Fraunhofer TechBridge continues its support of innovative cleantech start-ups through in-kind awards of technical development, entrepreneurial advisory and incubation services
Boston, MA – October 12, 2012 – At the Cleantech Open Northeast Regional Finals, two additional U-Launch awards were delivered to NBD Nanotechnologies and Coincident. U-Launch awards are administered by Fraunhofer USA in collaboration with several regional partners under a US Department of Energy-funded grant-based award program that provides funded services to promising clean energy start-ups. NBD and Coincident join 18 other 2012 Cleantech Open semifinalists who have already received support through U-Launch, bringing the total amount of funded services awarded by U-Launch this year to more than $85,000. These awards assist early stage start-ups in validating, developing and deploying innovative cleantech solutions.
NBD Nanotechnologies is developing nano-scale surfaces to enhance water condensation, creating a sustainable, low-energy water source alternative in arid climates. NBD will be receiving $30K in R&D and incubation services.
Coincident is commercializing a low-cost hardware device and software service that collects energy consumption data from household devices and appliances and makes it available through a central online interface to help consumers optimize energy use. Coincident will be receiving $20K in R&D services.
“Our two-year partnership with Fraunhofer has been highly beneficial for our start-ups, and for Cleantech Open Northeast as an organization. The ACTION incubation services and U-Launch awards are a great compliment to the mentoring and entrepreneurship training that our program provides,” said Alexandra Adler, Cleantech Open Northeast Regional Director.
The U-Launch awards provide services tailored to enhance the future market and funding potential of the individual awardee, and can include technical services, market exploration and incubation. Two start-ups that received U-Launch service awards at last year’s Cleantech Open Northeast event, Arctic Sand and Ubiquitous Energy, have since gone on to raise nearly $8 million in follow-on funding between them.
This year, 18 Cleantech Open semifinalists received ACTION incubation support over the course of the Cleantech Open Accelerator. Mike Ryan, ACTION President, elaborated, "We were really pleased with the level of interest from CTO semi-finalists in ACTION incubation awards this year, and in our ability to match so many of the promising companies from across the Northeast region with new and valuable incubation resources. The fact that many of the companies will remain affiliated with the ACTIONetwork beyond the award period speaks to the power and tangible value delivered through and in collaboration with, our members, partners and sponsors."
These awards were made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy as part of its Innovation Ecosystem Development Initiative, administered by the Commercialization and Deployment Team.