Cleantech.org Announces Cemvita Factory as $100,000 GS Beyond Energy Innovation Challenge Winner

Pitch competition showcased six energy-focused startups with cutting-edge technology addressing persistent and emerging energy transition problems

[San Francisco, CA, July 22, 2021] — After a eight week long competition, Cleantech.org selected Cemvita Factory as the $100K cash winner of the inaugural GS Beyond Energy Innovation Challenge.Yesterday, six finalists pitched in front of five highly experienced venture investors and executives from Shell, Amazon, GS Group, Energy Transition Ventures, and EDF to win $100,000 with no strings or dilution. Amperon Inc. and Skycool Systems came in second and third place respectively and will be considered for special consideration for a pilot project with GS Group. Veloce Energy was named the crowd’s favorite.
 

“Our top three startups face many challenges on the path to accelerating the energy transition, and we are honored to be a part of their journey. Startuplandia is a rough and tumble world, and it was a very close competition. Congrats to Moji Karimi and the Cemvita Factory team. Can’t wait to see what you do next,” said Neal Dikeman, Chairman of Cleantech.org and a partner at one of the prize sponsors, Energy Transition Ventures. “And a huge thanks to our accelerator and incubator partners. We look forward to working with everyone again in the future.”

GS Beyond partnered with organizations like Cleantech.org, Austin Technology Incubator at the University of Texas, Greentown Labs, Elemental Excelerator, TechStars, Third Derivative, Brite Energy Innovations, Clean Energy Business Network, Cleantech Open, Grid 110, Vertue Lab, and Women in Cleantech & Sustainability to source more than 100 applications for this competition. Semi-finalists and finalists were selected in a highly competitive multi-stage process of hundreds of startups, ranging from first-time startup teams to experienced executives, with solutions in software, carbon products, energy storage, distributed energy, and new materials and electric vehicle technology. 

“It was a pleasure to run the inaugural GS Beyond Energy Innovation Challenge. We are already gearing up for next year’s event and look forward to seeing what new, creative technology is being developed,” said Sungene Ryang, Chief Executive Officer of GS Beyond and Director at GS Group. “Once again, congratulations to Moji Karimi and Cemvita Factory, it was an honor to award you the first prize of $100,000, and we are excited to work with you.”

To see the complete list of finalists or learn more information on next year’s event, please visit GSBeyondEnergy.com. 

About GS Futures

GS Futures is the US corporate venture arm of GS Group, focused on investing and collaborating with World-changing teams and innovations tackling Climate Change, Energy Transition and the Future of Commerce. By marrying the existing capabilities of GS with innovations spurring from the Venture ecosystem, GS Futures seek to collaboratively disrupt for a more positive future. For more information, visit gsfutures.vc.

 

About GS Beyond

GS Beyond is the open innovation arm of GS Group, focused on identifying and fostering innovation across various industries: energy and power, retail and commerce, and engineering and construction. Based in Silicon Valley, GS Beyond builds partnerships with companies developing cutting-edge technology and innovative ideas to change the world in positive, sustainable ways. For more information, visit gsbeyond.com.

 

About Cleantech.org

CleanTech.org is the leading portal for energy & environmental technology commercialization. Their mandate is to be the access point for the growing number of individuals and companies involved in the sector. They seek to allow these participants to develop networks and access information and resources to facilitate the commercialization of clean technologies through an interactive experience. For more information, visit www.cleantech.org. 

FOR MORE ON THE COMPETITION PARTNERS:

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Technica Communications

Gabrielle Reitano

408-806-9626 Ext. 9783 

gabrielle@technicacommunications.com 

 

Cleantech.org Announces Finalists for the $100,000 GS Beyond Energy Innovation Challenge

Finalists include Amperon, Cemvita, EnPower, Sapphire Technologies, SkyCool, and Veloce Energy 

San Francisco, CA, June 17, 2021 – Cleantech.org announced today six finalists for the GS Beyond Energy Innovation Challenge in the following categories: Digitization of Energy, eMobility in Cities, and New Fuels. The finalists will pitch in a virtual pitch event on July 21, with the top team winning the cash award of $100,000 with no strings, deliverables, or equity dilution. Registration for the virtual pitch day can be found here.

“Each of these Finalists brings a different approach and technology to solving big energy and climate-related challenges,” said Neal Dikeman, Chairman of Cleantech.org and a partner at one of the prize sponsors Energy Transition Ventures. ” Startuplandia is a fast-paced, rough and tumble environment,” said Dikeman, who has founded several cleantech startups in his career. We originally thought we would select five startups, but landed on six because these were the top top applicants and each deserved their time in the spotlight on pitch day. They each have seen prior success, but only one of them is going to win the $100 thousand dollar, cash prize. It will be exciting to see where the judges land.”

“The energy transition space is very spread out.  Our Cleantech.org challenge has been a great way to network with those at the forefront of the energy transition, and find technologies we’d like to deploy in Korea,” said Sungene Ryang, Executive Director of GS Beyond, the Challenge host and sponsor. “Congratulations to the Finalists, and I’m looking forward to running pilots with some of our semifinalists and finalists.“

Cleantech.org partnered with some of the largest accelerators and incubators in the sector for the Challenge. Semi-finalists and finalists were selected in a highly competitive multi-stage process of hundreds of startups, ranging from first-time startup teams to experienced executives, with solutions in software, carbon products, energy storage, distributed energy, and new materials and electric vehicle technology.  

The finals’ judges are five highly experienced venture investors and executives from Chevron, Amazon, GS Group, Energy Transition Ventures, and EDF. Viewers can register to watch the Finals pitches and judging at GSBeyondEnergy.com.  

 

Finalists are:

Amperon: Building real-time electricity demand analytics for energy retailers, utilities, grid operators, and energy traders.

Cemvita: Applying synthetic biology to reverse climate change, by engineering microbes to use carbon dioxide or methane as a feedstock for the production of carbon-negative industrial chemicals.

EnPower, Inc.: A lithium-ion battery company expanding production in Phoenix, AZ to build high performance batteries for various electric mobility applications.

Sapphire Technologies: Startup’s energy recovery systems convert the energy wasted in pressure reduction processes into clean electric power, providing financial returns for customers and reducing the global carbon footprint.

SkyCool Systems: Developed a breakthrough cooling technology that passively rejects heat to the sky in order to efficiently and sustainably run air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

Veloce Energy: Enabling the electrification of transportation by removing physical and financial barriers to EV charging deployment and the development of grid edge infrastructure. 

 

About GS Futures

GS Futures is the US corporate venture arm of GS Group, focused on investing and collaborating with World-changing teams and innovations tackling Climate Change, Energy Transition and the Future of Commerce. By marrying the existing capabilities of GS with innovations spurring from the Venture ecosystem, GS Futures seek to collaboratively disrupt for a more positive future. For more information, visit gsfutures.vc.

About GS Beyond

GS Beyond is the open innovation arm of GS Group, focused on identifying and fostering innovation across various industries: energy and power, retail and commerce, and engineering and construction. Based in Silicon Valley, GS Beyond builds partnerships with companies developing cutting-edge technology and innovative ideas to change the world in positive, sustainable ways. For more information, visit gsbeyond.com.

About Cleantech.org

CleanTech.org is the leading portal for energy & environmental technology commercialization. Their mandate is to be the access point for the growing number of individuals and companies involved in the sector. They seek to allow these participants to develop networks and access information and resources to facilitate the commercialization of clean technologies through an interactive experience. For more information, visit www.cleantech.org. 

FOR MORE ON THE COMPETITION PARTNERS:

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Technica Communications

Gabrielle Reitano

408-806-9626 Ext. 9783 

gabrielle@technicacommunications.com