New Zealand CleanTech Founders taking innovations to the world

New Zealand’s top cleantech startups shaping the future of climate and environmental innovation launch in to the US cleantech market.

Invest New Zealand
Invest New Zealand
1 Feb 20243 min
News, NZ Investment opportunities, All of US & Canada

Last week a delegation of New Zealand's top cleantech startups shaping the future of climate and environmental innovation spent a week in California engaging with investors and learning more about the US Cleantech market.

The week started in San Diego where the startups attended the Cleantech Forum North America. The delegation was busy meeting with investors, engaging with potential customers and speaking on panel sessions.

Charlie Wilkinson, NZTEs New York-based Investment Manager, travelled with the delegation and said, "There was a real buzz around the presence of so many high-quality New Zealand startups at the Forum."

A highlight from the time in San Diego was a private fireside conversation with Alice Havill, a Breakthrough Energy Fellow. The delegation had a candid conversation on the path to commercializing cleantech from a fellow kiwi who has done it before.

The group then travelled to the San Francisco Bay area and spent time forging relationships at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. It was great to share the conversation with kiwis Roland Horne of Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy and Tim Brown, Co-Founder of All Birds.

The week culminated in a session organized by Invest New Zealand in San Francisco. Investors from Galvanize Climate Solutions, Generate Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Bridgewest shared insights during a panel session run by Paul Burnaby, NZTEs San Francisco-based Investment Director. Investors then got to see pitches from the start-ups whose expertise spans renewable energy, waste-to-value, carbon capture, fusion, and carbon-free concrete. The companies below represent some of the best cleantech innovations in the world, and we are proud to support them.

Paul Burnaby said, "It was great to see the companies representing New Zealand on the global stage. The investors were impressed by the quality and range of cleantech solutions coming out of New Zealand."

  • Mark Chadderton with Aspiring Material's Carbon Mineralisation – Transformational technology using sustainable materials to decarbonise industries, making net-zero emission possible.

  • Christina Houlihan with Bspkl Hydrogen Innovation - Developing catalyst-coated membrane solutions to overcome catalyst supply challenges and manufacturing bottlenecks.

  • Trevor Stuthridge with Cetogenix Waste to Value - Converts organic wastes into renewable natural gas and bio-fertilizers.

  • Karyna Young with EnPot Energy Efficiency - Technology to enable smelters to flex their power usage creating a virtual battery, supporting the adoption of renewable energy.

  • John Worth with Geo40 Sustainable Mineral Recovery - Enabling critical minerals such as lithium and silica to be extracted from underground fluids at scale.

  • Chris Macbeth with Hydroxsys Water Treatment - Solving wastewater and sustainability challenges for food and industrial processors, using new membrane filtration technology.

  • Matt Kennedy-Good with Neocrete Decarbonising Concrete - Neocrete is a new type of concrete that Introducing a sustainable, high-performance [carbon-free] concrete variant.

  • Glen Willoughby with Nilo Waste to value - Transforming plastic waste into high-value industrial products, with a current focus on wood panel board adhesives and eco-concrete. (NILO: Overview | LinkedIn)

  • Ratu Mataira-Cole with Openstar Technologies Fusion Energy - Mission is to deliver clean, abundant, and available fusion energy to the world.

  • Juliet Hull with Sleaktek Biopolymer - Sleak is a completely natural 100% plant derived hot melt compound used to make adhesives, sealants and plastic film substitutes.

  • Perzaan Mehta with Vortex Power Systems Waste to Energy – VPS is a revolutionary technology, converting low grade waste heat into clean electricity.

  • Jonathan Ring, and Leatham Landon-Lane with Zincovery Waste to Value - Low temperature reactor technology.

This event was powered by Callaghan Innovation and supported by Invest New Zealand, Tataki Auckland Unlimited, NZTE, Ara Ake, with support from NZ Cleantech Mission.

Contact us

If you are wanting to know more about any of these companies or other investment opportunities with New Zealand companies or the Active Investor Plus Visa, designed to support investors access residency via investment to New Zealand please get in touch with Paul Burnaby or Charlie Wilkinson, or contact us at investors@nzte.govt.nz

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