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Last year, our Environment/Energy Circle grant partner Imagine H2O (IH2O) launched its global Water-Energy Nexus Prize to attract and accelerate new water businesses with energy-saving innovations. In March, they revealed their contest winners. This is the second annual competition from the start-up organization. Full Circle Fund has been involved with the organization from its inception and has provided funding and consulting support for the past two years.

“To our surprise, the winners don’t just save energy, they also make use of the valuable energy stored in water and wastewater,” says Scott Bryan, IH2O’s Director of Operations.

Before joining IH2O’s executive team, Scott was a Full Circle Fund Member who discovered a passion for the organization and its mission while as a member of the project team, led by Member Meera Balakumar.

The First Place winner, Hydrovolts, uses floating hydro-kinetic turbines to convert the flow of a canal into a distributed energy source. The two runners-up, Blackgold Biofuels and Fogbusters, are unlocking the energy resources found in fat, oil, and grease, which are some of the most energy-intensive waste-streams in the water grid.

Created to help find sustainable, entrepreneurial solutions to global water problems, the prize offers over $100,000 in cash, business and legal support, and access to a network of partners, customers, and financiers to accelerate the process of bringing these ideas to market. One of Imagine H2O’s goals for its 2010 prize was to increase awareness of the connection between water and energy, a relationship often under-appreciated by the public.

Congratulations to the winners, and to IH2O for continuing to push the field as the leading ecosystem for water entrepreneurship and innovation!

Posted in Scott Bryan, Meera Balakumar, Imagine H2O, environment

After a significant period of of issue-area exploration, inquiry, and research known as the Grant Cycle, both the Environment / Energy Circle and the Education Circle members have selected five compelling grantee organizations for 2010. The new grant projects are with Beyond 12, UC Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, Green Schools Initiative, and Rising Sun Energy Center. Additionally, the Environment Circle will continue to partner with Imagine H2O.

The projects, which range from helping a world class institution develop and promote a toxics scorecard for consumer products, to using technology to address a critical gap in college completion support for low-resource students, are an excellent complement to Full Circle Fund’s existing grant portfolio. Read more about the projects here:

> Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry - In this Environment Circle project, members will bring business acumen to this new department (founded in late 2009) at UC Berkeley. Members will be working to create a strategic plan for growth, build a network of businesses who see the value of green chemistry, develop a toxics scorecard for consumer products, and identify opportunities to shape policy.

> Beyond 12 (formerly CollegeSUCCESS) - In this Education Circle project, members will help Beyond 12’s two social entrepreneur founders through a major growth period. Projects include interviewing key internal and external stakeholders to develop an expansion strategy, a marketing plan, a partnership model and quantitative partnership evaluation tool for this national nonprofit organization. Beyond 12’s mission is to increase the number of first generation, underrepresented and low-income students who graduate from our nation’s colleges and universities.

> Green Schools Initiative - This Environment Circle project will help improve the environmental health of US schools as members assist with the development of a statewide certification program strategy, help the organization build high-level partnerships, create a campaign to mobilize parents, and implement a sustainable growth plan.

> Imagine H2O - In this project, Members of the Environment Circle will continue to help bring innovation in water to the next level by assisting this nonprofit with marketing and volunteer recruitment, as well as supporting the current business prize, and planning expansion of prizes.

> Rising Sun Energy Center - Environment Circle Members will work with this green workforce development and retrofit services nonprofit on a strategic marketing and expansion plan, fundraising, and impact measurement.

A huge thanks goes out to all the potential grantees who participated in the grant cycle as well as all the Inquiry Team Leads and new Project Team Leads for their incredible passion and commitment. Congratulations to all the members of the Education and Environment Circles, the project teams, and our four newest (and one returning) Full Circle Fund nonprofit partners!

These new projects are kicking off now! To learn how to get involved, contact our Membership Associate by email to talk about becoming a member and joining one of the Education or Environment Circle’s new grant project teams.

Posted in Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, Rising Sun Energy Center, Beyond 12, Green Schools Initiative, Imagine H2O, education, environment, grantees

After a significant period of of issue-area exploration, inquiry, and research (known as the Grant Cycle) Environment/Energy Circle Members have voted on four new grant projects for 2010. Full Circle Fund is thrilled to announce these partners and give a brief overview of the projects, which are:

> Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry - In this project, members will bring business acumen to this new department (founded in late 2009) at UC Berkeley. Members will be working to create a strategic plan for growth, build a network of businesses who see the value of green chemistry, develop a toxics scorecard for consumer products, and identify opportunities to shape policy.

> Green Schools Initiative - This project will help improve the environmental health of US schools as members assist with the development of a statewide certification program strategy, help the organization build high-level partnerships, create a campaign to mobilize parents, and implement a sustainable growth plan.

> Imagine H2O - In this project, members will continue to help bring innovation in water to the next level by assisting this nonprofit with marketing and volunteer recruitment, as well as supporting the current business prize, and planning expansion of prizes.

> Rising Sun Energy Center - Members will work with this green workforce development and retrofit services nonprofit on a strategic marketing and expansion plan, fundraising, and impact measurement.

The Environment Circle’s leadership includes member Chair Melanie Nutter and Vice-Chair Braden Penhoet, Grant Cycle Director Heather Sarni, and Circle Coordinators Victoria Lavi and Bryan Esterly. A huge thanks goes out to all the potential grantees who participated in the grant cycle as well as all the Inquiry Team Leads for their incredible passion and commitment.

Congratulations to all the members of the Environment Circle, the leadership team, and our three newest (and one returning) Full Circle Fund nonprofit partners! We’d also like to thank Greenberg Traurig LLP, our new Environment Circle corporate meeting host, for opening its doors to us and providing such a wonderful setting for the Environment Circle to gather.

These new projects are kicking off now! To learn how to get involved, contact Caroline Thompson by email to talk about becoming a member and joining one of the Environment Circle’s new grant project teams.

Posted in Green Schools Initiative, Melanie Nutter, Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, Rising Sun Energy Center, Heather Sarni, Victoria Lavi, Braden Penhoet, member leaders, grantees, environment, Imagine H2O, grant cycle

The struggle for clean water is a global concern, and is increasingly being seen as a human rights issue. Water scarcity effects health, economics, politics, and the environment. Yet, the pervasive lack of awareness of water problems and the dearth of opportunity for top entrepreneurs and investors means few innovators and funders have been focusing on water. Until now.

From more than fifty entries from all over the world, ten finalists were recently chosen by a panel of judges for the inaugural Imagine H2O (IH2O) Prize. This is a major milestone for both IH2O and Full Circle Fund’s Environment Circle’s Project Team, led by Member Meera Balakumar. The competition offers prizes of $70,000 in cash, business and legal support, and access to a network of partners, customers and financiers to help bring their ideas to market.

Says CEO Tamin Pechet, “2009 was an incredible year for Imagine H2O, and we can tie many of our successes to our Full Circle Fund relationship including bringing on major partners such as Royal Bank of Canada, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, partnerships with the City of San Francisco, volunteers and much more. But Full Circle Fund members’ contribution to our team has made by far the most impact.”

IH2O recently brought on a new Director of Operations who is not only the nonprofit’s first full-time employee, it is former Full Circle Fund Member and Project Co-Lead, Scott Bryan, whose involvement with both organizations resulted in a transformational career shift.

“IH2O is positioned to cement itself as a global leader this year, as we’ll announce the winners of our first competition, launch the incubator, and announce two additional prizes,” said Scott, “This is an incredible opportunity for me to help the organization reach new heights.”

Three winners will be announced at Imagine IH2O’s Water Innovators Showcase Celebration on March 11, an effort supported by Full Circle Fund Member Braden Penhoet. This special event will also feature the 10 finalists, presentations from the winners, and be an opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and changemakers committed to solving water problems. Full Circle Fund members are encouraged to attend and email Meera or Braden for a special discount code.

“When we initiated our Full Circle Fund partnership in September 2008, we were a skeleton crew of two. With Full Circle Fund’s support, in one year, we’ve built a big and talented enough team that we were able to hire from within,” Tamin concluded, “We would never have reached this point without Meera and Scott as captains.”

If you are interested in working on Environmental issues, contact Caroline Thompson by email to talk about becoming a member and joining one of the Environment Circle’s project teams.

Posted in Tamin Pechet, Braden Penhoet, Meera Balakumar, Scott Bryan, Imagine H2O, impact, environment, event, results, grantees

After months of research, discussion, and exploration of potential partners, the Environment Circle chose their finalists for the 2010/2011 grant cycle. This decision was made via in person and proxy vote at their Circle meeting on February 16, hosted by Member and Grant Cycle Director Heather Sarni at Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Special thanks to Greenberg Traurig, LLP for hosting this, and the future meetings of the Environment/Energy Circle meeting this year. The final grantees and projects will be decided in March.

The Environment/Energy 2010 Grantee Finalists are

• Berkeley Green Chemistry
• Eureka Fund
• Green Schools
• GRID Alternatives (renewal grant - read about previous project)
• Imagine H2O (renewal grant - read about previous project)
• Rising Sun Energy Center

Next up for the Circle is the March 4 meeting where the top six finalist organization sponsors and grantee representatives will be making their final presentations and discussing the specifics of the proposed projects. The final stage of the grant inquiry cycle is the March 17 Final Voting Meeting.

“This process is sure to produce some excellent partnerships and projects for the Environment/Energy Circle,” said Circle Chair Melanie Nutter, “I want to thank the potential grant organizations for their interest in engaging with us. Congratulations to every member who has participated in this grant cycle and has made the search for our next set of grantees a success so far. We received a record number of proxy ballots, even one from
a Member who is currently in Italy, which is phenomenal.”"

>It’s a great time to get engaged in our work. If you are interested in getting involved, contact Caroline Thompson by email to talk about becoming a member and joining one of the Environment Circle’s project teams.

Posted in GRID Alternatives, Melanie Nutter, Imagine H2O, environment, grantees, grant cycle

Full Circle Fund is thrilled to announce that its Environment/Energy Circle grant partner Imagine H2O launched its inaugural prize competition on September 1. The Imagine H2O Prize is designed to encourage entrepreneurs, investors, inventors and academics around the world to address water challenges. This inaugural business plan competition focuses on solutions to improve water efficiency in agriculture, commercial, industrial or residential applications, such as water demand reduction, improved water use, water recycling and/or reuse.

This marks a major milestone in the Full Circle Fund project which was has provided support to Imagine H2O since its early stages. Project Co-Leads Meera Balakumar and Scott Bryan report that the competition offers prizes of $70,000 in cash and in‐kind services, which will be awarded to the business plans that promise the greatest breakthroughs in the efficient use and supply of water. Entrepreneurs can learn more about the entry requirements here.

“We want to help build a Silicon Valley for water,” said Tamin Pechet, Imagine H2O’s Chairman, who co‐founded the organization at Harvard Business School in 2007, and was honored at Full Circle Fund’s 2008 Forum. The winners will also receive thousands of dollars in business and legal support and access to a network of partners, customers and financiers to help bring their ideas to market.

Royal Bank of Canada, Full Circle Fund, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and private foundations support Imagine H2O’s vision to create opportunities out of water crises. Imagine H2O’s growing list of partners also includes the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the National Water Research Institute, Babson College, the Stanford University Conservation Program, and others.

“Water problems have become acute at home and abroad, but less than one percent of venture capital supports water startups,” says Tamin. “We hope the Imagine H2O Prize and Incubator program inspires entrepreneurs to tackle the world’s water problems.”

Entries will be accepted from around the world until November 16, 2009. Winners will be announced at a showcase event in early 2010. The annual competition will feature a different water‐related prize topic each year and winning the cash prize is only the beginning, since the competition will place winners in an ecosystem of talent to help start commercially viable water solutions.

Posted in Meera Balakumar, Tamin Pechet, Imagine H2O, Cooley Godward Kronish, environment

Member/Project Lead Meera Balakumar reports that Environment/Energy Circle Grantee Imagine H2O and Cooley Godward Kronish, LLP are teaming up to present “The Water Efficiency Customer: An Ideation Workshop for Water Efficiency Businesses”. This workshop is in anticipation of the upcoming launch of the inaugural Imagine H2O Prize for Water Efficiency business plans, and is a chance for entrepreneurs, innovators, and the public to hear from customers of water efficiency products and services.

This unique evening workshop will be held on Thursday August 20, 2009, 6-8:30pm at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP’s Palo Alto Offices. Its program will identify specific market needs and opportunities by leaders in Industrial, Agricultural, Consumer and Water Utility market segments, including answers to questions like:

• What products and services in water and waste water do you currently buy and how much do you spend?
• What are your biggest, most critical needs that you would pay most for?
• What should an entrepreneur selling a water or waste water product or service to your company focus on?

There will also be brainstorming facilitated by the market segment leaders, looking towards addressing those needs, with participation from venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, business leaders and technology experts.

Finally, there will be expert resources on hand for water entrepreneurs, including breakout tables with venture capitalists, Imagine H2O representatives, Cooley Godward Kronish cleantech and venture capital attorneys, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers cleantech practice leaders.

Speakers and expert advisors include:

• Richard Harris (Water Conservation Manager, East Bay Municipal District)
• Tamin Pechet (Principal, Catamount Ventures and Chairman, Imagine H2O)
• Anthony Ravitz (Green building and Sustainability, Google)
• Marty Laporte ( Associate Director of Utilities, Stanford University)
• Jim Fulton (Partner, Cooley Godward Kronish and Head of Emerging Companies Practice)
• Steve Bengston (Managing Director of Emerging Company Services, Pricewaterhouse Coopers)
• Harsha Prahlad (Senior Research Engineer, SRI International)

To register for this program click here. Full Circle Fund members and friends can use the code “ih2o_partnerinvite” to receive a discounted registration fee.

Posted in Tamin Pechet, Meera Balakumar, Imagine H2O, Cooley Godward Kronish, environment, event, grantees

After just eight short months of partnership with Full Circle Fund, our Environment/Energy Grant Partner Imagine H20 has grown from a founding team and vision, to a funded, high-functioning organization that has consistently out-performed its goals and begun to make a recognized impact. Dedicated to solving the world’s water crisis through innovation, competition, and incubation, Imagine H20’s mission is to inspire and empower people to solve water problems. Among other successes, in early May Imagine H2O’s website went live, they produced a video, launched officially with a press release, were featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, and hosted their first workshop for water entrepreneurs (with attendance at capacity). Chairman and Executive Director Tamin Pechet recently shared:

“It occurred to us as we reflected on the successes our organization has enjoyed over the past few months that Full Circle Fund members have been directly behind many of them. We feel like we’re on a roll, and wanted to share some of the impact that Full Circle Fund’s team has made. We’re looking forward to more successes to come.”

Those highlights included:

• Full Circle Fund Members Scott Bryan and Tom Van Dyck helped secure a three year founding sponsorship from Royal Bank of Canada which provided Imagine H20 with the base funding needed to run its program, and let other stakeholders know that Imagine H2O has staying power.
• Member Peter Werner secured a core partnership with law firm Cooley Godward Kronish. Cooley not only provides the organization with legal support, but also serves as the cornerstone of its incubator program for entrepreneurs, including hosting functions and providing up to $20,000 in legal services as part of the Imagine H20 prize.
• Project Co-Leads Meera Balakumar, Johanna Johannessen, and the rest of the Project Team recruited almost 40 volunteers, and restructured the organization into circles to increase volunteer engagement.
• Member Marco Sgroi created a cluster of Imagine H2O volunteers and partners at UC Berkeley, resulting in the first Imagine H2O workshop for water entrepreneurs, held on May 6.
• Several members made introductions to the Governor’s staff and the Mayor’s staff, resulting in ongoing collaboration with the State, and public endorsement from and partnership with the Mayor’s Office.

>Watch Imagine H20’s new video (produced by TurnHere)

>If you’re interested in getting involved , contact Caroline Thompson by email to talk about becoming a member and joining one of the Environment Circle’s project teams.

Posted in Imagine H2O, Tamin Pechet, Cooley Godward Kronish, members, environment, results, grantees

After months of late night meetings, extensive research and tough decisions between top candidates, the Environment Circle has chosen the grant finalists for the 2008/2009 grant cycle. At a meeting on July 30th hosted by new member Jonathan Axelrad at Wilson Sonsini, the circle narrowed down potential grantee projects to a remaining four. The final grantees will be decided on before the end of the month.

>Members: Take a look at all the presentations from the Environment Circle grant cycle by going to the the members only site…

Grantee Finalists

Members Marc Payne and Shawn Simpson’s project with potential grantee, GRID Alternatives will focus on capacity building for the organization. GRID Alternative installs solar electric systems for low-income homeowners using volunteers. With Full Circle Fund’s help, they will be able to successfully replicate its Bay Area program in Southern California.

Led by Jack Oswald and Josh Becker, the Green Cities California project will build a best practices website to provide easy accessibility to the policy documents, performance measures and media outreach tools for any city or jurisdiction to use to accelerate their journey to sustainability.

Imagine H2O aims to foster innovation in water by aggregating thought-leaders and provide a central hub for start up organizations working in water innovation. Team leaders Meera Balakumar and Johanna Johannesson have designed a project to help the organization attract additional funding to move the organization from its current seed stage.

Members Stephen Zollman and Alexandra Sangmeister proposed to the circle to work with MOMS (Making Our Milk Safe) on their Dollar Store Detox Program. Team members will work with the grassroots organization to get imported lead-filled toys & baby products off the shelves of national discount stores.

>If you are interested in getting involved, contact Jonathan Kurshan by email to talk about becoming a member and joining one of the Environment Circle’s project teams.

Posted in GRID Alternatives, Making Our Milk Safe, Imagine H2O, members, environment, grant cycle