I went to the 3rd AustralAsian Cleantech Forum in Melbourne, Australia back in April 2007. Jeff and Peter Castellas and the rest of the team did a great job. There was good representation from start-ups, service providers, venture investors, industry groups, policymakers and even the pension fund industry (Australia has the world's fourth largest pool of pension funds).
Despite a small population (around half that of California), Australia and New Zealand are strong in R&D and prolific producers of new technology. Clean tech is a particular strength. Unfortunately, there is a gap in early stage investing in Australia.Here are three of the ten companies profiled at the event (selected purely on the basis of having an interesting story):
Bottom Line: Look for some great clean technology coming from Australia.