Building a Stronger Innovation
Ecosystem in the Triangle Region
Moderator: Professor Maryann Feldman, Professor, UNC Department of Public Policy
Panelists:
• Bob Creeden, Executive Director, The Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network
• Philip Culpepper, Chatham Park Master Planner
• Jeff Garwood, Managing Member, Liberation Capital
• Bob Geolas, President and CEO, Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina
• Prof. Thomas Meyer, Arey Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and
Director of UNC's Energy Frontiers Research Center
UNC Friday Center
Redbud Auditorium
Bob Creeden
Executive Director
Bob.creeden@blackstoneen.org
508-361-1914
The
Network
The Network
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Founded in January 2012 with funding from Blackstone Foundation
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Collaborations with UNC Chapel Hill, NCSU, NCCU, Duke, and CED
Mission:
• Identify marketable innovations from universities and regional startups with high growth potential
•
Connect opportunities with region’s most successful serial
entrepreneur(s) for “team” coaching
•
Support entrepreneurship and innovation in the Triangle region,
resulting in more high growth companies producing innovation,
revenue and jobs
Bob Creeden: Blackstone
Entrepreneurs Network
“Coaching, Connections, Capital”.”
Network Resources:
– EIRs - 12 total to date
• 23 Companies; Raised $750M+, Exit Values - $4.5B+
– Fellows – 16 this year; MBA with 5-6 years experience
• Due diligence projects, analytics support
– Strategic Partners – university and community resources
– Blackstone Charitable Foundation and Blackstone Group
Bob Creeden: Blackstone
Entrepreneurs Network
Network
Makeup
Up
NetworkCompanies
Companies Make
Bob Creeden: Blackstone
Entrepreneurs Network
Funds Raised: 2012 - 2013
Funding Measurement
Year 2012
Year 2013
Total
Funds Raised
$2.1M
$48.8M
$50.9
Investment
$.948
$43.6
$44.5
Non-Traditional
$1.1
$$5.2
$6.3
25 Companies - 2013
In-Region Investment - $3.1 million
Out – region Investment - $40.5 million
Bob Creeden: Blackstone
Entrepreneurs Network
6
Philip Culpepper
Chatham Park, Master Planner
Philip Culpepper:
Chatham Park
Investment Overview
Investment Focus
Investment Strategy
• Project/Asset Finance for Water, Energy & Waste infrastructure
• Modular, Repeatable, Decentralized Infrastructure
• Targeting small projects that are underserved by the capital
markets. $10B+ market opportunity for decentralized
infrastructure
• Strong cash-flowing assets requiring no subsidies or grants
• Geographic concentration in North America and Europe
• 100% equity until projects are generating cash, then lever
• Investing in hard assets with predictable annual cash flows;
• Rigorous risk management
• Exclusive investment relationship with qualified partners for
multiple plants over multiple years
• Liquidity from regular operating cash flows, asset/portfolio refinancing, and ultimately asset/portfolio sale; no subsidies/grants
assumed in the cash flows
Investment Activity
Strong, Experienced Global Team
Renewable Energy Fund 1
• Former CEO/Executives of multi-billion dollar global businesses
• $54MM committed fund; closed June 2011
• $9MM returned/re-invested during the investment period
• Investments include: Plastic-to-Fuel, Wastewater, FOG-toFuel
Renewable Energy Fund 2
• $72MM committed fund; closed June 2013
Special Investment Vehicles (outside the funds)
• $9.5MM equity investment in Desalitech, a innovative
desalination technology company
Jeff Garwood:
Liberation Capital
• Recognized industry experts in water, energy, & materials
• Proven record on structuring, managing and harvesting
investments … over $10B of capital deployed in project/asset
finance, structured finance and M&A
• 9 years transaction period as a team at Liberation Capital and at
the General Electric Company
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
Liberation Capital Member Team
Jeff Garwood is the Managing Member of Liberation Capital, LLC. An 18-year veteran of GE, he led GE Water, a
$2.5B global infrastructure business, as President and CEO, led GE Fanuc, a leader in industrial automation, as
President, was the President of GE’s Garrett Aviation Services business, and held a variety of, management and
M&A roles.
Jeff began his career at Dupont and McKinsey & Co, and was COO at Commerx and Youcentric. He graduated
Summa Cum Laude from NC State University with a B.Sc. In Chemical Engineering, and received a MBA from
the University of North Carolina.
Frederic Schmuck is a Member of Liberation Capital, LLC. He is formerly a 16 year veteran and Senior Vice
President of GE’s Capital Markets team, and has structured over $10B in asset securitizations, and $.5B in
project finance equity globally, focused predominantly on renewable energy and water projects.
Fred holds an MBA (Finance) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Finance
from Northeastern University.
Earl Jones is a Member of Liberation Capital, LLC. He is formerly a Senior Executive at GE, serving in a variety of
leadership roles. Earl was the Global Commercial Leader for GE Water & Process Technologies, responsible for
Sales, Partnerships, Risk, and Project Development. Earl led the eHealth Solutions business for GE Healthcare IT,
and was the Lean Six Sigma Leader for GE for Supply-chain and Manufacturing.
Prior to GE, Earl was a Partner in management consulting, a supply-chain leader at Dell, and served honorably as a
Submarine Officer in the US Navy. Earl holds a M.S. in EE/CS and an MBA from M.I.T., and a B.Sc. in EE from the US
Naval Academy.
Jeff Garwood:
Liberation Capital
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
Investment Strategy
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Attractive return potential; target opportunities have 25% IRR returns, or higher
Packaged, repeatable: mitigates tech risk, minimize EPC risk
Mobile/Moveable: mitigates commercial risk
Speed to Revenue: limits site engineering and construction
Well Understood Technologies: mitigates risk
Water, Energy and Wasteto-Value
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•
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Water: difficult to treat industrial waste water; desalination
Energy: decentralized solar & wind; unconventional gas-to-electricity; renewable fuels
Waste-to-Value: decentralized waste product conversion to fuel, materials, and chemicals
Building Pipeline Through
Commercial Partnerships
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Multi-national and SMB Technology companies, EPCs, and Developers
Multi-project, multi-year investment horizons for exclusive for third-party project finance
and asset finance; no one-off projects
Strategic partners have pre-agreed upfront to project economics: CAPEX/OPEX
Ability for the Liberation Capital team to add value
1.
Invest in Projects with
Modular, Repeatable,
Decentralized Solutions
2.
3.
•
•
4.
Rigorous Investment
Management Process
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Jeff Garwood:
Liberation Capital
Strong, proven risk assessment processes based on GE Capital process methodology
Comprehensive, repeatable partnership/project contracting
Investment analysis assumes no leverage, no subsidies and no ‘green’ premium
Investments are 100% project equity; leverage and enhancements after plants are operational
and generating operating cash-flows
Deal size up to $20MM, with co-invest for larger projects or where concentration is a concern.
Bob Geolas
Research Triangle Foundation of
North Carolina
Thomas Meyer
Arey Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Director of UNC’s Energy Frontiers Research Center
DOE-BES
($17.5 M/5 yrs)
• DSPEC devices for solar
energy conversion
• 2009-2014
Timeline: Energy and Environment/RTP
• 2007-2008: Research Triangle Energy Consortium- Duke, NCSU, RTI, UNC-CH
(Vik Rao- Executive Director)
-Vice Chancellor/VP sponsorship
-Seek collaborations, partnerships for large scale initiatives
•
RTI Solar Fuels Institute – RTEC
sponsorship; proposal to DOE $125M for 5 yrs
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Research Triangle Solar Fuels Institute
(Trainham) – Research Consortium (RTI)