A Northwestern University student-run group and a Wisconsin startup in the renewable-energy sector walked away with $100,000 apiece as the top winners in Thursday’s Clean Energy Challenge held in Chicago.
Hyrax Energy, based in Wisconsin, took home the grand prize in the startup category against a total of 10 finalists that competed Thursday before a panel of judges in a day-long event sponsored by the Clean Energy Trust, a nonprofit that connects startups and entrepreneurs to expertise and capital.
Hyrax develops bio-refineries that take ionic liquids to break down waste plant materials and other matter into fermentable sugars, which are then sold to renewable plastics, chemical and fuel manufacturers.
The winner in the student-led category was NuMat Technologies, a materials-based startup that has developed a proprietary computational screening tool to quickly identify and test metal-organic frameworks. The students who created the venture made their pitch alongside seven other student-run startups. NuMat was also awarded an additional $10,000, alongside another $40,000 split evenly among four other student finalist groups from universities in four other Midwestern states: Michigan, Missouri, Indiana and Ohio.
The prize money came from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Clean Energy Trust. The finalists were winnowed down from a pool of more than 100 applicants from eight Midwestern states.
For more on the Clean Energy Trust and the second-annual Clean Energy Challenge, check out Thursday’s ‘Green Scene’ column.
