Irish clean tech entrepreneurs to hit Silicon Valley

8 Sep 2009

Twelve leading companies from Ireland’s US$4bn clean tech sector will this month descend on Silicon Valley to reinforce Ireland’s credentials as a centre of green technology ingenuity.

The companies, which include established players like Automsoft, WaveBob and Episensor, will visit potential customers, partners, investors and other key influencers in late September as part of an Enterprise Ireland-led trip.

The Irish clean tech sector employs 6,800 people and its exports are valued at US$4bn.

EnterpriseIreland supports 144 companies which employ 3,400 people with exports of US$167m last year.

The 12 players will bring innovations in technologies that include: solar, wind, biofuels, energy monitoring software, and waste handling. They range from early-stage to mature. Their goal is to establish customer connections, forge partnerships and raise funds.

EnterpriseIreland said that the hallmarks of the clean technology industry in Ireland are large public sector investment as well as seed capital, strong commitment to regulatory enforcement, Ireland’s abundance of wind and wave energy, an entrenched presence of foreign multinationals and strong research institutions such as Sustainable Energy Ireland and the EPA.

The companies and their expertise include:

  • Alternative Energy Resources    
  • Production and supply of low-cost bio-ethanol
  • Automsoft                                          
  • Data-management for utilities, life sciences, oil & gas, mining, and pulp and paper industries
  • Episensor                                           
  • Wireless environmental sensors
  • Imperative Energy                             
  • Renewable energy from biomass fuels
  • SolarPrint                                           
  • Solar cell technology for consumer electronics
  • Wavebob                                            
  • Wave energy
  • City Bin Company                            
  • Software for waste recycling
  • Kedco                                               
  • Converts waste into energy
  • Phive                                                  
  • Plasma for thin film silicon products
  • ResourceKraft                                    
  • Real-time energy monitoring
  • ServusNet                                          
  • Operational intelligence software
  • Surface Power                                     
  • Renewable energy equipment

By John Kennedy

(Image source: Sean McGrath via Creative Commons)

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com