Contact:
Martin Maisonpierre, Edelman, Martin.Maisonpierre@edelman.com, 212-704-8111
Barbara Pruitt, Kauffman Foundation, bpruitt@kauffman.org, 816-932-1288
New Web site will close gap between energy innovations and increasing consumer demand
(WASHINGTON) March 1, 2010 – With more than $80 billion already invested in U.S. clean energy development and another $150 billion being proposed, this emerging industry has been tagged as essential to jump-start the economy and create new jobs. Yet significant barriers plague this highly regulated, complex sector that prevent it from making the kind of progress that such high expectations demand.
Knowing that entrepreneurs can accelerate the clean energy revolution if given access to the right networks, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation today launched the Energy Innovation Network (www.energyinnovationnetwork.org) at the Energy Innovation Summit co-hosted by the Kauffman Foundation and the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy. The Energy Innovation Network will provide links to technologies, entrepreneurs, finance, buyers and policymakers to make the pathway for energy entrepreneurs more transparent.
"Few industries have had to overcome the high capital requirements, regulatory hurdles and variety of stakeholders that clean energy is facing," said Lesa Mitchell, vice president of Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation. "While there may be an energy innovation imperative, there is no energy innovation mechanism. The Energy Innovation Network will help close the gap between demand and delivery."
The online network will match researchers, entrepreneurs, buyers, investors and decision-makers to support high-growth energy businesses. It also will provide policymakers with information that will help them develop programs that can support clean energy entrepreneurship.
"Using their connections through the Energy Innovation Network, entrepreneurs will be able to address policy, finance and market structure issues early in their business development, which will help them scale sooner and more quickly," said Kimberly de los Santos, Kauffman Foundation program advisor.
The Energy Innovation Network is designed to close the innovation gap between energy research and the market by:
- Connecting entrepreneurs with researchers who can develop new technologies
- Linking startups with energy buyers
- Helping corporations find energy partners
- Informing states that want to enact policies that will encourage clean energy development
- Enabling regions to scale state-level innovation strategies
