Annual European Cleantech Forum Opens in Amsterdam on May 9 Focusing on the Interplay between Cleantech Companies and Multi-National Corporations

Over 500 clean technology leaders from across Europe will gather in Amsterdam for the seventh annual European Cleantech Forum. Keynoting corporate leaders include Denis Gasquet, COO, Veolia Environnement, Peter Molengraaf, CEO, Alliander, and Peter ter Kulve, CEO, Unilever Benelux, testimony to the broad impact clean technology will have across all types of industries.

As the industry’s premier event in Europe since 2005, the Cleantech Forum is an important annual gathering of cleantech innovators produced by Cleantech Group, the leading global provider of business intelligence for companies and investors focusing on clean technology innovation.

In the Netherlands for the first time, the focus of this year’s Cleantech Forum is “Cleantech Goes Corporate: The Multi-National and Cleantech Innovation.” Corporations are becoming ever more active in global cleantech innovation – as investors, partners, licensees, customers, and acquirers – as documented in Cleantech Group’s June 2010 report, The Rise of the Corporation in Cleantech. “More than any other previous wave of innovation, the coming together of small and large companies will be an absolute necessity if such innovations are to scale,” said Richard Youngman, Managing Director of Europe and Asia for Cleantech Group. “Corporations need startups to source innovation and startups need corporations to scale innovation.”

The Forum features more than 50 distinguished speakers including keynotes from Peter Bommel, Global Energy & Resources Leader for Deloitte, R. Chandrasekar, Group CEO of IT Power, Nancy Floyd, Founder and Managing Director of Nth Power, and Christian Lang, Senior Director Manufacturing - EMEA, Autodesk. Speakers from major multi-national corporations, including BASF, British Gas, Cisco, Coca-Cola, KLM, Rhodia, Total, and Vattenfall will lead discussions on what clean technology innovations they are scouting for, and why.

Over the course of three days, attendees at Cleantech Forum Amsterdam will attend interactive panel discussions and CEO presentations, hear from dozens of keynotes, and network with hundreds of Europe’s cleantech elite. Cleantech Forum Amsterdam will also offer the following opportunities:

• Entrepreneur Showcase: 16 competitively selected CEOs from across the full cleantech spectrum will present and pitch their investment opportunity; sessions are held for companies seeking Series A or Series B and C venture rounds.
• Cleantech Tour of Amsterdam: For the 3rd year running, Cleantech Group will escort an intimate group of Forum attendees to tour the Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam’s Science Center, NEMO, to see innovative cleantech solutions in action.
• Awards: Cleantech Group will also present the Cleantech Corporation of the Year Award to sustainability leader Unilever. Its decade-long Sustainable Living Plan will stimulate innovation in the way they “source, make and package” their products, and as such will be an important stimulant to open innovation in clean technology.
• Announcements: Cleantech Group will preview its i³ platform, Deloitte will announce its update on Investment Trends in Clean Energy, and the WWF will present its 2011 Cleantech Star Award.

Platinum Sponsors include Autodesk and Dutch Green Technology. Gold Sponsors are Capricorn Venture Partners, Carbon Trust, Cleantech Finland, and KLM. Session Hosts include Climate Change Capital, EcoCluP, GDF Suez, Holland Financial Centre, Cleantech Delta, Noerr, Stockholm Business Region Development, World Wildlife Fund and Yellow & Blue Investment Management. Event Partners are amsterdam inbusiness and Amsterdamse Innovatie Motor.

Cleantech Group has produced more than 30 Cleantech Forums around the world since 2002. For more information about Cleantech Forum Amsterdam, or to register for the conference, visit http://events.cleantech.com/amsterdam/.

About Cleantech Group

Cleantech Group is a trusted provider of market intelligence on companies across the cleantech spectrum. Our leading analyst team covers sectors such as energy efficiency, smart grid, energy storage, water, and green transportation. Cleantech Group helps global business leaders, including corporations, investors, entrepreneurs, governments and service providers, make smarter, more strategic decisions involving clean technologies. Cleantech Group also produces the premier Cleantech Forum® and Focus™ events worldwide, including upcoming events in Amsterdam, Toronto and San Francisco. Details are available at http://cleantech.com.