We are honored and pleased to share some great news. The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced today that Serious Materials has been named to the 2010 class of Technology Pioneers.

According to WEF, “The 26 companies selected as Technology Pioneers 2010 represent the most innovative start-ups from around the globe that will have a critical impact on the future of business and society. These innovators will join the wider World Economic Forum community for the first time during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 in Dwavos-Klosters, in January.”

See the full press release by WEF:

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNOUNCES TECHNOLOGY PIONEERS 2010

Geneva, Switzerland, 3 December 2009 – The World Economic Forum announced today the 2010 class of Technology Pioneers. The 26 companies selected as Technology Pioneers 2010 represent the most innovative start-ups from around the globe that will have a critical impact on the future of business and society. These innovators will join the wider World Economic Forum community for the first time during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 in Dwavos-Klosters, in January.

The Technology Pioneers 2010 are active in areas such as cloud computing and open source application management, social networking, financial inclusion through telecommunications, genome sequencing, responsive implants and wireless patient management solutions, waste remediation, fuel cell technology and the production of energy efficient building materials.

This year, the Forum witnessed a substantial increase in the number of cleantech and energy-related companies applying for the award, as well as in the overall percentage that were selected as Technology Pioneers compared with previous years. This suggests that the concern surrounding the environment and climate change coupled with the “green stimulus package” is driving resources and top innovation in this area.

The identification of the Technology Pioneer companies is the result of a vigorous selection process for which the Forum received more than 300 applications from around the world, and that were evaluated by 58 global technology experts. The 2010 class covers four continents, with 18 of the 26 companies hailing from the US and the rest from Brazil (for the first time featuring a company in the Technology Pioneer award), Germany, India, Israel, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.

The selected companies are in alphabetical order: Amiando, Amobee, Aura Biosciences, BioFuelBox, Bloom Energy Corporation, Boston Power, Care Electric Energia, Collabnet, Corventis, Dilithium Networks, Epuramat, eSolar, Innovid, Lehigh Technologies, Metabolix, MicroCHIPS, Obopay, Pacific Biosciences, Playfish, Proteon Therapeutics, RingCentral, Serious Materials, Streambase, Twitter, Ushahidi and VNL. The entire list of Technology Pioneers, with their profiles and video interviews with their CEOs, can be found at http://www.weforum.org/techpioneers.

To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of a life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership and show all the signs of a long-standing and sustainable market leader – and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers include 23andme (2008), Amyris Biotechnologies (2006), Dr Reddy Laboratories (2001), Google (2001), Gridpoint (2008), Kaspersky Lab (2001), Mozilla Corporation (2007), Nanosolar (2007), Recyclebank (2009) and Silver Spring Networks (2008).

“Entrepreneurship, innovation and technology have always played a key role in shaping and improving society. This proves to be even more the case during times of crisis, similar to the one the world faced this past year during the biggest recession in almost a century. New companies are already planting the seeds of recovery and the next wave of growth and progress,” said André Schneider, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Economic Forum.

The Technology Pioneers Programme is run by the World Economic Forum with guidance from its partners, Accel, Alcatel-Lucent, BT, KPMG and Kudelski Group.

Go to http://www.weforum.org/techpioneers for the entire list of Technology Pioneers.

Watch interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies at http://tr.im/tpitw

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests (http://www.weforum.org).

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 am and is filed under Announcements, Awards, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.