World's largest Cleantech accelerator selects regional finalists to present at 2016 Global Forum
The Rocky Mountain Cleantech Open officially announced the 2016 accelerator finalists who will represent the Rocky Mountain Cleantech Open region at the national Cleantech Open Global Forum in February. The 2016 winners are Big Blue Technologies, Crystal Clear Technologies and Urbix Resources. These finalists were selected from a group of 12 startup companies from Colorado, Utah and Arizona.
The three finalists will go on to compete for $200,000 in investment and in-kind services at the Global Forum, to be held in February in San Francisco.
“The three finalists, and really all of this year’s companies, have a bright future ahead of them,” said Brian Oehler, Director of the Rocky Mountain Cleantech Open. “They have come a long way during their time with CTO, and they’ve developed some lifelong connections that they can continue to draw on in the months leading up to the Global Forum and as alumni.”
The finalists were announced Wednesday afternoon at the Colorado Cleantech Awards Celebration in downtown Denver. The two-day event convened over 400 regional innovators and influencers from across the Rocky Mountain business community, led by thought leaders from the following groups: Impact Finance Center, Rockies Venture Club, High Altitude Investors, Rocky Mountain Innovation Partners, Innosphere, Colorado Association of Advanced Manufacturing, Rocky Mountain Institute/Carbon War Room, Colorado Cleantech Community, and University of Denver Daniels College of Business Entrepreneurship.
The announcement also represents the formal culmination of the rigorous six-month accelerator program. All Cleantech Open program graduates are invited to attend the Global Forum in February, offering entrepreneurs valuable connections to investors, partners and prospective customers as they scale their diverse cleantech businesses.
More about the finalists:
Big Blue Technologies – Aaron Palumbo (Colorado)
In a sentence: Big Blue Technologies’ mission is to enable expansion of magnesium based products such as lightweight auto components, next-gen batteries and bio-absorbable medical implants.
Big Blue Tech operates a proprietary magnesium (Mg) production process with reduced energy inputs. Blue’s mission is to enable expansion of Mg-based products: lightweight auto components, next-gen batteries, bioabsorbable medical implants. As the lightest structural metal, Mg can replace aluminum and steel parts. High domestic prices owing to monopolistic production practices in the US have elicited discontent by Mg customers. Enter Big Blue Tech, working toward a lighter future.
Crystal Clear Technologies – Ron Epperson (Arizona)
In a sentence: Crystal Clear Technologies has developed patented technology for removing toxic metals across a variety of industries including power plants, drinking water and food processing.
CCT developed patented technology for removing toxic metals from water in the power plant, drinking water, metals and food processing industries. The product is an absorbent material based on sustainable raw materials. The launch market, power plants, is facing new regulations on Selenium and expensive, complex solutions from incumbent technology providers. Business model is to partner with industry associations and water treatment companies for market access.
Urbix Resources, LLC – Adam Small (Arizona)
In a sentence: Urbix Resources, LLC strives to be a leading North American graphite processor, leveraging its unique access to one of the largest commercially producing graphite reserve in North America.
Urbix Resources strives to be a leading North American graphite processor, leveraging its unique access to one of the largest commercially producing graphite reserve in North America. Focusing on purity levels greater than 99.99%, Urbix Resources is capable of bringing commercially viable spherical graphite, graphene, and carbon-ceramic composites to the global market.