Featured ZINOpreneur of the Week: Mark Owen of Puralytics

Mark Owen of Puralytics

Our ZINO Society featured ZINOpreneur Member this week is Mark Owen, Founder and CEO of Puralytics. Mark presented his company at the ZINO Society ZINO Green Investment Forum in April, 2011. We asked him to share the answers to a few questions about his company.

• What is your one-sentence elevator pitch? . . .  Puralytics has pioneered a new technology for water purification using LEDs and nanotechnology, which is able to destroy chemicals and microorganisms and remove heavy metals making it ideal for industrial processes and decentralized drinking water applications.
• How did you come up with the idea for your company? . . . While travelling in Tokyo, I saw a building with a sunlight activated nanotechnology “self-cleaning” coating that prevented algae growth and pollutant build up and I thought “ how could I get the light of the sun and the surface area of a building into a can?”  Over time we identified the exact wavelengths and intensities could be applied with LEDs, the surface area of a building could be achieved with a nanotechnology coated mesh, and have found other extensions that broaden the efficacy, efficiency, and breadth of contaminants that can be treated.
• The word that best describes your company culture is . . . focused.
• How are you different from your competition? . . .  Existing solutions merely move contaminants around into filters and waste streams, and are not effective with organic chemicals, whereas these are our strengths, and the contaminants are completely destroyed in our process.
• What is the biggest challenge you face? . . . Building the channel to market that supports the size of the opportunity.
• How much money have you raised to date? . . .  $940,000 through angel investors and the management team, and $516,000 through government research grants.
• If someone gave your company $3 million tomorrow, how would you use the money? . . .  To support our go-to-market plan, tool up our product for higher volume production, complete additional IP filings and certification tests, and add to our sales and engineering teams.
• Why will your company be successful? . . . We have a unique technology that is hitting the market at the same time that organic contaminants (pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, petrochemicals, pesticides, etc.) are of growing interest, and have a team that is experienced at the process of starting a company and introducing new technologies to markets.

Planning ZINO Green Investment Forum

Mary Holmes & Kristie Lanum

ZINO Society Chief Dealflow Officer, Kristie Lanum and Chief Marketing Officer, Mary Holmes, discuss ZINO Green Investment Forum coming up on April 26, 2011.  Kristie is accepting applications from entrepreneurs and organizing screening to select which companies will present and organizing coaching assignments to make sure that each entrepreneur selected to become a ZINOpreneur will be able to give a presentation about his company in the most compelling and concise manner possible within the allotted five minutes. 

Mary is finalizing the expert panel and featured business members and sponsors to complete the program as well as handling all the details of the day's events with the help of new Marketing and Events Coordinator, Bridget Naidu.

I have been finalizing the investors in our combined angel fund who will select a company that presents at ZINO Green to receive a $50,000 investment in their company in addition to any other investments that will be made as a result of connecting investors with entrepreneurs at ZINO Green Investment Forum.

I look forward to another fascinating program at ZINO Green and the opportunity to meet and connect with members and guests. 

ZINOpreneur of the Week: Burt Hamner

One of our ZINO Society featured ZINOpreneurs this week is Burt Hamner, Founder and CEO of Hydrovolts, Inc. and the winner of the ZINO Green 2009 Investment Fund.  Burt will be one of the 5 minute presenters at the upcoming ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum (ZZIF) on September 15th at Bell Harbor Conference Center. We asked him to respond to a few questions about his company.


What is your one-sentence elevator pitch? . . . New portable hydropower technology to tap an overlooked global energy resource of water currents in canals.

How did you come up with the idea for your company? . . . I directed a study of tidal energy generation for Tacoma Power and concluded that freshwater canals are a better energy resource than tidal currents, and I invented a new turbine that is ideal for canals.

The word that best describes your company culture is . . . Teamwork

In one sentence, how are you different from your competition? . . . Our unique turbine technology and award-winning business plan enables us to grow fast in thousands of locations, creating big economies of scale and significant barriers to future competitors.

What is the biggest challenge you face? . . . Creating the right technical team within company so we can reduce use of outside experts.

How much money have you raised to date? . . . $300k already, $500k in pipeline, $100k in various services.

If someone gave your company $3 million tomorrow, how would you use the money? . . . Salaries for new VP Engrg, VP Ops, VP Sales; R&D, patents, demonstration projects, global business development, first production run, contingency fund.

What is the oddest or most unusual thing about your company? . . . We are actually going to launch a new renewable energy resource, not just a business - turbines in canals around the world will be a totally new energy resource, and the world does not know it yet.

What is one thing missing from your business? . . . A great engineer who understands designing for conditions in third-world countries as well as US canal systems.

Why will your company be successful? . . . We will execute our award-winning business plan with help from a remarkable group of business partners and supporters , so we can punch way above our weight and hit our milestones quickly and confidently. For example, in August we signed up Harvard School of Engineering, MIT, and the Raytheon corporation in development agreements. All three are potential customers as well as developers. We have product inquiries from 18 countries so far because people see our technology (www.youtube.com/hydrovolts ) and they understand immediately that here is an honest-to-god new renewable energy source they can now tap with our products. If you got a canal, we got a turbine for you.

ZINO Green Fund Winner - Virticus!

Last night at the ZINO Society Roundtable meeting, Joe Herbst of Virticus, was on hand to accept a giant check as the $50,000 fund winner for ZINO Green 2010!  Congratulations, Joe!

ZINO Green Seattle, A GREEN success!

What an exhilarating day!  Yesterday we produced ZINO Green Seattle at the offices of our ZINO Society major sponsor, McKinstry. The McKinstry team jumped through hoops to make everything for the entire event absolutely perfect for the 150 people attending.  We are so appreciative of all the time, effort and resources that McKinstry used to make this event so successful.  Super stars Genevieve Guinn and Tony Stewart led the effort for McKinstry.  We are also very appreciative of the support of all of our other major sponsors including  Puget Sound Business Journal, Davis Wright Tremaine, Puget Sound Energy, and supporting sponsors Enterprise Seattle, Graham & Dunn, Perkins Coie and Stoel Rives.

Included on the business session agenda were brief 5 minute presentations by 14 entrepreneurs who shared overviews of their businesses, traction to date, market pipelines, financial projections and any important information for potential investors to consider, a “Courtside Chat” with McKinstry CEO, Dean Allen, an expert panel comprised of “green” experts who shared some of their insights with us and then questioned the best investment opportunity finalists in the Due Diligence LIVE! segment.  Facilitating the panel was George Erb, Editor of Puget Sound Business Journal and included on the panel were Ash Awad, VP-Energy, McKinstry; Bert Gregory, CEO, Mithun; Rick LeFaivre, Managing Director, OVP; Steve Reynolds, CEO, Puget Sound Energy; and Haeryung Shin, Clean Tech Chair, Davis Wright Tremaine.  At the conclusion of the business session, awards were presented, wine was uncorked and guests were invited to tour the new McKinstry Innovation Center under construction across the street.

The best investment opportunity finalists who will be going forward into due diligence as potential fund winners are Nano Ice, Eco Carpet Inc., Hydrovolts, Virticus and Canvas Solutions.

The ZINO Green Seattle ZINO Zenith Award Winners (aka people’s choice awards) were Burt Hamner of Hydrovolts for Best Presenter and Nano Ice for Best Investment Opportunity!

The full list of presenting companies who presented at both ZINO Green Portland on February 24, 2010 and at  ZINO Green Seattle on March 4, 2010 includes:

AmeriStar Solar Tracker

Building Runner

Canvas Solutions, Inc.

Eco Carpet Inc.

EMME

Environmental Energy & Engineering Co.

G.R. Green Building Products Inc.

Hydrovolts, Inc.

KersTech Vehicle Systems

Lagotek Corporation

Nano Ice

sengWare

Virticus

Zebigo.com

ZINO Green Portland a Success!

The ZINO Society team is figuratively walking on air since the successful inaugural ZINO Green Portland event on Wednesday this week!  The entire staff handled hundreds of details with good humor and expertise in order to produce such a stellar event.  We were so pleased to work with our major and venue sponsor, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt and were amazed at the attention to detail and service that Michelle Martin, their event representative provided to us.  My good friend, Don Krahmer, (3^rd photo above)of Schwabe facilitated a dealflow flight of entrepreneurs and drew the winning name for the 2 airline tickets door prize offered by our supporting sponsor, Alaska Airlines.  Presenting entrepreneur, Craig Rominger of Nano Ice USA was the big winner of the tickets!

There were many people who helped make ZINO Green Portland a reality.  In addition to Schwabe and Alaska Airlines, our other invaluable sponsors were Oracle, Portland Business Journal, McKinstry and Stoel Rives.  I am also especially appreciative of our ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee members and my friends and co-chairs, Douglas Bouland and Cindy Tortorici, who brought the group together to provide advice and input to me and the rest of the ZINO Society management team about the appropriate entry into Portland.   

Ray King, Founder & CEO of AboutUs participated in a fireside chat about his experience as a serial entrepreneur and shared some of his best advice with the entrepreneurs in the room.  Ray is pictured above in 4^th photo along with his wife, ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee member, Deneen King, and ZINO Society VP of Business Development, Mary Holmes.

There were 14 entrepreneurs who each presented 5 minute overviews of their businesses and shared their traction to date, market pipelines, financial projections and any important information for potential investors to consider.  Big kudos are definitely in order for the ZINO Green Screeners and Coaches who worked so hard to assist the entrepreneurs in making the most clear and concise presentations.

The winners of the ZINO Zenith Awards for best investment opportunities as selected by the event attendees were Peter Jay Klauser of Eco Carpet Inc., Craig Rominger of Nano Ice USA, and Burt Hamner of Hydrovolts.  See top photo above of each with their “green” ZINO Zenith award trophies.  To help investors in the room learn more about the ZINO Zenith Award winners, they then participated in a Due Diligence LIVE! Q&A segment with expert panelists (shown from left to right in 2^nd photos above) Drew Bernard, angel investor, Darius Hartwell, Shareholder, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Chris Ulum of Plas2Fuel Corporation, Byron McCann of Ascent Partners, and Bruce Sanchez of Oracle.

Following the business session, everyone had a final opportunity to talk with individual entrepreneurs and enjoy hors d’oeuvres and beverages together.  Featured winemakers were Dave Hanson of ArborBrook Vineyards and Emily Stoller Smith of Solena Estate.

Thank you to everyone who attended, was involved and helped make ZINO Green Portland an inaugural event of which we can all be very proud!  And now we can still look forward to ZINO Green Seattle this coming week on March 4^th at the McKinstry offices in Seattle!

We're off to Portland tomorrow for ZINO Green

The 4th annual ZINO Green Seattle Investment Forum and inaugural ZINO Green Portland Investment Forum are right around the corner.  Tomorrow we leave for Portland to prepare for our very first investment forum outside of Seattle.  ZINO Green Portland will occur on February 24^th in the afternoon at the offices of Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt and ZINO Green Seattle will occur on March 4^th in the afternoon at McKinstry.  Both events feature 14 entrepreneurs in the areas of clean tech, green IT, energy efficiency and sustainable products and services. Presenting companies are early-stage or are seeking expansion capital in the $250K-$5M range. ZINO Society is also bringing together thought leaders, angel investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who are committed to the advancement of innovation and green economic development in both locations.
The presentation format is a 5 minute pitch followed by Q&A. Forum attendees will select three finalists for a final round of questioning by our expert panelists in our Due Diligence LIVE! segment.
Presenting Companies:
AmeriStar Solar Tracker 
Building Runner 
Canvas Solutions, Inc.
Eco Carpet Inc.
EMME
Environmental Energy & Engineering Co. 
G.R. Green Building Products Inc.
Hydrovolts
KersTech Vehicle Systems 
Lagotek  Nano Ice USA
sengWare
Virticus 
Zebigo.com
If you are interested in attending, click HERE for more information.

We look forward to presenting all the quality companies listed above and look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends at both ZINO Green Portland and ZINO Green Seattle.

Save the Planet! ZINO Green is coming! Companies selected.

Last Thursday at Davis Wright Tremaine for the second ZINO Green screening session, the ZINO Society Screening and Coaching Board reviewed another group of 8 companies vying for a space at our upcoming ZINO Green Investment Forum scheduled this year for the first time to be held in both Portland and Seattle.  ZINO Society COO Rob Brown welcomed a new Screening and Coaching Board member to the team – Bob Nowlin.  Each entrepreneur had 5 minutes to pitch their company and 5 minutes for questions and comments from the screeners.  After the screening session and reviewing the input from all the screeners, each of the selected companies was assigned two individual coaches to help the entrepreneur perfect his or her pitch for the upcoming forums.  We are happy to announce the following companies as the ones selected to make 5 minute pitches at both ZINO Green Portland on February 24^th and ZINO Green Seattle on March 4^th:

 AmeriStar Solar Tracker

BioXcelerator Technologies, Inc.

Building Runner

Canvas Solutions, Inc.

Eco Carpet Inc.

EMME

Environmental Energy & Engineering Co.

G.R. Green Building Products Inc.

Hydrovolts, Inc.

KersTech Vehicle Systems

Lagotek Corporation

sengWare

Virticus

Zebigo.com

To register to attend, click here for Portland and here for Seattle.

So far, Kermit the Frog is Wrong!

As I mentioned in my recent blog postings, we are very pleased to present our inaugural ZINO Green Portland on February 24, 2010 in Portland.  Since my last blog posting, ZINO Society VP of Business Development, Mary Holmes, and I travelled to Portland and met with the ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee to ask for input and advice on what our next steps should be.  I am very appreciative of the advice and counsel we received from the ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee including Douglas Bouland and Cindy Tortorici, Co-Chairs, and members Don Krahmer, Chris Fenner, Nicole Vogel, Dennis Powers, Brian Rice, Bruce Ramseyer, Nancy Frisch, Deneen King, Rob Wiltbank, Marcia Stillwell, Brenda Meltebeke, Selby Key and Socrates Jimenez.  Pictured above from left to right are Marcia Stillwell, Chris Fenner, Cindy Tortorici, Cathi Hatch and Douglas Bouland.

As a result of the advice, a big decision we made was to move ZINO Green Portland from the Oregon Technology Business Center in Beaverton to the conference center in the offices of Venue and Major Sponsor, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in downtown Portland.  The ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee felt that it was important that our first targeted investment forum event in the Portland market should be located conveniently in downtown Portland.  We are so pleased with Schwabe’s generous sponsorship and look forward to working with them to make the investment forum a success!  The ZINO team is currently working to fill out our expert panel and keynote speakers and I will be able to share more about this soon.  As we continue to look for additional Supporting Sponsors for ZINO Green Portland, I am also very pleased to announce that a sponsorship agreement with Oracle was also agreed upon today and we look forward to working with them as well.

ZINO Green Portland will be a half-day event from 1-6 p.m. featuring 12-15 companies in the areas of clean tech, energy efficiency and sustainable products or services, presenting their businesses to angel investors and business leaders.  This year, the selected ZINO Green entrepreneurs will make their pitches in both Portland and Seattle locations. Companies that would like to be considered to present at ZINO Green need to submit an online application and upload an executive summary by the January 29^th, 2010 deadline.  Here is the link to apply to present:  http://www.zinosociety.com/entrepreneurs/applytopresent/zino-green/

An investment fund of $50,000 will be awarded to the company selected by the ZINO Green 2010 fund investors  as the best investment opportunity.  If you are an accredited investor and interested in being a part of the investment fund, the unit size is $5,250 including the administrative fee and I would be happy to tell you more if you will contact me.

We are also planning a pre-event cocktail party the evening prior to ZINO Green Portland on February 23, 2010 to introduce entrepreneurs, angel investors, sponsors and selected invited guests to one another in advance of the half-day investment forum.  Location is still to be determined.

I know that Kermit the Frog always opined that “It isn’t easy being green!”, but so far, we are very happy and pleased with the status of ZINO Green 2010 in both Portland and Seattle!

ZINO Green in Portland in February

The press release will be coming out this week with more details, but I am so pleased to share that this year ZINO Society will be producing not only a ZINO Green Seattle Investment Forum on March 4^th at the McKinstry Innovation Center in Seattle, but also a ZINO Green Portland Investment Forum on February 24^th at the Oregon Technology Business Center in Beaverton.  The format will be the same for both investment forums; afternoon sessions from 1:00-6:00 p.m. showcasing 12-15 clean tech, green, energy efficient or sustainable companies seeking angel investment capital followed by an awards and wine reception.  Our man on the ground in Portland taking the leadership role to produce ZINO Green Portland is well-known in both the Seattle and Portland angel and entrepreneurial communities, Chris Fenner.

We are in the process now of accepting applications from entrepreneurs to present at the ZINO Green Investment Forums.  Entrepreneurs selected through our screening process will present in both locations.  In our 4^th year now and as in the past, we will accept entrepreneur applications from the entire I-5 corridor between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia and selectively beyond that as well.  To apply to present, interested entrepreneurs can click on this link.

We are also in the process of developing the rest of the program with keynote speakers, expert panelists and sponsors.  Though each ZINO Green will have similarities, most speakers, panelists and sponsors will be individual to the market.

We look forward to our first investment forum produced outside the Seattle market.