Puralytics, a three-year-old company based in Oregon that created a water-purification system that utilizes LED lights, won the Cleantech Open on November 17 in San Jose, Calif. The Cleantech Open has provided support and financial resources to emerging California companies since 2006.
“The Cleantech Open's selection of Puralytics greatly increases the global awareness of fragility of our water supplies. The increasing threats from new contaminants, such as pesticides, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals, requires new, advanced technology, and the worldwide coverage of the Cleantech Open provides a priceless benefit to an early stage company.”
— Dave Moser, Puralytics vice president of business development
Other finalists included OnChip Power and EarthClean. Among the Cleantech competitors were six California businesses announced in October.
The Cleantech Open is the world's largest cleantech business competition. It aims to find and fund entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today's most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges.
"We're driven by a single goal: to help cleantech innovators and emerging companies develop their ideas into solutions to the urgent environmental challenges that we face," said Cleantech Open Marketing and Communications Manager Katie Payer. "The companies that competed this year all offered interesting, fresh concepts that will create jobs and do the right thing for the environment."
The program provides the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships to turn ideas into successful global cleantech companies. The Cleantech Open has helped alumni contestants raise more than $280 million and create an estimated 2,000 jobs.
Chevron is a Global Partner of the Cleantech Open. This collaborative partnership helps bring emerging technologies together with companies that deliver the world's energy today and in the future.
"Chevron is inspired by the innovation displayed throughout this competition," said Trond Unneland with Chevron Technology Ventures. "We are also proud that Chevron can help entrepreneurs who are working to improve today's energy, environmental and economic challenges succeed."