Dealflow in the Making

Yesterday I served as a judge for the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge where 19 student teams from around the state pitched their innovations addressing today’s energy problems by focusing on the development of prototypes that solve environmental problems and have market impact. I was in Judges Group #1 and our UW staff leader was Emer Dooley (see photo of Emer and me above).

The students’ ideas ranged from bricks made from refuse glass, regular windows that can serve as solar cells, systems providing real-time fuel economy monitoring, a modular electric vehicle unit, to a process of turning forest waste into fuel.

The event was produced by the University of Washington Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and held at Magnuson Park in a huge hangar without heat, so the judges and student entrepreneurs were all pretty frozen with very cold feet by the end of the day.

The students were competing for real funding prizes of $2,500 to $10,000 to help them commercialize their business ideas. The grand prize winner was not a surprise since my unofficial poll of every person I asked said that EnVitrum was their favorite. See photos of UW Mechanical Engineering students, Renuka Prabhakar and Grant Marchelli holding their grand prize check above. This is a company that I can see presenting at ZINO Society looking for angel funding in the future.

Here are the future companies to watch for as selected by the judges:

$10,000 UW Center for Commercialization Grand Prize
EnVitrum, University of Washington (Offers a novel manufacturing process that utilizes 100% post-consumer glass, regardless of color and contaminants.)
$5,000 Fenwick & West Second Prize
Triangle Energy, University of Washington (Converts wood chips into synthesis gas.)
$2,500 Honorable Mentions sponsored by
Siemens
Idyll Energy Solutions, Seattle Pacific University (Mitigates idle power consumption with an innovative power strip that regulates energy use.)

Keeler Investments
iDriveSmart, University of Washington (Presents an integrated system that provides real-time fuel economy information through a driver’s Smartphone.)

Starbucks
NanoWave, North Seattle Community College (Produces highly efficient, patentable LED lightening solutions for nurseries, greenhouses and indoor growers.)