Autodesk unveils $15M software giveaway for cleantech startups
Autodesk unveils $15M software giveaway for cleantech startupsBy Emma RitchPublished 2009-07-22 00:03
San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk [1] (Nasdaq:ADSK [2]) said last night it plans to give early-stage cleantech companies up to $15 million in free software by the end of January 2010.
Although the gesture seems generous, Autodesk has a business case for the giveaway. Lynelle Cameron, director of sustainability at Autodesk, told the Cleantech Group that the promotion is intended to help the company gain customers in the fast-growing sector, while garnering feedback that could help the company improve its software.
“There’s a large market opportunity there. We’ll be up front about that,” Cameron said. “But I think what initially interested us about this program … is that a lot of cleantech companies that built business models around solving environmental challenges are ones we want to partner with and learn from so we can further develop and improve our existing software.”
Autodesk plans to give 100 cleantech startups five free licenses for software that could help streamline the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution, and promotion of new technologies, said Paul Cousens, national sales manager for Autodesk. Autodesk then works one-on-one with grant recipients to develop implementation plans.
Autodesk already awarded licenses to 13 companies, some of which were finalists in the Clean Tech Open, a competition in which cleantech startups get coaching and services to launch their businesses (see Clean Tech Open rebrands, awards California winners [3]).
“A lot of cleantech entrepreneurs have very complicated ideas, and they struggle to communicate how the products will function in the real world, and that’s where we try to help,” Cameron said. “We are trying to accelerate the innovation process and enable people to explore many ideas upfront in the design process.”
One of the competition’s alumni now using the Autodesk software is Syncromatics [4], a Los Angeles-based developer of a system that uses GPS and cellular networks to transmit and analyze information from city buses to reduce fleet fuel and vehicle turnover costs (see California Cleantech Open fêtes 2007 winners [5]). Solar-powered LED displays at bus stops tell prospective passengers when a bus will arrive and how full it will be, Cameron said.
Cameron said that Autodesk’s software enabled the company to build digital prototypes of the full assembly, alerting them to a flaw in the hinges that attached the LED display to the pole.
“They were able to prevent a design flaw which they themselves said they wouldn’t have seen,” she said. “By catching that early on, it saved them months in terms of rollout.”
Another grant recipient is Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Serious Materials [6], which manufactures eco-friendly glass, windows, and drywall (see Green construction fuels growth at Serious Materials [7]). The company was interested in seeing how a product would perform on its own, but also how it would perform in its environment, Cameron said.
That prompted Autodesk to add that feature in its annual update to the software, she said. Autodesk is also working with wind developer Makani Power [8] on improvements to the software, but Cameron declined to give details.
Autodesk is initially focused on awarding the software to renewable energy manufacturers, but the grants can go to all sectors of cleantech, Cameron said. Early-stage companies are the target, and companies must apply with Autodesk for the promotion, valued at $150,000 each.
“We definitely need to have companies that are ready to use the software and could see a need for the different types of workflow solutions,” Cameron said. “This is an effort to help early stage companies with new ideas, and really help them communicate their ideas to venture capital investors so that we can get better sense which technologies are the best to be invested in.”