16 CoNNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE • WinTer 2014 www.CTGreenGuide.com
LocaTion: Avon
TiTLE: Co-Founder
coMPany: Clean Feet
Investors I
WEb:
cleanfeetinvestors.com
FounDED: october 2010
inFo: In the 1990s,
Zahren started and ran
a company in Avon
called Zapco, dedicated
to generating electricity
from gas that comes
out of landfills.
Green Warrior: BERNARD ZAhREN
PhoTo | Pablo robles
Funding
Clean Energy
By Lindsey Klein
B
ernard Zahren raised $21
million from 87 investors
with one goal in mind:
ensuring his three daughters
inherit an Earth worth having.
Zahren — along with Jigar
Shah, who founded solar
installer SunEdison — cre-
ated Clean Feet Investors I to
provide funancing to renewable
and conservation projects.
"There is a need to help
individuals invest in these sorts
of projects," Zahren said. "I am
concerned about the environ-
ment my grandkids are inherit-
ing. That's the reason I did it."
Zahren and Shah worked
together for seven months to
develop the company that is now
entering its fourth anniversary.
One of CFI's partners —
Washington, D.C. energy
company Nextility — used the
funds to install solar hot water
at Washington University and
George Washington University.
Shah said even after found-
ing SunEdison and later sus-
tainability consultant Carbon
War Room with Virgin Group
Founder Richard Branson,
investment funds like CFI are
need to support conservation.
"I founded the biggest solar
panel company in the world,"
said Shah. "But my mom kept
giving me money; she needed
something to invest in."
Green Fact:
China, the
European Union,
the U.S., Brazil, and
Canada produce
the most energy
using renewable
resources.
sourCe: naTional GeoGraPhiC
