Energy Advancement
Leadership Conference
November 18, 2004
Richard Amato
Director, CEI
ATI Mission
To launch great market leading
companies that create wealth for our
communities by proactively helping
entrepreneurs in the technology
sector achieve their business goals
CEI is a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
IC2 = Innovation, Creativity, and
Capital
A “think and do” research lab whose
mission is to generate wealth, jobs, and
shared prosperity
Suite of activities that represents an “eco-system” for wealth creation:

Technology business incubator (ATI) in 1989

Master’s degree in technology commercialization in 1996

High-tech entrepreneurship and management education

High-tech support networks

“Knowledge workers” developed through e-learning

Development program for emerging regions
Austin Technology Incubator
• Founded in 1989 by Dr. George
Kozmetsky as a non-profit
• UT-Austin, Chamber of Commerce
and City were initial capital
sponsors
• Operated by the IC2 Institute at The
University of Texas at Austin
• Located on the J.J. Pickle Research
Campus at UT Austin with 30,000
square feet of space
• 20 Companies
• Full-time staff employed by UT
Austin
ATI’s Aggregate Results to Date
• >$1.5B in revenues generated by ATI companies since 1989
• >$720M in outside capital raised by ATI companies
• >3,000 direct jobs created by ATI companies
• Five companies have gone public
– Metrowerks
– Encore Orthopedics
– Concero
– DTM Corp.
– US Medical
• 17 graduates have been acquired including
– Metrowerks by Motorola for $95M
– Evity by BMC for $100M
– Exterprise by CommerceOne for $78M
– DTM Corp. by 3D Systems Corp. for $45M
Clean Energy Incubator
NREL and SECO Realized:
1. Market need for business knowledge to commercialize
viable clean energy technologies
2. Business incubators are able to focus on clean energy
technologies
•
Partner with ATI (first incubator)
3. National Alliance of Clean Energy Business Incubators
•
11 incubators in 9 states
4. Support from SECO and DOE
•
SECO grant to help fund foundation of CEI
•
DOE grant to continue development of Alliance
CEI is a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
CEI is a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
CEI Companies
e60 Vision
WindKraft Inc.
RSET Inc.
Allied Energy
Systems
Power Tube Inc.
Austin Biofuels
CEI is a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
Business Development Value Chain
Capitalize
Grow
Deploy
Productize
Innovate
Entrepreneurs
Corporate Research Groups
The University of Texas
Research
• Develop relationship network
• Build business plan
• Acquire seed funding
• Develop team
• Acquire early customers
• Provide turn-key infrastructure
The Challenge: Delivering a Strong
Return on Taxpayer’s R&D Investment
Technology
Creation
Cash Flow
Great
Technology
Market Focused
Biz and Product
Development
Early
Commercialization
Market
Success
“Cash Flow Valley of
Death”
Time
Typical,
primary
investors
DOE/NREL
and states
Public
sector
Entrepreneur
and seed/
angel
investors
Buyout / IPO / or
other exit
Venture
capitalists
Private
sector
Stock
owners
Additional programs
•
NREL Industry Growth Forums
–
–
–
•
CEI Opportunity in Clean Energy Series
–
–
–
•
17th Orlando, FL – October 18-20, 2004
16th Austin, TX – November 17-19, 2003
15th Albany, NY – October 29-30, 2002
Investments in New Energy Technologies – May 13, 2003
Business Opportunities in Austin & Beyond – July 23, 2002
Commercialization of Clean Energy Technologies – April 18, 2002
ACE Initiative
–
–
–
–
–
“Enriching Economy and Environment: Making Central Texas the
Center for Clean Energy” Report
2004 Clean Energy Economic Development Summit – April 27, 2004
Spring Networking Event – April 10 ,2003
Clean Energy Report Press Release & Event – November 12, 2002
Austin Clean Energy Bash – May 14, 2002
CEI is a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
What have we learned?
In 2001 when CEI began, the very Technology
successful ATI model was used as the framework for
operation. However over the next three years, we learned that though the ATI model
works very well for high-tech companies,
the clean energy industry and the clean energy
Incubator
entrepreneurs require a different framework.
• Profile of a clean energy start-up
–
–
–
–
Technically-focused entrepreneurs
Lack of business experience
Capital intensive
Long life cycle
• Pipeline of companies
–
–
–
–
Broad spectrum of company stages
Variety of technologies – solar, wind, green products, energy efficiency
Varying levels of commitment
Emerging industry
CEI is a program of the Austin Technology Incubator and IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
Giving clean energy companies the
power to succeed!
www.ic2-ati.org
www.cleanenergyincubator.com