Morrison & Forester is a sponsor of the First Look West (FLoW) business plan competition for clean energy. Morrison & Foerster will offer a legal workshop and mentoring services to the FLoW teams. Susan Mac Cormac will also participate as a final judge for the competition.

FLoW is a consortium of universities led by the California Institute of Technology, which invites student teams throughout the Western U.S. to participate in the Department of Energy’s national business plan competition for clean energy. In 2011, the California Institute of Technology led by the Resnick Institute, in partnership with UC Los Angeles, University of Southern California, and OnGreen, Inc., received a $360,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate Cleantech innovation and foster student entrepreneurship through a Western Regional business plan competition.

The competition shines a spotlight on the best young innovators in the country, and attracts the follow-on support that brings game-changing new ideas to the market quickly.

FLoW offers $200,000 in prize money as well as mentoring programs, legal startup packages, and the opportunity to pitch to investors. Competitors will be reviewed by an expert judging panel of investors, successful entrepreneurs, energy corporations and technologists.

The best-in-class teams will qualify for the final judging round, held at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California on April 30 and May 1, 2012. The FLoW competition is one of six awarded regionally as part of a three-year, $2 million DOE program. Winning teams from each region will participate in the National Competition.

For more information on FLoW, please click here.