CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - May 2, 2013) - Eighteen teams of semi-finalists will battle it out for $320,000 in prize money to fund clean energy technologies and startups during the MIT Clean Energy Prize (MIT CEP) being held on May 5 and 6, 2013.
Now in its sixth year, this nationwide competition is sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NSTAR Electric & Gas Corporation and the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) with the goal of helping to develop and motivate the next generation of energy entrepreneurs.
This year's semi-finalists cover a wide range of applications including new battery technologies, grid management and efficiency, as well as nuclear technology. For a complete list of contestants, please visit http://cep.mit.edu/2013-semi-finalists/
On May 5, two teams of finalists will be chosen in three categories and will split the following prizes:
- $20,000 Chevron Renewable Energy Track Prize
- $20,000 Mass Clean Energy Center (CEC) Energy Efficiency Track Prize
- $20,000 Shell Infrastructure & Resource Track Prize
The six remaining teams will then compete for two grand prizes during the May 6 finale to be held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel:
- $150,000 NSTAR MIT Clean Energy Prize
- $100,000 DOE EERE Clean Energy Prize
A $10,000 MIT Executive Education Audience Choice Award will also be presented that evening.
The teams of semi-finalists were selected by a panel of industry leaders, academics and government officials. Judging criteria included not only technology innovation and clean energy impact, but also knowledge of target markets, financial strategy, and the chemistry and commitment exhibited between the team members. The same criteria will apply to the six teams competing in the finale.
According to MIT CEP organizers, this year's applicant pool grew 100% from last year's competition with submissions representing 39 different universities across the country. Team formation has also grown through preliminary acceleration events including the first ever CEP Research Pitch and Venture Workshop held earlier this year.
Since its debut, MIT CEP alumni have raised more than $118 million in funding from venture capital firms and other institutional investors including $13 million from Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), according to a recent report by venture capital data firm CB Insights: http://cep.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/04...-Final.pdf
MIT CEP is the first and largest student led clean energy competition. Over the years, MIT CEP has served as the model for the US DOE's development of five additional clean energy competitions around the country.
"The energy sector has had and continues to have a shortage of entrepreneurs," said Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship at MIT and a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan. "The MIT Clean Energy Prize is surfacing innovative technologies out of universities, but more importantly, it is training the energy entrepreneurs of tomorrow. These entrepreneurs will pay dividends not just once but over and over again."
MIT CEP works in partnership with MIT's $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Since its launch in 1989, the MIT $100K has facilitated the birth of approximately 120 companies with aggregate exit values of $2.5 billion captured and a market cap of over $10 billion. These companies have generated approximately 2,500 jobs and received $600 million dollars in venture capital funding.
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