Solar-Gem won the 2010 Australian Innovation Shoot Out as part of the G’Day USA: Australia Week.
An event, that included a competition, was held this week to showcase Australian innovation, illustrating collaborative, entrepreneurial spirit between Australia and the United States.
The competition was to promote Australian innovation by showcasing the country’s most pioneering technology companies. The fourth annual Innovation Shoot Out was hosted at Microsoft’s Mountain View, CA campus this week.
Solar-Gem provides modular solar-powered off-grid lighting and electricity systems, pre-pay tariffing systems, and high-efficiency LED lighting modules targeting the 1.6 billion people without access to power.
Companies were judged based on their ability to solve a recognized problem, demonstrate a clearly defined business model and market for their solutions, offer a solution superior to what’s already available, and provide a reasonable return on investment.
There was a judging panel of industry leaders chaired by Mark Anderson, CEO of Strategic News Service. Judges included Deborah Magid, director of software strategy at IBM Venture Capital Group; Allison Leopold Tilley, partner at Pillsbury; Chris Shipley, chairman and CEO of Guidewire Group and former executive producer of the DEMO Conference; and Prashant Shah, managing director of VC firm Hummer Winblad. Microsoft’s Dan’l Lewin, corporate vice president, strategic and emerging business development provided the event’s opening keynote.
Other participating companies included: Digisensory, Intelliguard, Mid-Comp International, MultiTrode, Solar-Gem, Synengco, and Zarloc.
Now in its seventh consecutive year, G’Day USA: Australia Week promotes Australian culture, business, fashion and food through events across the United States. The annual Innovation Shoot Out offers Australian companies the chance to present their technologies to U.S.-based venture capitalists to show that they are ready to enter the U.S. marketplace.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
