Redwood Systems wins title of most innovative company at GreenBeat 2010

Intelligent lighting system provider Redwood Systems was voted by judges to be the best of 10 companies presenting in the Innovation Competition today at VentureBeat’s cleantech conference, GreenBeat 2010, at Stanford University. Judges have decided that Redwood Systems will have the biggest impact on making more efficient power grids a reality, the main theme of GreenBeat 2010.

Rather than power lights with typical AC voltage, Redwood Systems wants to put its lights on a network — much like a broadband network — to control lighting and make the systems easier to tune and monitor. Redwood Systems uses light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, which is more energy-efficient than typical incandescent lighting.

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The companies presenting at GreenBeat 2010 ranged from web-based thermostats, to new ways to track power consumption in homes, and even knowledge bases that baffled experienced judges. Judges rated each startup according to the impact it could have on making the smart grid a reality. They ranked each on a scale of one to ten and then averaged their scores. One judge, who was an investor in Redwood Systems, abstained from voting for the company.

The judges also gave high scores to runners-up ECOFactor and Enbala. EcoFactor is a web-based home climate control startup, and Enbala helps large energy users manage their electricity. The judges said they rated both companies almost as highly as Redwood Systems.

As the winner, Redwood Systems gets the opportunity to present at DEMO Spring 2011, which takes place at the end of February next year. Last year’s people’s choice winner at DEMO, credit card innovator Dynamics, won $1 million in free advertising with IDG media outlets like PC World magazine at DEMO Fall 2010. Dynamics also recently scored a deal with Citi to work on a new product that will make it easier to redeem the credit card company’s reward points.