Shine attended a productive Emerging Markets Conference this week in Denver, Colorado. Hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the conference brought investors, startups and industry leaders together to highlight promising clean energy solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in emerging economies. Event sponsors included USAID, represented by Lala Faiz, Director of USAID’s SDG collaboration platform INVEST Initiative.
The all-day conference offered participants access to advice from industry experts working to connect ventures with critical resources, including capital and strategic partners. Plenary speaker Morgan DeFoort, Managing Director of Factor[e] Ventures, highlighted increased calls on early stage clean energy companies to accomplish more (pre-Seed/Series A round), including an emphasis on growing revenues.
Throughout the day, eight investor-selected early stage companies had the opportunity to pitch the audience their business ideas, including Marianne Walpert, CEO of Simusolar (pictured). Simusolar, which recently received funding from Acumen, is a supplier of renewable powered productive equipment for rural farmers and fishers in Tanzania.