BUFFALO, N.Y. — Governor Cuomo announced Thursday that the state plans to distribute $6 million to various projects and technologies that support New York's energy goals and the state's effort to combat climate change.
The recipients include 43North winner 'Cleanfiber.' The startup makes building insulation from recycled corrugated cardboard.
The state says it's investing in entrepreneurial projects that they say advance low carbon and clean energy solutions.
"New York has built a green energy economy that supports businesses from start-up to commercialization to establish a cleaner, more sustainable future for communities across our state, consistent with the goals of our ambitious, nation-leading climate agenda," Governor Cuomo said. "We must invest in these valuable entrepreneurial programs that attract new technologies and companies in our effort to drive down carbon emissions, fight climate change, and deliver environmental benefits to all New Yorkers."
The following projects will share $3 million in "Accelerate Southern Tier Awards." These awards are designed to stimulate clean energy research that could turn into clean energy startups:
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY - Cornell University's Rev Napkin-to-Prototype Accelerator was awarded to help entrepreneurs bring climate technology ideas to market under an eleven-week, cohort-based, hardware accelerator.
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY - Cornell University's Diversity and Inclusion in the Regional Clean Energy Innovation Ecosystem program was awarded to help participants in underrepresented communities start climate technology companies and build their businesses. This project is supported by Cornell's Center for Regional Economic Advancement in partnership with Chloe Capital.
- Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY - Binghamton University's EmpowerST: Empowering Energy Storage Entrepreneurship in the Southern Tier, received this award for its fellowship program to provide entrepreneurial-minded scientists with help developing prototypes for groundbreaking energy storage technologies and to help existing companies transform current systems.
- Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, Jamestown, NY - The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities' Manufacturing the Clean Energy Future in the Southern Tier program was awarded to help new and existing climate technology companies expand, relocate and grow in the region with business support and manufacturing resources.
An additional $3 million in non-dilutive matching investments are being made as part of NYSERDA's "Co-Investment Fund." The provisions of these awards are that each company has at least twice as much in qualifying private capital investments. Additionally, they're working on innovations in clean energy hardware, software, and other sectors that help combat climate change and promote clean energy:
- Cleanfiber, LLC, Buffalo, NY - makes high-performance building insulation, made from recycled corrugated cardboard to improve insulating homes which can lower energy costs.
- ConnectDER, Falls Church, VA - advance next-generation technology through an adapter that connects a customer's meter into a utility's all-in-one plug-in point for solar, storage, EVs, and additional technologies, helping consumers avoid costly upgrades. The company has partnered with Con Edison to make its technology available to new residential solar customers across New York City and Westchester County.
- Ekostinger, Rochester, NY - develop aerodynamic devices for tractor-trailers that reduce emissions by saving fuel consumption, therefore reducing carbon emissions.
- Enertiv, Brooklyn, NY - provides a platform that unlocks and leverages building data, from static documents to legacy software, connects to IoT (Internet of Things) devices and systems to reduce operating expenses, maintenance and repairs, utilities, and capital expenditure reserves for building owners and operators.
- Graphenix Development, Inc, Rochester, NY - manufactures industry-leading ultracapacitor electrodes and silicon anodes, which will increase Li-ion energy densities to enable repeated fast charging for energy storage applications.
- Skyven Technologies, Richardson, TX and Binghamton, NY - creating custom clean energy systems that reduce or eliminate fuel consumed in industrial manufacturing processes, increasing energy efficiency and switching plants to zero-carbon energy sources.
2 On Your Side has followed up with NYSERDA and the Governor's office to ask why two out-of-state companies are receiving these awards and funds.
