Presented by: 

Finance Series Event #6:

“Financing With Large Strategics”

Date: December 13th, 2011

Time: 8:00-8:30am – Breakfast and Networking

         8:30-10:00am – Panel Discussion 

Location: Two International Place, 35th Floor, Boston, MA 02110-4120

Cost: Council Members and Sponsors: FREE

         Non-Members: $40.00

Description: 

A wide range of corporations are exploring investment opportunities in cleantech, some with deep expertise and sizable portfolios in energy, others seeking to expand into a new sector or to address a discrete technology need. For cleantech companies, taking money from large strategic investors raises important questions and poses certain challenges. What can strategics offer to young, innovative companies that other investors cannot? What kind of companies are most actively investing in this space? This panel will explore the benefits and drawbacks of large strategic investors, with panelists representing both the corporate/strategic and the cleantech company perspective. 

Moderator: Peter Rothstein, President, New England Clean Energy Council
  

Panelists:

Bill Brady, CEO, Mascoma

William J. Brady, Jr. has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and a director since he joined our company in January 2010. Previously, Mr. Brady was Executive Vice President of Cabot Corporation, or Cabot, a specialty chemical company, from 2004 to 2009. Throughout his twenty-three year experience, Mr. Brady held numerous positions at Cabot in the United States and Japan, including General Manager of the Carbon Black business. Under his leadership, the business completed significant expansions in China and Brazil, and executed a major global initiative in energy efficiency. In addition, he led the commercialization of two start-up businesses at Cabot in ink jet colorants and elastomer composites. Mr. Brady currently serves on our board of directors and is Chairman of the Board of our affiliate, Frontier Renewable Resources, LLC. In addition, he is Chairman of the Washington D.C. based Advanced Ethanol Council, or AEC, which working on the commercialization of advanced and cellulosic ethanol development by establishing public policies and expanding the market for ethanol. Mr. Brady is also a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Scranton. Mr. Brady is a graduate of the University of Scranton with a B.S. in Chemistry and received his M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Dennis Costello, Managing Partner, Braemar Energy Ventures

Dennis R. Costello has more than 30 years of experience in the energy and venture capital industries. Mr. Costello was previously a partner with Advent International, an international private equity firm where he rose to chief investment officer for North America. He was personally responsible for 23 investments, 10 of which were in the energy area. Mr. Costello was also a managing director in Rock Maple Ventures, an early-stage technology venture fund in Boston. He started in the venture capital industry as a general partner of Zero Stage Capital, of Pennsylvania. Before embarking on a career in venture capital, Mr. Costello was the first Executive Director of the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute (CATI) in Denver. Mr. Costello began his career in alternative energy with positions as a project manager at Midwest Research Institute and as a member of the original staff of the National Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), which is now the National Renewable energy Laboratory (NREL). During that period, Mr. Costello published numerous papers and articles on the economic and market issues of solar energy commercialization. He is also the author of the Dow Jones Irwin book, New Venture Analysis: Research, Planning and Finance.

Mr. Costello holds an M.S. degree in business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He also holds an M.A. in economics from Ohio State University and a B.A. in economics from the State University of New York (SUNY), College at Fredonia.

Mr. Costello sits on the boards of Nuventix, Climos, Fulham and Luminus and is an observer on Laser Light Engines. He served on the board of directors of the New England Venture Capital Association from 1997–1999. He was a founder and chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Colorado and he remains active with the national MIT Enterprise Forum. Most recently, Mr. Costello was named to the Advisory Council of the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.

Eric Emmons, Investment Partner, Siemens Venture Capital

Eric Emmons heads Siemens Venture Capital's Energy Fund, and is based in Boston, MA. He focuses on investments in energy, materials, and industrial technologies. His current and past board involvement includes Managesoft, Powerit Solutions , Porogen, Bandgap Engineering, Protonex (PTX.L) , and Semprius.

Before joining Siemens Venture Capital, Eric was a partner at the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, where he led many of its investments in power generation, energy efficiency, and new materials.  

Prior to entering venture capital, Eric co-founded Enmed, Inc., a clinical trial management software company, and also managed strategic planning for EPIX Medical, Inc., (Nasdaq: EPIX) a public biotechnology firm in Cambridge, MA. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelors degree from Princeton University.

Bob Jahrling, Partner, Choate Hall & Stewart

Bob Jahrling provides counsel to public and private companies in connection with strategic business matters, securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, SEC reporting and compliance and executive compensation matters. Mr. Jahrling represents companies in a wide range of industries, including energy and clean-tech, software, healthcare services and telecommunications.  He is co-chair of the Energy & Clean-Tech practice group. He is listed in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America and has been named in The Legal 500 United States, a guide to the preeminent law firms in the US.  He is also named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer.  Mr. Jahrling is a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee. 

Andrew Lackner, Asst. VP, Venture Capital Group, GE Energy Financial Services 

Steve McGee, National Practice Leader, Grant Thornton Corporate Finance

Stephen McGee has 17 years of experience and is primarily responsible for sourcing and executing M&A transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, capital raisings and refinancings. Stephen’s primary focus is middle-market M&A transactions for privately held companies. He has advised clients across a number of industries including software, IT services, staffing, industrial manufacturing, plastics and packaging. Stephen is the U.S. representative on Grant Thornton International's Corporate Finance Executive Committee. In this role he is the primary U.S. liaison for all in-bound and outbound U.S. cross-border M&A activity.