We're helping move clean energy technologies from the laboratory to commercial production, with the DTE Clean Energy Prize.
The DTE Clean Energy Prize is an annual entrepreneurship competition that challenges teams from colleges and universities in Michigan to develop the best plan for bringing new clean-energy technologies to market. Open to students and faculty from any Michigan college or university, the prize will be administered with the help of the University of Michigan.
We're making a five-year, $450,000 commitment to fund the prize. The initial competition will be held this fall with the prize to be awarded next spring. The prize pool for the 2009 competition will be $100,000, which will be divided among the winning teams.
Full details of the competition are still being finalized.
As application forms, deadlines and other details are finalized, that information will be posted here.
Read the DTE Clean Energy Prize news release
Eligibility
All entrant teams should meet the following criteria:
- Teams must be comprised of two or more members
- All entrants’ proposed businesses must support a technology, product, or service in the following clean energy focus areas:
- Renewable Energy, e.g. solar, wind, biomass, biofuels, hydro
- Energy Efficiency and Demand Response, e.g. smart grid, green building, LED
- Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Environmental Control Technologies, e.g. carbon capture, nuclear energy
- Energy Storage, e.g. battery storage, PHEV and associated infrastructure, flywheels
- Teams must have at least one student
- Student and faculty from all Michigan universities are eligible for the prize, however as an initial year condition, teams must have one University of Michigan student or faculty as a principal team member
- All business plan presentations must be given by student team members
- Teams’ businesses cannot have received previous venture capital funding
- Teams’ businesses that have received angel funding less than or equal to $100,000 or grant funding for the purpose of R&D and business development are eligible to participate
- Teams must describe how their business intends to recruit participation from people with appropriate skills to drive the business forward, including technical and commercialization skills as well as business development and fund raising skills. Teams comprised solely of members from technical schools or solely business schools will be disadvantaged in describing the full range of skills necessary to launch a new business.
- Teams eligible for the Prize may be eligible for other prizes associated with the Michigan Business Challenge.
Judging Criteria
A panel of judges from or with ties to the Michigan business community -- including venture capitalists, intellectual property attorneys, members of the business and academic communities, and experienced entrepreneurs -- will review the business plans. Panelists will review plans based on real-world venture capital criteria, such as:
- Market potential and scalability
- Time-to-market
- Stage of idea development
- Defensibility from competitors
- Quality, dedication and breadth of team
- Required capital investment
Intellectual Property
Contestants should take measures to confirm that any intellectual property associated with their submission will be appropriately protected. Also, teams should determine if any intellectual property associated with their submission is owned by the University of Michigan or other entity. The University of Michigan Office for Technology Transfer is available to assist and answer questions regarding University of Michigan technologies.
