Investment and Funding Support Expansion. The goals of this subtask are to expand the access to risk capital opportunities and support to the entrepreneurs and ventures actively pursuing public and private funding, as well as providing education on alternative and traditional funding methods and options. The Recipient shall: • Coordinate and create working relationships with financial and investment communities, legal associations, local and private consultants, and business groups in the Central Valley Energy Innovation Cluster Region and beyond, to highlight the potential and needs of energy and water innovators and technologies and to connect innovators to potential sources of assistance. • Cultivate investor relations and increase awareness of investment opportunities in the regional ecosystem. The goal is to identify risk capital investors, such as angels and venture capital groups who have an interest in investing in clean energy technologies. The target list will include regional investors who, in addition to return on investment (ROI), consider local and regional economic development as an added benefit. • Present investors with access to a targeted and vetted pipeline of startups on an exclusive online platform. The startups will be equipped with relevant investment materials such as pitch deck, financials, growth strategy and more. • Develop angel investment tool kit to attract first-time investors to invest in cleantech opportunities. • Build capacity in grant identification, tracking and writing to better support entrepreneurs and leverage existing public capital resources, such as SBIR/STTR, CEC’s RAMP and BRIDGE and other EPIC solicitations. • Identify or produce in-person or virtual capital infusion workshops/webinars covering a wide range of subjects relevant for ventures seeking investment. • Write an Investment and Funding Support Expansion Section for the Cluster Ecosystem Management and Expansion Chapter that will be included in the Central Valley Energy Innovation Cluster Annual Report. The Investment and Funding Support Expansion Section shall include, but is not limited to: o A high-level summary of investment and funding support services, and the expansion of these services (if applicable). o This deliverable should not disclose any confidential information. Products: • Investment and Funding Support Expansion Section (for the Central Valley Energy Innovation Cluster Annual Report, within the Cluster Ecosystem Management and Expansion Chapter)
