Last week, Arba gave me the opportunity to attend CleanTech 2010, an international cleantech expo in Tel Aviv. Entrepreneurs, researchers, venture capital investors, large companies, and start-ups from around the world met at the 14th annual event to discuss and demonstrate the newest developments in the cleantech domain.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term cleantech (or believe it has to do with Lysol and Mr. Clean)—think environmentally friendly technologies such as alternative energy and energy efficiency solutions. The 120+ company event was dominated by solar, wind, and water companies so there were huge displays of solar panels, wind turbines, and water management systems.
After walking around the booths for a few hours, I decided it was time to get some free food and listen to one of the keynote speakers discuss water scarcity and the Israeli economy. I assumed it was going to be in English since it was an international expo, but I was wrong. So, I just clapped when everyone else clapped and had some time to appreciate what this day meant. For 99% of the people there, it might have been another day at the office—networking, pitching ideas, and trying to bring in some more business. For me it was so much more.
Since my freshman year at Michigan, I’ve developed a profound and growing interest in cleantech. Last summer, I followed over 150 cleantech start-ups for a database I made for the Office of Technology Transfer at Northwestern University. Even though the database was only comprised of American start-ups, I came across a ton of start-ups from Israel in my research and some of them were even at the event.
All of these companies are making a difference in the cleantech field, and some if not many are going to be the companies that change the world in the future, establishing an energy economy free of environmental deterioration and geopolitical strife. If you’re looking for the next dotcom bubble, look no further than cleantech. If you’re looking for the next Google, it very well may be one of these companies.
Kevin,
very happy to see that you were able to get to Israel for an internship this summer! Especially glad to hear that it is in cleantech, and you are gaining exposure to the entrepreneurial prowess of the Israeli economy. This blog is a great idea, and another good idea would be to write a paper towards the end of your summer on a subject that interests you, related to the Israeli economy. That way, you will have a substantive piece of material to not only share with Tamid, but to store for future interviews as a way to tell future companies about your experience. All right, that is my wise 4 years ahead of you advice. take it or leave it. either way, have a great time in Israel!!
-Josh
Josh, great to hear from you and thank you very much for the advice! You should check out the other fellows’ blogs as well; I think you’d enjoy them.