Mayor Michael Bloomberg awarded $20,000 to Greenext Technology Solutions as the winner of the NYC Next Idea Competition, which was sponsored by the Economic Development Council and co-organized by Columbia Business School. The event took place on January 7.
“This competition is about discovering the next generation of business innovators in New York,” said Professor Laura Resnikoff, director of Columbia Business School's Private Equity Program and adviser to the Economic Development Corporation’s competition planning team. “We’re pleased that the city’s development leaders have turned to Columbia for support in that endeavor.”
A panel of judges from New York’s venture capital community selected the winner, which is from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India, for its plan to create a clean-technology energy storage system in the five boroughs. Greenext Technology's proposed product, XEstor, would communicate with the city’s electric grid to adjust energy prices to match consumer demand. The product would also serve as a backup power source and maintain the grid’s reliability.
Among the judges were Eugene Song '04, vice president of W Capital Partners; Ariel Muslera '05, director of strategy and product development for Latin America Venture Capital Association; and Somak Chattopadhyay '06, vice president of Greenhill Capital Partners.
Christopher Mayer, the Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate and senior vice dean of the Columbia Business School, joined the mayor at the podium in awarding the prize.
