DENVER - Today, the Global Business Development division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced that 34 Colorado companies and eight researchers have been awarded Proof of Concept and Early-Stage Capital and Retention grants through OEDIT’s Advanced Industries Accelerator Program. These grants help promote the growth and sustainability of advanced industries in Colorado by driving innovation, commercialization, and public-private partnerships that move this vital aspect of Colorado’s economy forward in communities across the state.
“Colorado is increasingly recognized as a national and global leader in the advanced industries, earning federal recognition for our work in areas like quantum and clean tech. The Advanced Industries Accelerator Program plays an important role in that success, supporting research institutions and startups as they discover and commercialize new, life-changing technologies while creating good-paying jobs for Coloradans,” said Michelle Hadwiger, Global Business Development Director. “These grants also have a proven history of aiding recipients in attracting additional third-party investment critical to helping them grow.”
The grants announced today will support the advancement of new technologies in life sciences, advanced manufacturing, the circular economy, and resource management. Companies like MyUTI, Proov, and Lasa Health are improving the lives of women, while Colorado Earth, Pretred, and RockyTech are turning waste materials into new functional products. Corriente Environmental Solutions and 3 Rocks Engineering are also ensuring Colorado’s water resources are preserved and managed responsibly.
The Proof of Concept grant is intended to help Colorado research institutions speed up applied research in the advanced industries as well as commercialize products and services in partnership with the private sector. The Early-Stage Capital and Retention grant supports businesses commercializing innovative and disruptive technologies in the advanced industries that will be created or manufactured in Colorado.
The Advanced Industries Accelerator Program received 110 applications this grant cycle, which were reviewed in a multi-stage process by committees of business, technical and financial experts in the seven advanced industries. Final recommendations were approved by the Economic Development Commission on May 16, 2024, and the awards announced today represent a total of $8,980,117 in funding.
The next application cycle for Proof-of-Concept and Early Stage Capital and Retention Grants will open on July 1, 2024 and applications will be due August 29, 2024.
Proof-of-Concept Grants:
Colorado School of Mines, PI Omid Beik - Golden, CO $150,000: Developing the first-of-its-kind high-voltage silicon-carbide-based submodule for high-voltage direct current grids.
Colorado School of Mines, PI Gabriel Botello - Golden, CO $55,149: Developing varactor-based and kinetic inductance traveling-wave parametric amplifiers for the quantum industry.
Colorado School of Mines, PI Neal Sullivan - Golden, CO $150,000: Developing electro-chemical technologies for the production of hydrogen and carbon dioxide mitigation.
University of Colorado Boulder, PI Wei Tan - Boulder, CO $150,000: Developing stent coatings to reduce inflammation and thrombogenicity associated with vascular implants.
University of Colorado Denver, PI Caroline Clevenger - Denver, CO $150,000: Developing an interactive digital wayfinding assistant to support people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
University of Colorado Denver, PI Miguel Flores-Bellver - Denver, CO $150,000: Developing an early detection test for age-related macular degeneration.
University of Denver, PI Casey Myers - Denver, CO $150,000: Developing an automated surgical planning tool for total shoulder arthroplasty.
University of Denver, PI Dali Sun - Denver, CO $150,000: Developing a miniaturized elliptical dichroism spectrometer for the molecular analysis in chemistry and biochemistry.
Early-Stage Capital and Retention Grants:
3 Rocks Engineering - Cañon City, CO $249,968: 3 Rocks Engineering has developed a headgate device that increases the efficiency of detention basins and irrigation sites.
Agile RF Systems LLC - Berthoud, CO $250,000: Agile RF Systems has developed a small, low power radar that combines active electronically steered antennas and multi-channel software defined radios.
Alta Resource Technologies Inc. - Boulder, CO $240,000: Altra Resource Technologies has developed a technology platform that uses synthetic biology to extract rare earth elements from conventional and unconventional streams.
Aspero Medical - Broomfield, CO $250,000: Aspero Medical has developed a balloon overtube for gastric and esophageal intraluminal endoscopic surgical procedures.
Atargis Energy Corporation - Pueblo, CO $500,000: Atargis Energy has developed a grid-scale and affordable wave energy converter that converts ocean wave energy into electricity.
Austere Environmental, Inc. - Golden, CO $60,000: Austere Environmental has developed a technology that remediates soil contaminated with petroleum products without the use of chemical additives.
Bast, Inc. - Denver, CO $250,000: Bast has developed an enterprise-grade explainable artificial intelligence technology platform that enables the creation of transparent, secure, accurate, and fast language models.
Blaze Energy Technologies - Golden, CO $250,000: Blaze Energy has developed a technology solution that transforms liquid ammonia into tunable ammonia and hydrogen fuel blends.
Cascade Biocatalysts - Denver, CO $250,000: Cascade Biocatalysts has developed a resin technology that makes enzymes rugged and reliable for long lasting use in chemical manufacturing processes.
CisLunar Industries USA, Inc. - Loveland, CO $250,000: CisLunar Industries has developed a line of power conversion solutions to enable power conversion in space.
Colorado Earth LLC - Lakewood, CO $250,000: Colorado Earth has developed a low carbon, unfired earthen masonry block made of waste from a local Colorado quarry.
Corriente Environmental Solutions LLC - Cañon City, CO $75,000: Corriente Environmental Solutions has developed a map-based water management tool for water managers to increase the efficiency of water use and its transport.
encoord Inc. - Denver, CO $250,000: encoord has developed a software electrification planning solution to cost effectively convert gas assets into electric alternatives.
ExoPower Inc. - Lafayette, CO $100,000: ExoPower has developed an in-motion capacitive wireless charging technology that keeps industrial mobile robots in motion.
Exum Instruments Inc. - Lakewood, CO $250,000: Exum Instruments has developed a mass spectrometer that combines high performance and ease-of-use into one compact desktop package.
Green Steel Environmental, LLC - Boulder, CO $250,000: Green Steel Environmental has developed biogas scrubbing technology to clean impurities out of naturally occuring biogas that is created at wastewater plants, landfills, and agricultural sites.
Lasa Health - Boulder, CO $250,000: Lasa Health has developed an end-to-end patient engagement platform that enables clinics and health systems to accelerate the diagnosis and care of chronic pelvic pain in women.
LicenseLead Inc. dba ScaleIP - Telluride, CO $250,000: ScaleIP has developed an intellectual property monetization software that helps corporations, labs, and universities find licensing partners, generate revenue, and reduce maintenance costs.
Locus Lock Incorporated - Denver, CO $250,000: Locus Lock develops high performance, turnkey GPS/GNSS receivers to enable more secure and precise positioning, navigation, and timing.
Matium Inc. - Denver, CO $250,000: Matium has developed a raw material trading solution with unparalleled data insights and operational efficiencies.
MFB Fertility Inc. dba Proov - Erie, CO $250,000: Proov has developed an at-home hormone test that tracks hormone patterns across a woman’s cycle to determine their phase of menopause.
Mother’s Milk Is Best, Inc. - Fort Collins, CO $250,000: Mother’s Milk Is Best has developed a point of care, single use human milk concentration device for neonatal feeding.
MyUTI Inc - Parker, CO $250,000: MyUTI has developed a comprehensive, fast, and convenient at-home test for urinary tract infections in women.
New Planet Technologies, Inc. dba Innately - Colorado Springs, CO $200,000: Innately has developed a cloud-based enterprise workflow management system that streamlines the horse show and racing industries.
PAGE Technologies, Inc. - Boulder, CO $250,000: PAGE Technologies has developed affordable biochemical sensors that monitor plant nutrients in real-time.
Polaris Electro-Optics, Inc. - Broomfield, CO $250,000: Polaris Electro-Optics has developed ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals for optical communications at a lower cost and higher performance.
Pretred, Inc. - Aurora, CO $250,000: Pretred has developed a technology that transforms waste tire material into eco-friendly industrial barriers.
QuikrStuff LLC - Grand Junction, CO $100,000: QuikrStuff has developed a lightweight, aluminum, heavy-duty modular hitch rack for bikes.
Renegade Plastics Corporation - Golden, CO $250,000: Renegade Plastics has developed a polypropylene-coated plastic fabric that replaces toxic and carbon intensive polyvinyl chloride.
RockyTech Ltd. - Boulder, CO $250,000: RockyTech has developed a compatibilizer technology that enables the upcycling of polyethylene and polypropylene blends into new high-quality plastic products.
Silvis Materials, Inc. - Boulder, CO $100,000: Silvis Materials develops 100 percent bio-based, sustainable, recyclable, and biodegradable cellulosic emulsions made from plants and trees.
SiNAPTIC Technologies - Lafayette, CO $250,000: SiNAPTIC Technologies has developed a printable silicon nitride slurry for on-demand 3D printed technical ceramics for medical and industrial products.
Source Energy Company - Longmont, CO $250,000: Source Energy develops highly reliable photovoltaic modules that are used to create solar panels and deployable solar arrays that power satellites and spacecraft.
Team Wildfire, Inc. - Longmont, CO $250,000: Team Wildfire has developed a wildfire management machine that employs vehicle-mounted jet engines that deliver winds and intense rain, mist, and fire-retardant foam.
