Colorado Cleantech Industry Association announces Ira Ehrenpreis as keynote speaker

The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) announced that Mr. Ira Ehrenpreis of Technology Partners in Palo Alto, CA will provide the keynote address for the inaugural Colorado Cleantech Awards Celebration being held on October 19, 2010 at the Denver Marriott City Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ira has been with Technology Partners since 1996 and was investing in cleantech before it was considered as an industry. The majority of the firm's investments are in early stage companies and 50 percent of those are in cleantech. Ira leads the firm's Cleantech investment practice, investing in Energy Technology, Water Technology, and Advanced Materials opportunities and is an investor in Colorado's Abound Soar, as well as in Tesla Motors.

With a global outlook, Ira's keynote will address the state of the cleantech industry. What's happening in the cleantech industry as we reach the end of 2010? No federal energy or climate policies have passed and the financial markets are still tight. Why, then, is cleantech still a good bet? And, why will it continue to be a good bet for Colorado?

Registration for the Colorado Cleantech Awards Luncheon will open soon.

More about Mr. Ehrenpreis: 

Ira leads the firm's Cleantech investment practice, investing in Energy Technology, Water Technology, and Advanced Materials opportunities.  Ira is a recognized leader in both the venture capital industry and the Cleantech sector, and in 2007, was named one of the"Top 50 Most Influential Men Under 45" by Details Magazine.

In the venture community, Ira serves on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and on the Board of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC). He is also the Co-Chairman of both the VCNetwork and the YVCA, two non-profit organizations comprising more than 1,000 venture capitalists.

In the Cleantech sector, Ira has served on several industry Boards, including the Clean-Tech Investor Summit (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Conference Chairman), Cleantech Venture Network (Past Chairman of Advisory Board), ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy), Energy Investors Forum (Past Conference Chairman), Energy Venture Fair, and California Climate Change Advisory Board.
 
He has also served on the Advisory Boards of the Southern California Tech Coast Alliance, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), and the Comerica Venture Capital Advisory Board. Ira is also an active leader at Stanford University, where his contributions have included helping to teach the course on Venture Capital and serving on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. He is a Contributor to Nimmer on Copyright, the leading copyright treatise.

Ira received his JD/MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of Stanford Law Review. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude.