The Pacific Northwest has a solid slate of clean tech companies — from fuel cell maker ReliOn which just scored $6 million in funding to turbine maker Hydrovolts. But there’s certainly more the region can do to help spark innovation in the sector. And as part of that, the Northwest Energy Angels today announced the formation of a new advisory board comprised of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and scientists.
“Advisors bring in-depth expertise in the cleantech domain, which will help us identify promising companies, enhance our due diligence capability, understand trends, clearly identify market opportunities and support companies post-investment,” said Byron McCann, co-chair of the angel investment group.
Founded in 2006, the group has invested $4 million in 24 startup companies.
Here’s a look at the advisors:
- Nancy Floyd – www.nthpower.com – Nancy is the founder and managing director of Nth Power and has led many of its investments in various cleantech companies.
- KC Golden – www.climatesolutions.org – KC oversees the Policy Leadership Program, pioneering leading-edge state and local climate policies while helping to deliver strong regional support for responsible national and international climate policy at Climate Solutions.
- Rick LeFaivre, Ph.D. – www.ovp.com – Rick is a partner at OVP Venture Partners and serves as director of New Ventures at the University of Washington’s Center for Commercialization, helping to create companies that leverage technology developed at UW.
- Amory Lovins – www.rmi.org – Amory is the co-founder, chairman and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute. He is widely considered among the world’s leading authorities on energy.
- Ron Pernick – www.cleanedge.com – Ron is managing director of Clean Edge. He is an accomplished cleantech research, publishing, and business development entrepreneur with more than two decades of high-tech experience. He is also coauthor of The Clean Tech Revolution.
- Rob Wiltbank – www.montlakecapital.com – Rob is a partner at Montlake Capital and lead’s their Oregon activities. He is also a professor at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University.
