Australian Innovation in Silicon Valley: Kudos to Solar-Gem

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.