Hawaii-located Pacific Excelerator, will be able to co-fund up to $1 million to support cleantech demonstrations. Finally, Energy Excelerator, Pacific Excelerator, and Blue Startups are all partnering together to help cleantech startups get their product to a wider audience. Applications for Energy Excelerator are being accepted through January 18, and Pacific Excelerator will start accepting applications this summer.
