[SPN-Discussion] Please register now--Greentech Investors Forum this Friday--Nov. 11: Mobilizing small amounts of debt and equity for climate-saving investments

Gelvin Stevenson gelvin.stevenson at gmail.com
Tue Nov 8 20:08:36 PST 2016


Two Mature Companies and Two Start-up Companies Mobilizing Small Equity and
Debt Investments to Stabilize the Climate



Date: Friday, November 11, 2016

Time: 8:00am – 10:00am

Organizer: Gelvin Stevenson, PhD

WHost: Sidley Austin LLP

Location: 787 Seventh Ave. (AXA Equitable Building, between 51st and
52nd Streets),
23rd Floor



The Greentech Investors Forum (GIF) will have a new format for November
11’s meeting. We will hear from four companies (and one Sector Expert) that
are creating similar opportunities—raising and employing capital from
smaller investors to combat climate change.



The International Energy Association has calculated that investments in
clean energy of at least $1 trillion a year are needed to “prevent climate
catastrophes”. In 2015, only $330 billion was invested globally and $52
billion in the US.



Where will that additional money come from? The big players, eg pension
funds, sovereign wealth funds, wealthy family offices and corporation must
lead the way. But they can’t do it alone. It is urgent to develop ways to
facilitate clean investments from everyone—even small investors.



Several entrepreneurs and companies are doing just that—developing
investments for “the little guy”—committed and aware people with more
modest resources. Companies active in this area—and who will speak
today—include two established actors:



·       CoPower, which streamlines up-front financing for clean energy
projects and

·       Carbon Capital Credit, which allows people and families to offset
their footprints by investing in climate friendly changes in developing
countries;

and two startups:

·       Carbon XPrint, which allows people to offset their carbon footprint
ton-by-ton of CO2 with minimum or zero risk; and

·       Climate-IT, a new crowd-funding equity platform for clean energy
companies.

Here are the speakers and more information on the companies:

*CoPower. Trish Nixon, Director of Investments [by phone]*

Proven technologies like solar PV panels, geo-exchange heating and cooling
systems, LED lighting and other energy efficiency retrofits can help our
buildings and communities reduce CO2 and generate clean energy, profitably.
But high upfront costs and specialized investment expertise required is
limiting deployment of these solutions. Distributed clean energy projects
are often too small to access mainstream infrastructure finance.

CoPower unlocks capital for climate solutions by empowering individual
investors to participate in – and profit from – the shift to a world
powered by clean energy. Our online platform makes it easy to access
curated investment products backed by renewable generation and energy
efficiency projects in underserved markets.  In turn, we offer developers
access to streamlined project financing to build more green infrastructure
across North America.

*Leo Leibovitch, Project Director,** Carbon Credit Capital*

Carbon Credit Capital allows individuals and families to offset their
carbon footprints with small investments that offset the carbon footprint
of any product, service, or organization. Carbon Credit Capital’s projects
are located globally, in China, Brazil, The United States, and Uganda, with
more added on a regular basis.

Projects are designed to not only generate high-quality carbon offset
credits, but also bring benefits to people living in the areas where these
projects are implemented. Rigorous international standards are used for the
development of projects, the calculation and monitoring of emissions
reduction, and the consistent issuance of carbon credits.

Apart from generating the highest quality carbon offsets, the projects also
provide a host of socio-economic “co-benefits” to the local communities.
These benefits include better living conditions, job opportunities, access
to clean and renewable energy, improved health, and even trust funds for
the communities, which provide direct reimbursements, and a framework for
sustainable and responsible economic development.

*Gary Kier: Carbon XPrint *

Carbon XPrint is a start-up that aims to make it easy to translate concern
for climate change into measurable action that comes with a financial
reward. It uses deposits which earn interest.

Carbon Xprint products work much like traditional financial products such
as savings bonds and CDs. When a consumer purchases a CX product, the funds
are directed toward certified green projects. At the end of the deposit
term, consumers get their money back with interest. In addition, CX’s
pricing structure makes it simple to quantify your efforts and balance your
carbon footprint.

A Carbon Xprint product is priced at the cost of one ton of carbon dioxide
or equivalent greenhouse gases (CO2e), generally considered to be around
$40/ton. The money from a CX purchase goes toward financing certified
energy-efficiency, energy storage, and renewable-energy projects.

Carbon Xprint verifies that each investment is certified by a reputable
institution. This ensures that the funds are directed toward projects that
fight climate change and help build a better future. At the end of the
deposit term, the investors receive their money back (with interest), just
like traditional financial products such as savings bonds or CDs. In many
cases, that money will be insured or guaranteed.

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*REGISTER EARLY—SECURITY IS TIGHT.*

*Register at the GIF Eventbrite page: ** Greentech Investors Forum
Eventbrite Page
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/opportunities-for-small-investors-in-clean-energy-and-carbon-offsets-tickets-29116018796>*

*Or contact Gelvin at gelvin.stevenson at gmail.com
<gelvin.stevenson at gmail.com>**.*

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*Dan Tefft: Climate-IT*



Clime-IT™ is launching a comprehensive SEC-registered Equity Crowdfunding
Portal unlike anything that exists today. Focused exclusively on profitable
climate change solutions (e.g. adaptation, mitigation, carbon
sequestration), Clime-IT™ will feature investment opportunities from
businesses raising between $500K to $50 million/year. Projects are being
sourced from established relationships with a global network of Cleantech
business incubators.  It is structured for worldwide expansion through
licensing of regional portals under the umbrella of the parent company
Clime-IT™ LLC.



PHASE I is designed for accredited and institutional investors.
PHASE II will be directed at “The Crowd” (unaccredited investors) and will
include an extensive marketing blitz aimed at educating and involving
potential clients.

More than just an investment, portal Clime-IT™ will be an all-encompassing,
green-jobs-posting, collaboration-prompting, community-rallying, and
information-driven identity network ruled by one overarching principle:
Protecting our planet with people, passion, purpose and profits.



Clime-IT.com <http://clime-it.com/> is poised at the confluence of the
Fintech, Cleantech, and next industrial revolutions. It is a solution that
supports all other climate solutions.

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*GIF thanks Investors Circle for its generous support, Geoff Miles and
Chino Maduagwu for developing and operating GIF’s video, social media and
design capabilities, ToniaPopke for her financial expertise, and Jesse
Goldstein, PhD, for his continued support.*

 -----------------------------------------------------------
------------------

*Sector Expert: Hillary McMahon, Managing Director of Hazel. *



Hillary has worked as Director of Intelligence at Richard Branson's Carbon
War Room, and previously as an expert and as a thought leader at the World
Resources Institute, the UN, the European Commission and others.



FORMAT: Each speaker will give a 10 minute presentation and then we’ll have
five minutes for discussion. That will leave 15 minutes for open
discussion.



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Disclaimer: The Greentech Investors Forum (GIF) is not soliciting funds for
the presenting companies, nor is it encouraging parties to invest in them.
We try to find good companies—not necessarily good investments. They have
been advised on what is acceptable in terms of predicted results, but GIF
takes no responsibility for what they actually do, say, or how they perform
in the future.

------------------------------------------------------------
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*Agenda:*          8:00 to 8:20     -   Networking

                        8:20 to 8:30     -   Introductions

                        8:30 to 9:30     -   Trish Nixon (by phone), Leo
Leibovitch, Gary Kier and Dan Tefft. Each speaker will make a 10 minute
presentation, followed by five minutes of discussion.

                        9:40 to 9:50     -   Hillary McMahon, Managing
Director, Hazel

                        9:30 to 10:00   -   Discussion



*Security:*        Security is tight, so please register early. If there is
a problem at the Security Desk, please contact Gelvin Stevenson at
917-599-6089.



*Fees:*               $50, payable ahead of time or at the door. Cash or
checks and credit cards accepted.

$25 for call-in. Registered call-ins will be emailed the call-in numbers
and, if available, the slides to be presented.

                        $20 for students and faculty



To register, visit this Eventbrite site Greentech Investors Forum
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/greentech-investors-forum-applying-big-data-to-climate-change-risk-tickets-27421621809>
or
send your contact information to Gelvin Stevenson at
gelvin.stevenson at gmail.com or 917-599-6089. And contact Gelvin If you have
questions or need more information.



*Bios*



*Trish Nixon, Director of Investments, CoPower *

Trish is Director of Investments at CoPower, a clean energy investment firm
empowering individuals to invest in the low carbon transition. There, she
is responsible for capital raising strategy, including product structuring
and investor relations.  In her prior role at the MaRS Centre for Impact
Investing, Trish founded Impact8, a social venture accelerator, and led
venture services for the SVX, a private impact investing platform. She also
spearheaded the development of the MaRS/Virgin Unite Impact Venture Fund
(“Catalyst Fund”).

Trish has written and contributed to a number reports on impact investing
including "*Mission Possible: Assessing the Appetite, Activity and Barriers
for Impact Investing Among Canadian Foundations*," and “*Opportunities for
Impact: A White Paper on Social Impact Investing*” for TD Bank. She is the
2016 Recipient of the Edward Newton Award for Social Innovation, presented
by MaRS, and co-recipient of the Clean50 Award for Environmental
Entrepreneurship.

Previously, Trish was a financial reporter at Reuters, and has worked in
sponsorship marketing at RBC and GMR Marketing. She holds an M.A.
International Relations from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland).



*Leo Leibovitch**, **Project Director**, **Carbon Credit Capital*

Leo leads the efforts to establish the Company’s position as a premier
provider in the direct sales and brokerage by promoting bulk transactions
of carbon offsets. A seasoned expert in the emissions markets, he holds a
successful management and business development track record having been at
several prominent players in the climate finance industry, including
international direct investors, carbon project developers, GHG
consultancies, and energy commodity trading desks.

*Gary Keir, Founder & CEO, Carbon X-Print*

Gary Keir grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and worked in the family
roofing business. He did a stint as an environmental biologist. Gary moved
into IT and project management, analysis, and programming. He has visited
the front line of climate change in Alaska’s Arctic 15 times as a leader
for backpacking and rafting trips. His solution to this problem is Carbon
Xprint Bonds.



*Dan Tefft, Founder & CEO of Climate-IT*



Previously, Dan was the Founder & President of TreeBanking, Inc., which
engaged in tropical reforestation. TreeBanking, Inc. was conceived as a
system to engage the general public in the process of reforesting large
tracts of deforested land in the tropics. The business model was based on
an online platform reminiscent of Scottrade or E-Trade whereby clients
could buy, sell, trade and track the value of their investment in tropical
hardwoods that were planted within the reforestation projects. Values are
easily assigned based on growth and spot price of various species of
tropical hardwoods. Profits are realized as the clients' trees are
systematically harvested.

Trees planted during TreeBanking, Inc.'s business cycle continue to mature
within a reforestation project in Costa Rica generating a slow but
substantial ROI for clients and a significant exit for investors.



Before that, Dan was Managing Partner for Greenlinecare, an environmental
engineering firm, based in Jakarta, Indonesia.





*Hilary McMahon, Managing Director, Hazel*

*Advancing the low-carbon economy at Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room |
Clean technology strategist | **Devoted to actionable, high-impact change*

Hilary McMahon puts sustainability strategies into action every day.
Sustainability and the role of the private sector is the foundation of
Hilary's professional life as the former Director of Intelligence at
Richard Branson's Carbon War Room, and previously as an expert and as a
thought leader at the World Resources Institute, the UN, WBCSD and the
European Commission. From energy efficient retrofits of cargo ships to
“smart island” economies, the skills that Hilary provides as a business
development professional and senior strategist has made financially
beneficial projects like these come to life. Creating deal flow, vetting
projects, developing strategy, and empowering large teams to work together
are skill sets Hilary brings to any engagement.

Hilary has a particular interest in the role of technology and new business
models in solving social and environmental challenges. As such she has been
instrumental in many important projects e.g. as a Judge for the MIT Co-Lab,
Echoing Green Fellowship and Yale Low Carbon Case competition, as a
reviewer for the World Energy Outlook, a selection committee member for
Bloomberg NEF and a nominee for the C3E Energy Award. Communicating on
energy and sustainability comes naturally to Hilary, and provides a global
perspective as a result of her experience working all around the World and
with a multitude of change makers. Hilary is the Managing Director of
Hazel, an Advisory Service for investors looking to have positive impact in
the world.
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