The 21st century faces many challenges associated with sustainable management of resources and protection of the environment. The good news is that opportunities exist for innovators to respond to these challenges and turn emerging ideas and research into innovative products and services, scalable companies, and environmentally friendly energy solutions.
The UCI Environment Institute, in collaboration with the Tech Coast Angels OC Chapter and in partnership with OCTANe, Calit2, K5, the UCI Center for Unconventional Security Affairs and the Paul Merage School of Business, is pleased to announce the UCI Clean Tech Academy. This combined mentoring program and business plan competition is designed to inspire UCI innovators to bring forward technologies, products or services that are currently in development. The goal is to build great new companies that will solve the most pressing energy and environmental problems. These ventures will expand UCI’s role as a leader in sustainability research and applications, and encourage future collaborations and awareness of these opportunities.
The Clean Tech Academy allows UCI innovators to address the funding gap that often stands between creating an innovative product or service and getting that innovation to market. The competition is designed to bridge that gap through a combination of mentoring by seasoned investors and business professionals, prize money, and the prospect of early stage funding from angel investors.