Ms. Susan Preston will be a speaker at the CleanTech 2011 Workshop and Action Summit held in Grand Forks on June 19-21. Ms. Preston is General Partner of CalCEF Clean Energy Angel Fund. CalCEF is a private venture capital fund that invests in seed stage clean energy companies. They invest in a diverse range of energy related companies from energy efficiency, renewable energy, to smart grid. She is a Patent Attorney and a world-recognized expert in angel financing and angel organizations. She has spent most of her career in senior management positions in public and private companies.
Cleantech 2011 is a unique combination of events designed to foster and promote sustainable energy-related technology centers. It is hosted by two University of North Dakota-based groups—the Sustainable Energy Research Initiative and Supporting Education (SUNRISE) program and the Center for Innovation.
“Ms. Preston is a national expert in angel investing as well as in investing in CleanTech ventures. We have worked on several projects together over the years, and we are fortunate to have Susan bring her expertise to our conference,“ said Bruce Gjovig, CleanTech Program Co-Chair and the Director and Entrepreneur Coach of the UND Center for Innovation.
“Ms. Preston speaks nationally and internationally on economic development, angel and venture financing.” Gjovig added. “She is one of the founders of the Angel Capital Association, the North American industry association for angel organizations. She was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for 6 years and continues to serve as a consultant, specifically focusing on initiatives related to angel investing and angel organizations.“
At the conference Preston will review what angel investors are looking for in a cleantech venture, and how entrepreneurs should structure the deal/relationship with angel investors. She will share her experience and perspective on these topics based on lessons learned along the way. She will also give her expert insight on what angels would like cleantech ventures to do before they approach investors and what pitfalls companies should avoid.
“We’ve assembled a first class group of speakers, panelists, and session chairs from all across the U.S.,” said Dr. Wayne Seames, professor of chemical engineering in the UND School of Engineering and Mines and director of North Dakota SUNRISE the Program; Seames is the Cleantech event chair. “Cleantech provides a great forum where researchers, both individuals and groups, can showcase their work and make connections with energy business leaders in order to advance their clean energy related technologies”, he added.
The National Science Foundation EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) program and the Red River Valley Research Corridor Coordinating Center have been joined by the Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau and the UND Vice President’s Office for Research and Economic Development as primary sponsors of Cleantech 2011.
Details:
The Cleantech 2011 Workshop and Action Summit, will be held June 19-21 at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. Registration and Information Booth reservations are currently being accepted. To register for Cleantech 2011 or learn more about participation and sponsorship opportunities visit:
http://theresearchcorridor.com/sunrise/index.html
Cost: $175 for full, regular participants; $30 for students.
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About ND SUNRISE (Sustainable Energy Research Initiative and Supporting Education): ND SUNRISE is a student-centered, faculty-organized supercluster consisting of 35 faculty in 13 academic departments at the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, and Mayville State University. ND SUNRISE research focuses on three areas: the technologies to enable the environmentally sustainable use of coal, the production of fuels, chemicals, polymers, and composites from renewable sources, and the harvesting of energy from diffuse sources (wind/solar/hydrogen).
About the UND Center for Innovation:
The UND Center for Innovation provides assistance to innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers to launch new ventures, commercialize new technologies, and secure access to capital from private and public sources. The Center for Innovation is a partner in the CleanTech Open www.cleantechopen.com a regional and national initiative to foster clean technology startup entrepreneurs.
About Susan L. Preston, JD, General Partner, CalCef Clean Energy Angel Fund
Susan Preston has spent most of her career in senior management positions in public and private companies, from general counsel to CEO. She has also been a partner in two national law-firms and is a patent attorney. Susan Preston is recognized as an international expert in, and lecturer on, angel financing, and has been an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for several years focusing on issues related to angel investors and angel organizations. She is a founder of Seraph Capital Forum, the first all-women angel investment group in the country.
Susan Preston General Manager and member of the Investment Committee of California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) will update participants on the latest trends in cleantech energy ventures. CalCEF is a private venture capital fund that invests in seed stage clean energy companies. They invest in a diverse range of energy related companies from energy efficiency, renewable energy, to smart grid .The fund portfolio includes a company producing energy efficient lighting, a company developing enzymes to help break down corn stock, grass and woody biomass cellulose to create fuel, a thin film solar company, and a thermoelectric company who is capturing power from waste heat using silicon wires. Her portfolio includes Hid Labs, Allopartis Biotechnologies, and Alphabet Energy.
Many Cleantech technologies come through Preston’s office. She will identify creative financing models to help deploy new energy sources. Payback period for energy projects have reduced from over two years to one year or less today. And creative financing models are always in high demand when it comes to renewable energy. She is active with the Clean Tech Open nationwide.
Susan is the author of numerous articles, white papers and books on angel financing. Her most recent book, Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs, Early-stage Funding for Long-Term Success was released by Wiley Publishing and her first book, Angel Investment Groups, Networks and Funds: A Guidebook to Developing the Right Angel Organization for Your Community was published by Kauffman Foundation. Ms. Preston was also a contributing author to State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on the Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing. She is the architect of the Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Act, a bi-partisan federal income tax credit bill for private equity investing, which will be re-introduced in Congress this session. Ms. Preston received her JD, cum laude, from Seattle University and her BS, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in Microbiology and Public Health from Washington State University.
Useful links:
ND SUNRISE see www.und.edu/org/sunrise/index.html
UND Center for Innovation see www.innovators.net
Contact:
Tiffany Roberts, Cleantech Program Coordinator
UND Center for Innovation
701-777 3132
tiffany@innovators.net
Juan Miguel Pedraza
National Media Relations Coordinator
UND Office of University Relations
701-777-6571 office 701-740-1321 cell
juanpedraza@mail.und.edu |
