Austrade media release
21 January 2010
Green technology company, Solar Gem, has today won this year’s Innovation Shoot Out event held at Microsoft’s Campus in Silicon Valley, California.
Austrade’s Regional Director for the Americas, Grame Barty, congratulated the NSW-based company on winning the fourth annual event, which promotes innovative Australian technologies and provides opportunities for their global commericalisation to venture capitalists.
“The distinguished judging panel rated the seven Australian contestants based on the uniqueness of their technology and their potential for success in the US marketplace, Mr Barty said.
“As the ‘Australian Innovator of the Year’, Solar Gem will also receive a prize package designed to help launch its business in the United States which includes market analysis and public relations/marketing consultation,” he said.
Solar Gem designs and provides affordable off-grid energy based on clean solar power systems which can be used anywhere in the world.
The other participants were New South Wales-based Digisensory; Victorian-based Intelliguard and Mid-Comp International; Queensland-based MultiTrode and Synengco; and South Australian-based Zarloc.
Austrade’s San Francisco-based Senior Trade Commissioner, Nigel Warren, said the event showcased the strength, value and prominence of Australian innovation and promoted collaboration between Australia and United States business.
“In Silicon Valley it is difficult to be heard above the ‘noise’, so this event aims to provide the opportunity for innovative Australian companies to be heard by leading decision-makers and ensures Australia is front-of-mind for investors looking at the Asia Pacific region,” Mr Warren said.
“Participants had just five minutes to convince a panel of top-tier industry decision makers that their technology was ready to enter the global stage.
“Each company then received feedback and advice from Microsoft, Silicon Valley venture capitalists and industry analysts regarding their potential for success in the US,” he said.
"We were also thrilled to have the support of these industry leaders, and we believe that their participation in the Innovation Shoot Out speaks directly to," said Mr Warren.
Dan'l Lewin, Corporate Vice President, Strategic and Emerging Business Development at Microsoft and is responsible for Microsoft’s global relationships with start-ups and venture capitalists, provided the opening keynote address.
Mark Anderson, CEO of Strategic News Service – who created the Future in Review (FiRe) Conference and best known for his accurate forecasts of important technology market shifts – provided the closing address and chaired the three member judging panel.
The United States continues to be a valuable market for Australian businesses looking to expand internationally. In 2008-2009 the US was Australia’s third largest trading partner with two-way trade valued at $53.1 billion.
Austrade has a network devoted to the US market, providing extensive support for Australian exporters and assisting US companies to invest in Australia.
G’Day USA: Australia Week runs from 9 - 22 January and is produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Austrade, Tourism Australia and Qantas Airways. In addition to the founding partners, Australia Week is supported by the State Governments of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia and around 33 sponsors.
For more information on events being held, visit www.australia-week.com
ENDS
Media contact
Sarkis Khoury, Senior Media Adviser, Ph: (02) 9390 2118, Mob: 0414 401 072
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