Panels

Current Trends and Opportunities in Cleantech (10:00 AM)

This panel will focus on the current trends in the cleantech sector, with an special focus on smartgrid, electric vehicles and energy efficiency. It will cover the most significant opportunities for entrepreneurs in cleantech. This panel will be moderated by Steve M. Cohen partner and co-manager of Morgan Lewis's Emerging Business and Technology Practice. He focuses on advising emerging growth companies and private equity investors throughout the mid-Atlantic region, especially in cleantech deals.

Panelists:

Legal Bootcamp: Protecting Value Created by Entrepreneurship (10:00 AM)

This panel will take the form of a workshop where Robert Borghese and Michael Keslen will talk about the things that an entrepreneur needs to take care of while forming and running a company to get the maximum value.

Panelists:

Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Health Care-IT (10:00 AM)

The health care industry in the U.S. generally uses less information technology (IT) then other industries. However, by providing new ways for health care providers and patients to conveniently access and use health information, IT has immense potential to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care. This coupled with a regulatory push opens up a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to provide innovative solutions in this field. This panel will discuss these opportunities for entrepreneurs of today to build great Health Care-IT companies of the future.

Panelists:

Health Care Services Opportunities (11:00 AM)

Panelists will share entrepreneurial stories of how the companies were formed, the challenges that arose while the enterprise was getting off of the ground and how the nature of these challenges changed as the companies matured.

Panelists:

Best Practices for Starting an E-Retail Venture (11:00 AM)

During the case study, Andy Dunn will share his wealth of experiences as an entrepreneur who launched a clothing brand from scratch on the web. Having gone through three rounds of angel financing, Andy will advise rising entrepreneurs on how to get a start-up funded out of school. Andy will also focus on the importance of building a strong work culture and recruiting a talented team. The case study will take on an interactive format and the audience will have a chance to ask Andy questions as he speaks to various topics.

Panelists:

Financing Your Cleantech Ventures (11:00 AM)

This panel will focus on the best practices for entrepreneurs to obtain financing for their cleantech ventures from venture capital sources and other financial institutions. The panel will also cover how the US government programs can be used by entrepreneurs to obtain additional funds. Jim Balaschak is a Principal in Deloitte’s US Energy & Resources practice and serves as the Greater Philadelphia Energy & Resources Practice Leader. With over 30 years of experience, Jim is seasoned in serving the full spectrum of companies in the energy industry including oil & gas, power & utilities, cleantech and alternative energy companies.

Panelists:

Innovations in Consumer Products & Services (2:00 PM)

The Consumer Products and Services Panel will focus on innovation in consumer products and services. Over the past several years, the channels by which companies are reaching consumers have drastically changed. This panel will focus on generation of innovative ideas and implementation of successful business strategies in the rapidly changing consumer products and services space. New retail models such as private sales and rentals will be discussed. Other topics will include target marketing techniques such as tailored recommendations and novel products and services created for interactive and social media. The panel will feature several founders who will share their experiences as entrepreneurs and a VC with more than 16 years of experience in the consumer products industry.

Panelists:

Entrepreneurship in Philadelphia (2:00 PM)

Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Your Backyard: Starting a Business in Philadelphia.

Panelists:

Sponsored by:
Cohen Partners

Student Start-Up VC Pitch Session (2:00 PM)

They call it the "elevator pitch" - thirty seconds to convince an angel, VC investor, or even a rich uncle to believe in your idea. In this session, a four student start-up teams will have slightly more time to do the same in front of a panel esteemed and experienced investors. You, as a conference participant, will get a chance to experience the heat and pressure of a pitch session, and understand what makes a good pitch. After all, it's not just having a good idea, but being able to sell, communicate, and defend that idea.

Judges:

Start-ups:


 
Bionée

Bionée

Bionée manufactures and distributes dedicated organic maternity and baby skin care. Certified by Ecocert, Europe’s leading and most rigorous certification house for natural and organic skin care, Bionée creates modern alchemy by fusing green science with time-honored beauty rituals for a sensorial experience that is indulgent as it is affective.Unlike traditional cosmetics often harmful for the baby during pregnancy, the initial eight products combine only the safest and highest quality natural and organic ingredients for the future mother and her baby.

Website: http://www.bionee.com

 
Hydros Bottle

Hydros Bottle

Hydros Bottle LLC seeks to address the global water crisis and reduce the consumption of disposable water bottles by providing safe drinking water in a stylish, reusable water bottle with a built in filter. Through the Operation Hydros™ program, Hydros Bottle will reinvest towards creating filters suitable for use in developing nations. In the meantime, $1 from each Hydros Bottle will go towards a water infrastructure project designed to be socially, economically, and environmentally viable. Such sustainable development projects address the global water crisis by meeting the needs of people today without compromising those of tomorrow. For our first project, Hydros Bottle has partnered with the University of Pennsylvania’s chapter of Engineers without Borders to deliver fresh water to the village of Gundom in Cameroon.

Website: http://www.hydrosbottle.com

 
Warby Parker

Warby Parker

Warby Parker seeks to transform the international eyewear market by designing its own brand of prescription eyewear of the highest quality and design aesthetic and selling that eyewear to young, discerning customers on its e-commerce boutique for less than $100. The Company will also advance social welfare in the developing world by donating one pair of free glasses to someone living on less than $4 per day for every pair of glasses it sells. The company was founded and is currently run by four Wharton MBA students - Neil Blumenthal, Andy Hunt, David Gilboa and Jeff Raider.

Website: http://www.warbyparker.com

 
UTurn

UTurn

UTurn is an automated page turning device designed to provide musicians with hands free, nod-activated, multi-directional turning without the hassle of pre-loading pages. Page turning is a major inconvenience for all musicians. It disrupts both practice and performances by forcing people to take their hands off of the keys to turn a page. UTurn solves this problem by making set up and usage as easy as possible. There is no need to pre-load several pages into UTurn before playing, as that would limit how many pages a player could turn and make it difficult to switch books. UTurn turns both forwards and backwards, because even relatively simple pieces often have repeats that take the musician back a page. In order to activate a turn, users have two options. The first is a wireless footpedal. The second simulates the method that concert pianists use to cue their human assistants while playing in front of an audience; the user simply nods their head when they're ready for a turn.