We’re Cleantech Open Finalists!

By Dipul Patel

On Wednesday, we were selected as one of four finalists for the Northeast Region of the Cleantech Open (CTO). The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest accelerator for cleantech startups and we’re honored to represent the Northeast at the national competition in San Francisco next week. The past five months have been exciting ones for us here at ecovent, and having the CTO as a resource has been incredible. There are many reasons why the CTO is amazing, but I want to highlight three.

 

Mentors. Damn good ones.

It’s no secret that I love mentors, as does the whole team. The CTO was full of incredible mentorship at every stage. The CTO mentors are passionate about fixing the energy crisis, and their ferocity came through in their engagement with the teams.

Through the CTO we’ve received highly relevant and, more importantly, very actionable advice through the mentorship program. We were downright shocked at how quickly we could engage and receive advice from mentors across the country, with backgrounds across the spectrum.

We received mentorship on channel partnerships, distribution, manufacturing marketing for the HVAC market, as well as how to engage utilities and governments agencies small and large to take advantage of grants and other programs designed to help companies like us.

We learned very early that in the world of startups, knowing how to deploy our limited resources is critical, and the CTO has done an amazing job of making sure that if we have questions or need advice, the right person is available and eager to help.

Awesome.

 

The CTO is a well-oiled machine

We’ve been through a few competitions in our short history, and even more applications☺. When we joined the CTO, I wondered how all 32 teams with, equal passion, talent and challenges, would get such value from the program.

I have to say I was impressed. There was a strict but necessary cadence of deliverables and workshops. The key to all of these was the level of engagement from everyone – from the volunteers all the way to Katie, the rookie rock star Director.

There were over 60 judges overall, and and over 250 other mentors and volunteers - all incredible resources for our team.

Honestly, I’ve been blown away. The whole team has been.

 

Concentrated passion is like fuel on a fire

I live and breathe ecovent. I know no other way to be. Throughout the history of ecovent, the team and I have enjoyed working in clusters of enthusiastic entrepreneurs. From the Martin Trust Center and Beehive (may it rest in peace) at MIT, to techstars Boston, to finally having our own space by subleasing from fellow MIT startup NV Bots, we constantly surround ourselves with fellow entrepreneurs trying to change the world. Being a part of these environments is motivating and encouraging.

Though we’ve worked around startups since our birth, the CTO is has been a special cluster. Passion is part of the recipe for startup success. You can’t think your idea is “eh” or feel lukewarm about it. Entrepreneurs give it everything they’ve got. What’s amazing about the CTO is that everyone is trying to build a business that will better the world in which we live. They are creating new win-win paradigms through which a profit can be generated while helping clean and improve our environment.

I don’t mean to discount entrepreneurs working on businesses that aren’t in cleantech. But, the team and I found that working alongside the other CTO teams and mentors was inspiring and humbling. It’s great to be a part of an entrepreneurial powerhouse striving to create successful for-more-than-profit companies.