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Augment Ventures Managing Director To Judge Cleantech Companies

ANN ARBOR -- On June 12-13, Sonali Vijayavargiya, founder and managing director of Ann Arbor-based Augment Ventures, will participate in the Department of Energy National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition.

Vijayavargiya is one of 20 venture capitalists invited to NCEBPC. She will mentor and judge the cleantech companies vying to win up to $100,000.

The NCEBPC is part of the Obama Administration's Startup America Initiative, the White House campaign to inspire and promote entrepreneurship.

At the National Competition Event, six finalists from NCEBPC's regional business plan competitions will pitch their plans to a panel of expert judges. One company will win the national grand prize of $100,000.

The business plan pitches on Wednesday, June 13, will be open to the public and will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In addition to the public competition, Vijayavargiya will participate in invitation-only meetings with the Department of Energy as well as a White House award ceremony and VIP reception.

Vijayavargiya has more than 16 years of experience working with early-stage companies across various industries in different parts of the world. She has been a strategic advisor to a range of companies, concentrating on cleantech: Accio Energy, Accuri Cytometers, Adaptive Materials, Danotek Motion Technology and NRG Dynamics.

Augment Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in high caliber and passionate entrepreneurial teams with breakthrough products in CleanTech and IT for global markets. Investment criteria include - defensible intellectual property, capital efficient business models and global market opportunities.

For more information please visit www.augmentventures.com.

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