Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Local Clean Energy Business Plan Contest Awards $160,000
A local, clean energy business plan competition started by the California Insitute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Southern California (USC), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has awarded $160,000 in prizes in its latest competition. According to First Look West, three companies split the prize pool, including Pyri-E, which received $100,000 for its technology for harvesting waste heat; Chai Energy, which received $40,000 for its mobile phone app for monitoring energy usage in the home; and Dragonfly Systems, a team developing an electronic device to eliminate the power loss that happens with underperforming solar panels. Pyro-E is out of UC Berkeley; Chai Energy is from Caltech; and Dragonfly Systems is from Stanford. First Look West also said it provided $5,000 in a "Tansformational Idea Award" funded by Draper University, the entrepreneurial education program from venture capitalist Tim Draper.