Recap 2024 Climate & Energy Accelerator demo day
Well, that was a more-than-full-house demo day, yesterday at mHUB. It’s clear there is a renewed interest in in-person demo days in the sea of virtual demo days. Or was it because the focus was on climate and energy? Or was it because we are one of the few hardtech accelerators?
All of the above. Admitted, mHUB is a hardtech incubator and accelerator, so on demo day, our accelerator startups can also show tangible stuff. Following the pitches and during the reception, investors and corporates can meet the founders in person. And those individual conversations are relationship-building, deeper dives in the tech, the market or financials, exploring opportunities for piloting the tech. And frankly, being surrounded by many other startup founders from pervious cohorts and member-founders of our incubator is energizing.
Video-based vibration monitoring company Sensatek signed a few pilots and got additional investment from corporate partners Constellation and Invenergy. Aeternal Upcycling showed a candle on stage based on wax made from their process upcycling plastic waste. Cryocellar demonstrated how farmers can store captured carbon into peppercorn-sized rocks for better crops! Tikal told us about ongoing pilots using their IoT water management platform. MetaSorbex announced they will demonstrate their graphene based carbon capture and utilization tech at a major industrial player event in two weeks. Farm to Flame Energy runs a pilot with paper manufacturer Georgia Pacific turning their biomass waste in clean energy. FurnaQuantum held an ingot on stage made in their new hi-tech furnace, an ingot from which SiC wafers are made for high voltage chips. CarbonSeaquest showed us their carbon capture solution for merchant ships got support from the American Bureau of Shipping. Next-Ion announced they moved to the next round of testing their thermal paste aerogel with a major Japanese prospect. Rushnu showed how their upcoming carbon-capture-to-chlorine pilot with Livermore wastewater plant will look like — producing chlorine carbon negatively!
Needless to say, I have never felt so upbeat working with these wonderful founders.
Here is a quick recap of each of the startups in mHUB’s 2024 Climate and Energy accelerator.
Aeternal Upcycling —
Tons of plastic waste end up in landfills or in our oceans. Lots of work is being done recycling that plastic for new uses, but there is also some upcycling happening, creating even more value from plastic waste. Aeternal Upcycling’s patented technology converts single-use plastic waste into key ingredients for waxes, cosmetics, lubricants, and so much more. Ryan Hackler and Robert Kennedy invented a process that uses hydrogen to chop plastic waste into these higher value products, not only saving tens of millions of tons of plastic from incineration and landfills every year, but also considerably reducing carbon emissions.
Carbon Seaquest —
The United Nations’ International Maritime Organization agency, which regulates the shipping industry, recently committed to creating the world’s first global carbon price. The proposal would require shipping companies to pay a fee for every ton of carbon they emit by burning fuel. It sounds very much like a tax. So, it will lead to some major changes across the shipping industry. Accelerator company Carbon SeaQuest has been focusing exactly on this. Founder and CEO Chisom Emegoakor will pilot a modular carbon capture technology on cargo ships reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing the carbon in liquid form on board.
Cryocellar –
The current challenge with carbon capture companies is what to do with the carbon. Sequester, right? But where? In the ground, in old wells, mineralizing it? And how to get it there? Pipelines? Why not mineralize it and do something good with it? That’s what mHUB accelerator company Cryocellar does: it mineralizes liquid carbon in peppercorn-sized rocks that form value-added soil amendments for farmers. The rocks enrich their soil, hold the water, and strengthen root biomass. Or as founder Jordan DeVries summarizes it: “Rocks for better crops”.
Farm to Flame Energy –
A lot of our focus goes into carbon capture technology to drastically reduce carbon emissions; not so much attention is paid to other waste streams in the manufacturing process. What if we can use the latter to reduce the former? That is what our accelerator cohort company Farm to Flame Energy is doing: it takes biomass waste from manufacturing (e.g., sludge in the paper industry) and produces cleaner energy (in the form of electricity and heat) that can be used during the manufacturing process. Not only does the manufacturer reduces its electricity bill, they also reduce drastically their waste bill, and they reduce carbon emissions. Co-founders Stefano Alva and Kwaku Jyamfi offer manufacturers a triple win!
FurnaQuantum –
There is real action is around high voltage chips. EVs, energy storage systems, industrial robotics all require operation at high voltages. High voltage demands chips based on SiC wafers, not your typical Si semiconductor. The challenge with SiC wafer production is that it is slow, expensive and defect-prone. Already, the current demand for these SiC chips, eats up supply of the next four years. Enters our cohort company, FurnaQuantum. FurnaQuantum invented a technology for next generator SiC wafer manufacturing that reduces the production time almost by half, is way more precise therefore almost defect-free, and cheaper. As co-founders Onur Ergen, Kadir Dede and Mustafa Ergen summarize their business: “It’s all about turning SiC into $gold$”.
Metasorbex —
Turning carbon into cash. Easier said than done. Ed Chan and the team at Metasorbex, are capturing carbon at industrial point source and turning it into feedstock such as methanol or ethanol. They use a materials platform based on graphene for carbon capture utilization in a cost-effective manner. It’s a real move away from carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to carbon capture and utilization (CCU), from pure cost to revenue generating (without taking into account tax credits). Opportunities abound in the chemical and any other hard to abate industries turning carbon into useful feedstock. More on MetaSorbex here.
Next-ion —
What would you think about batteries that charge EVs in 6 minutes and don’t explode? That’s what Onur Egren and Kevin Jones are developing as co-founders of mHUB accelerator company Next-Ion. Demand for batteries for EVs and energy storage is booming. A major challenge however is fast charging: we all witness long charging times because the danger of overheating, which could result in fire, and even result in explosions. So, what’s Next-Ion’s secret sauce? An aerogel added to battery separators that keeps the battery safe at high operation temperatures.
Rushnu –
The chemical industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet. Matin Hanifzadeh and the team at accelerator company Rushnu are transforming the chemical industry by producing essential chemicals carbon negatively, more energy efficiently, and at a lower cost. A far cry from costly carbon capture tech, right? Opportunities abound in the chemical and any other hard to abate industries. Current focus is on a pilot that captures and mineralizes CO2 from a wastewater plant creating amongst others chlorine. Read more about this profitable carbon capture and utilization play.
Sensatek —
What a run, Reamonn Soto and the team at Sensatek! Continuously focusing on customer problem discovery and developing simple solutions for asset monitoring avoiding costly accidents (think blade on wind turbine). Great example of the power of hardtech combining hardware (wireless vibration/strain sensor and video-based vibration monitoring) and AI to saving operators lots of costs, both capital and operational expenses. Sensatekreceived additional funding from corporate partners Constellation and Invenergy.
Tikal Industries —
Tikal is not only one of the most famous and impressive Mayan sites in Guatemala, it is also an outstanding example of the art and human genius of the Maya. So is our cohort company Tikal Industries in its quest to transform water management in industrial and power facilities. Tayyaba Ali and Christian Guerrero are great listeners when it comes to customer problems and fast and frugal validators of their solutions.
