November VertueNEWS: Impact Investing Taking Off, Giving Green Technologies for Good, More...

NOVEMBER, 2018

Greetings from David Kenney

President & Executive Director

Thanks for Helping Confront Climate Change

I hope all of our newsletter readers had a terrific Thanksgiving holiday last week. Many of us use the occasion to express our gratitude for the many wonderful people we have around us. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the many researchers, inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are working tirelessly to discover and develop solutions to the significant environmental challenges facing humanity - including climate change.

Our region has an abundant share of these smart, creative, passionate, and hard-working individuals, and I'm so happy that VertueLab has been able to help many of them advance their innovations closer to deployment and scale-up... to build a better world.

If you're thankful for these dedicated women and men, too, I invite you to join me in making a tax-deductible, year-end donation to VertueLab to help us expand the scale and scope of our programs and funding to innovative climate change fighters. See below for some gift ideas from our portfolio companies....

Onward!

Happy Holidays,

VERTUELAB PORTFOLIO COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

NemaMetrix Grows to 50, Wins Job Creation Award

Tiny, transparent nematode worms serve as the backbone of University of Oregon spinout and VertueLab Portfolio Company NemaMetrix, which uses the worms to develop potential therapies for human diseases and monitor environmental impacts. The Eugene, Ore. startup, headed by Matt Beaudet ( pictured, above), now employs more than 50 people and just won a job creation award. Watch video, above.

Bringing Smart Home Technology to Purdue Students

VertueLab Portfolio Company IOTAS, the Portland, Ore. developer of a smart home platform for the apartment and rental markets, is expanding its national reach into student housing by delivering the first completely integrated smart home experience for Purdue University students in Indiana. More.

Aricmoto Expands FUV LUV with San Diego Location

After opening its first showroom/retail outlet in Eugene, Ore. last month, VertueLab Portfolio Company Arcimoto has announced plans for a second outlet, this one located in downtown San Diego. The startup's 3-wheeled, electric "Fun Utility Vehicle" is drawing raves from reviewers, and the new storefronts are part of a strategy to drive revenue and preorder growth. More about the San Diego location.

GREEN GIFT IDEAS FROM VERTUELAB COMPANIES

Green Technologies for Good Make Great Gifts

VertueLab Portfolio Companies offer some very interesting options

This holiday season, we invite you to consider green gift ideas from a few of our VertueLab Portfolio Companies for that special, energy-savvy, water-saving someone on your list:

For the fashion king or queen in your life, how about some cool renewed clothes that have been lovingly spared from the landfill by The Renewal Workshop and are now virtually new, but cost significantly less?

And for that sweetheart who still has single-pane, energy-sucking windows in their living room, how about some flashy, energy-efficient, press-in window inserts from Indow that will warm their house as well as their heart? (Also works well for Valentine's Day.)

Or a SolarBag portable water purifier from Puralytics for a friend somewhere on the planet where they would welcome the opportunity to get clean water using only sunlight?

And for the gardeners you know, give a few bags of PermaMatrix® BSP Grow, an ecologically sound, biochar-based fertilizer, along with a raised garden bed frame made of recycled wood pallets and concrete so it won't rot, crack, peel, or rust: the Durable GreenBed from Shelterworks, Ltd.

If you have an uncle, aunt, or sprightly grandmother who runs lots of errands around town but does it in a gas-guzzler, why not pre-order an all-electric Fun Utility Vehicle from Arcimoto?

And if you REALLY want to impress an energetic friend, give a nontoxic flow battery from ESS. Granted, it's the size of a semi truck and the recipient needs to have the room to install it and excess renewable energy to store inside.

Here's to winding down the year with green giving that helps keep our cool planet cool. Clink!

TIPS AND TRIALS FROM STARTUP FOUNDERS

THE BEST ADVICE FROM FOUNDERS

Inspired advice from VIS2018

At the VertueLab Impact Summit (VIS2018) in September, startup founders, entrepreneurs, and others were asked to talk about their best advice for fellow entrepreneurs, as well as the biggest mistakes they've made in the process of launching a new venture. This month in VertueNEWS, we're featuring the video about the best advice. But stay tuned next month, when we'll bring you the video about the biggest mistakes. View the video.

STORIES, NEWS & TIPS ABOUT IMPACT INVESTING

IMPACT INVESTING GAINING GROUND, FAST

Climate change/carbon now among top 3 issues for investors

A new report released last month found that sustainable, responsible, and impact investing (SRI) assets now account for $12 trillion — or one in four dollars — of the $46.6 trillion in total assets under professional management in the U.S. This represents a 38 percent increase over 2016, when the total was $8.7 trillion. And climate change/carbon is now one of the top three issues for asset managers and their institutional investor clients. See more highlights from the US SIF Foundation's 2018 Report.

EVENTS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND FUNDING

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, EVENTS, & MORE

Submission Deadlines: December 4 and 28

Various Support | NASA iTech

NASA iTech is a unique initiative to find innovative ideas that address critical problems here on Earth that also hold great potential to solve critical technology challenges in future space exploration.

December 13 | Pitch Oregon

Attend TiE Oregon's marquee event, which brings entrepreneurs from all around Oregon to Portland to pitch for a prize package and overall cash prize. Startup categories include concept stage and seed/bootstrap stage. Portland, OR

January 10 | Women-Led Startups Panel and Follow-On Funding Panel

Hear from women entrepreneurs who have received government grant funding to fuel their startup ventures. Plus a panel about securing follow-on funding, and one-on-one meetings about SBIR/STTR grants with VertueLab's grant writing expert, Leon Wolf. Registration will open soon (FMI, email Tricia Clemans at VertueLab.) Co-hosted by VertueLab, OSU-Cascades CoLab, BendX, and BendTech. Bend, OR

January 28-30 | Cleantech Forum

This global gathering of the cleantech innovation community offers unique opportunities to learn, network, and get deals done. Join corporate executives, startup and scale-up company CEOs, investors, government agencies, and other key innovation thinkers, supporters and enablers from all areas of resource innovation from around the globe. San Francisco

Application Deadline: January 31

£100,000 | TechX Pioneer Program

This Scotland-based program, operated by the Gas and Oil Technology Centre in Aberdeen, provides access to unparalleled funding (up to £100,000 to startups with new gas/oil technology ideas), expert mentors, and global partners to develop and validate new technologies.

$100,000 | Willamette Valley Capital

An opportunity for entrepreneurs seeking investment capital to present their early stage businesses to Willamette Valley Capital for capital investment.

$$$ | Mobility Tech Innovation Collaborative

RocketSpace and BP have teamed up on this accelerator to shape the future movement of people, goods, and services. Up to 21 startups are selected to participate.

$75K | "Made in America" Grants

If your product or service is “Made in America,” your company could qualify for this matching grant funding from the Northwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center.

Up to $2M | Oregon Venture Fund

A group of investors contributes time, expertise, capital, and connections to help founders gain access to the right people and resources to grow their business their way.

LEARN MORE - CONTACT US!

Let's Collaborate and Make an Impact!

Resources and expertise for innovators and investors

At VertueLab , we support great ideas from entrepreneurs and help investors ensure that their dollars are making a positive impact on the planet. We collaborate to help transform ideas into successful enterprises and measure the success all along the way. Contact us !

START HERE!