5 innovative startups from Cleantech Forum 2015

Five top innovative startups have emerged from this year’s Cleantech Forum in San Francisco.

The theme of this year’s Cleantech Forum centred around the adoption of renewable energy, and how utilisation of the cloud, big data, and the internet of things could help further this goal.

Cleantech Meets the Cloud: The Emergence of Cleantech-as-a-Service was the catchphrase of the forum. With that in mind, we’ve outlined five startups at the forum that stood out brighter than the rest.

Puralytics - This water purification company is making waves already, producing several innovative solutions to create clean water with minimal waste or energy use. Its latest product, the LilyPad, is a sun-activated device that floats in ponds while purifying them - without the use of chemicals.

Persistent Efficiency - These are the creators of the Power Patch: the world’s first tape-on electric meter. The product analyses data from circuit breakers to work out your energy use, so homeowners and businesses alike can calculate how efficient they’re being without ringing up the electrician.

Leeo - This product brings the traditional fire and carbon monoxide alarm into the 21st century. Their Smart Alert Nightlight plugs into the wall and sends alerts to your smartphone if one of your existing alarms goes off. No upgrade to your existing alarm system is required, which is why we like this one so much.

Powerhive - Here we have a tech company dedicated to providing communities with access to affordable, accessible microgrid solutions - particularly in emerging markets. A worthy cause and one to keep an eye on, especially following the success of its pilot deployment in Kenya.

Off Grid Electric - According to its website, this is the world’s first “massively scalable solar energy as a service” company. The firm focuses on the developing market in order to remove the need for inefficient, polluting kerosene generators, while gathering and analyzing data for these emerging markets - which apparently has not been attempted before.