2023 was a year of significant expansion. The Cleantech Open Northeast region grew to include Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, so it now spans from Eastern Canada to Virginia. We had the largest cohort ever with 46 graduating startups. Two Northeast startups are National Finalists: Active Surfaces and Cleonmaye. Active Surfaces is also the National Grand Prize Runner-up and National People’s Choice Winner. The Northeast Regional Winners are Amply Energy, Ellexco, SpaceSense, and Zinco Verde. SpaceSense is also the Northeast People’s Choice Winner.Electromaim won the Water prize sponsored by Xylem, Epic Renewal won the Agriculture/ Food/ Land prize sponsored by Sire Foundation, and WeNeW Carbology won the Carbon prize sponsored by Sire Foundation.
The Cleantech Open Northeast team experienced some changes. After Carly Joos left, we welcomed Elizabeth Terry as Climate Economy Innovation Partnerships Director, NECEC. Elizabeth will continue building and strengthening relationships with our partners. Olivia LaRoche, Program Manager, is instrumental to our success.
Cheikh Dramé won the Lifetime Achievement Award. As Co-Chair of the Mentor Committee, member of the Recruiting Committee, and host of the 2023 Semi-Finals Judging and Investor Connect at National Grid, Cheikh is a tremendous asset to the program. Lead Mentors of the Year are Tani Chen, Margarett Jolly, Taiil Kim, and David Levine (who’s also Chair, Recruiting Committee). Thank you, all!
Cleantech Open Northeast alumni continue to exceed industry performance. 74% of the 601 Cleantech Open Northeast alumni are still active or have had a successful exit. They’ve raised $1.47+ billion, created 4,400+ clean economy jobs, and generated $697+ million in revenue. 68% of the startups in the 2023 cohort have a founder who’s a woman, a member of an underserved community, or both. The 2023 Cleantech Open Northeast cohort estimated their aggregate emissions reduction potential at 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2e (CO2 equivalent) per year. That’s equivalent to taking 392 million gas-powered cars off of the road annually.
Thank you to our Premier sponsor MassCEC, our Platinum sponsor NYSERDA, and our Gold sponsors NJEDA/CSIT and Sire Foundation, who make so much of what we do possible! We are also pleased to welcome Dartmouth as a new Platinum Sponsor. Congratulations to the Cleantech Open Northeast Class of 2023!
Sustainably,
Beth Zonis
Senior Director
Cleantech Open Northeast, NECEC
VIEW THE 2023 CLEANTECH OPEN NORTHEAST IMPACT REPORT
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