Requirements & Eligibility
for the United States Accelerator

Eligibility

Your Cleantech Idea

• All applications must fit one of the Accelerator’s eight clean technology category definitions. Please contact us if you wish to discuss, or use your best guess. If the judges feel your product would be better placed in another category, this will be discussed with you during the eligible Participant notification and interview process.

The state of your startup (initial funding caps):

• All applications must be made by a startup with less than USD 1,000,000 (one million United States dollars) from private third party funding (from equity investors such as angel investors and venture capital firms) at the time of paying the application fee.
• All applications must be made by a startup with less than USD 5,000,000 (five million United States dollars) from all other sources of funding (grants, family and friends, and your own pocket) at the time of paying the application fee; this limit is separate from the limit on private third party funding.

For clarity, these limits apply up to the moment you pay your application fee, as long as you participate within six months of applying. We are keen to see you succeed, and keen to help you raise capital; there is no limit to the amount of funding you can raise after your application fee has been paid.

Your Team or Company

• Two person team, minimum
• At least one team member must be a United States resident, citizen, or legal alien (e.g. F1, H1 visas).
• You may form a brand new team in order to apply to the United States accelerator, and you do not need to have a registered company in order to apply. However, a US legal entity (corporation, LLC, or similar) must be created prior to receiving any prizes (we can’t write checks to individuals), and any such legal entity must have an ownership structure typical of an independent startup. All prizes are issued in the form of a seed investment (convertible note).
• You must have a physical address in the United States, and your team or company must have activities, such as sales, marketing, research and development, or administration, based in the United States. (You should apply to the Global Ideas Competition if your organization is non-US).
• You must apply within the United States region where the majority of your team works or is resident. If your team is equally distributed among two or more regions, you may select a region from among those where members of your team work or reside.

Your Relationship with the Cleantech Open

• You MAY NOT apply if you are an accelerator volunteer, judge, category expert, mentor, chair, regional director, accelerator adviser, or if you are in any other way involved with the organization or operation of the accelerator. Immediate family members of the aforementioned people are also ineligible.
• You MAY apply if you are affiliated with the accelerator’s sponsors and/or partners, as long as you or a family member are not directly involved in the operation of the Cleantech Open, as above.
• If you are accepted as an entrepreneur or team participating in the Cleantech Open accelerator (a semifinalist or finalist), individuals involved in the running of the Cleantech Open may advise or mentor you, within the rules of the accelerator, but such individuals may not take a direct interest in your company (such as an equity stake or a paid position) and may not participate as team members until after the Global Forum in the year of your participation.

Participation

You, or at least one team member, will participate in meetings, calls, and events that are part of the program. If you make it to the semifinals, you will send one team member to participate in the four required events listed here.

Fees

You must pay the application fee by the application deadline.
If you become a Participant, you must pay additional fees in order to participate.