18 Oct Another Green Wave: The Cleantech Open

Green companies continue to make waves in Austin and beyond. Shortly after the 2^nd annual SXSW Eco Conference, the Regional Cleantech Open was held last week with six semifinalists vying to move on to the National Cleantech competition next month. With two winners chosen, RideScout, an Austin-based company that provides a mobile application for car-pooling and ride-sharing, was named the 2012 Cleantech Open Sustainability Finalist. The other winner was Rebounces, an Arkansas-based firm that restores and recycles tennis balls. The Cleantech Open Final will be held in Silicon Valley on November 8^th & 9^th.

RideScount has developed a ride-sharing application that connects riders with a range of transportation service providers. The RideScount app matches a user’s rider preferences such as cost, time and convenience to recommend a “best ride” from all transportation options available. Depending on the city, some of the options include public buses, taxis, subways, and trains in addition to social-enabled options for car-pooling or ride-sharing with friends, friends of friends, and shared-car arrangements (e.g., integrated with a user’s network of Facebook friends).

Like the other Cleantech Open applicants, RideScout has progressed through a number of rigorous steps required by the Cleantech Open Accelerator and Competition, the largest of its kind in the world. The Cleantech Open charter is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. Since its inception in 2006, the Cleantech Open has awarded over $5 million in cash and services to support cleantech growth companies. The 581 participating companies in the Cleantech Open’s accelerator programs have raised more than $660 million in external capital.

RideScout continues to make progress and received approximately $350,000 in financing during May for its current round of seed funding. The company continues to raise money to complete this early seed round. Are you ready to leave your car at home and become a beta user for its pending iPhone App? If so, send a note with your info to info@ridescoutapp.com.