Veolia Environnement Unveils Cleantech Innovation Partner Development Program

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Veolia Environnement, a global leader in environmental services, has launched the Veolia Innovation Accelerator (VIA). VIA is a large-scale on-ramp program for the sourcing, deployment and acceleration of the best clean technologies, working with the most innovative start-up companies and investors in the sector. Veolia made the announcement at a press conference held today in conjunction with the Cleantech Forum XXVI, which continues through tomorrow at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

As a world leader in water, waste, energy and transportation management solutions, Veolia Environnement implements the most innovative solutions in the market combining technological, economic and environmental efficiency. Formed in 1853, the company uses the resourcefulness of its 330,000 employees in 72 countries to support the fight against climate change, the preservation of natural resources, and the improvement of urban living conditions.

"Partnerships are critical for addressing global environmental issues, so we aim to be the strategic partner of choice for the world's leading cleantech start-ups and investors," said Philippe Martin, senior vice president of Research and Innovation at Veolia Environnement. "Our goal for the Veolia Innovation Accelerator program is to facilitate exchanges, stimulate cooperation, and unite good ideas between start-up companies and corporate organizations with the appropriate resources, partners and outlets. Through VIA, we can accelerate the development of start-up companies by minimizing the risk associated with developing and deploying new technologies, to achieve tomorrow's collective successes."

How Does VIA Work?

Veolia is, at its core, a services company and consequently does not compete with technology innovators. The VIA program is a global distribution platform for emerging technology innovators and solution providers. The company has assembled a Research and Innovation unit employing more than 850 scientists, researchers and engineers responsible for selecting, adapting and deploying technologies to ensure that services achieve the best quality, efficiency, safety and profitability level. Major research areas that VIA will focus on include bio resources; drinking water; waste water; waste sorting, recycling and recovery; sustainable and green cities; energy generation and optimization; transportation; health and environmental performance; carbon capture and storage (CCS); and energy storage.

The VIA program offers cleantech start-ups access to new markets and customers, provides economies of scale, and mitigates the risks associated with technology development, adoption and execution.

Its approach is three-pronged:

1. Detect: Systematic international monitoring to identify trends and track emerging technologies, through a network of partnerships with universities, institutes and industries;
2. Create: Design, develop, enhance and integrate clean technologies if the market need cannot be met by existing solutions;
3. Adapt and Deploy: Optimization and integration of new technologies into Veolia's business proposals and processes, and field implementation support.

"Veolia has long been an advocate for innovation in water technology," said Jeff Green, CEO of NanoH2O, Inc., which has partnered with Veolia to jointly explore key geographic areas for new and existing seawater desalination plants. "Working with Veolia, one of the leading companies in the global desalination industry, will accelerate the adoption of NanoH2O's nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes worldwide to change the fundamental economics of desalination."

Furthering Open Innovation and Fostering Opportunities

Veolia stands ready to invest its assets, people and customer relationships in helping innovators succeed. Through VIA, the company is exploring flexible partnering models such as technology co-development, development of new markets, licensing and joint offerings.

"We see urbanization as one of the most important global trends with huge implications for water, power, transportation and waste management. Veolia is uniquely positioned to address these needs around the world, which is why several portfolio companies of ours have a unique opportunity to partner with Veolia," said Ajit Nazre, partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm. "We look forward to continuing our collaboration through the Veolia Innovation Accelerator to maximize the potential of our portfolio companies."

With more than 150 years of operational experience, Veolia can partner with a company at any stage of the innovation lifecycle. Start-ups benefit from Veolia's global footprint and link to customer segments such as municipalities, industries and commercial clients. In the upstream development phase, Veolia offers its partners infrastructure, world-class technical evaluations and research test programs to improve innovations and accelerate their time-to-market. In an advanced phase of innovation, VIA partners can leverage Veolia's vast client portfolio and many facilities to validate the solution marketability.

Learn More

Companies and investors who are working in Veolia's focus areas for innovation and would like more information on how to join the Veolia Innovation Accelerator program should consult the VIA web site here (http://www.veolia.com/en/solutions/research-innovation/via).

Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE andNYSE: VE) is the worldwide reference in environmental services. With more than 330,000 employees the company has operations all around the world and provides tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and industrial customers in four complementary segments: water management, waste management, energy management and freight and passenger transportation. Veolia Environnement recorded revenue of euro 36.2 billion in 2008. www.veolia.com

SOURCE Veolia Environnement