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mHUB Expands Climate & Energy Tech Portfolio, Becoming Sector’s Most Active Investor in Chicagoland
The mHUB Product Impact Fund I has invested in 10 new startups in renewable energy, energy storage, carbon capture, and advanced materials. Startups will move across the country to participate in the mHUB accelerator program.
(CHICAGO October 3, 2023) mHUB, one of the nation’s leading independent innovation centers for hardtech development and entrepreneurship, has selected 10 startups to participate in its 2024 Climate and Energy Tech Accelerator. The startups will receive $105K direct investment from the mHUB Product Impact Fund, which has now invested in 18 climate and energy tech startups over the past two years. With these additional investments, mHUB has become the most active investor in Chicago for funding clean tech startups.*
The six-month, hands-on program is supported by partners Constellation and Invenergy and is executed in partnership with Evergreen Climate Innovations and Perkins Coie. It will commence at mHUB’s newly expanded, state-of-the-art facility in Chicago. With its recent relocation to 1623 W. Fulton St., mHUB expanded prototyping equipment, training, and capacity for the development of new clean energy technologies. This includes the addition of private wet lab spaces, expanded electronics labs, and new testing facilities. Of the 10 teams selected into the 2024 Climate and Energy Tech cohort, seven are coming to Chicago from across the country to access mHUB’s unparalleled resources.
“Illinois is on the precipice of becoming an epicenter for the development of new climate technologies and these 10 new investments exemplify the types of innovation and founders that will impact humanity,” said Haven Allen, mHUB CEO and Co-founder. “There is a clear, global prioritization of the way energy is produced and consumed, but there is also a gap in the market in terms of the technology available. mHUB believes there will be huge opportunities in energy and climate mitigating technologies and is proud to be one of the region’s most active investors getting behind innovators that will change the world.”
The game-changing ten startups selected for the 2024 cohort are:
- Aeternal Upcycling (Chicago, IL) transforming plastic waste into low-carbon chemicals for a circular economy.
- CarbonSeaQuest (Chicago, IL) decarbonizing the maritime industry with a carbon capture system for merchant ships.
- Cryocellar (Muskegon, MI) storing captured carbon in stable carbonate minerals for off-grid farm cooling that avoids agricultural food waste.
- Farm to Flame Energy (Pittsburgh, PA) reducing energy costs for manufacturers by transforming biomass waste into clean energy.
- FurnaQuantum (Berkeley, CA) improving the yield of SiC wafers for the EV industry by cutting production time and boosting quality.
- Next-Ion (Berkeley, CA) building batteries that charge cars in six minutes without exploding.
- Metasorbex (Cincinnati, OH) capturing carbon and turns it into e-methanol for the transportation industry.
- Rushnu (Pleasanton, CA) integrating carbon capture and sequestration into a single efficient process, instantly reducing carbon from the point source while generating valuable chemicals.
- Sensatek (Daytona Beach, FL) offering continuous monitoring of the biggest wind turbines using passive RF sensors for predictive maintenance.
- Tikal Industries (Chicago, IL) creating an industrial water IoT platform to help energy plants optimize operations and water management.
The accelerator’s industry partners, Constellation and Invenergy, helped evaluate and select the 10 participating startups and will provide critical engagement throughout the program to provide vital industry intelligence, mentorship, and potential investment capital to the cohort teams. As community partners, Evergreen Climate Innovations will provide additional programming and industry access, and Perkins Coie will provide legal programming, resources, and office hours.
“To address the climate crisis and ensure energy reliability and affordability, we must revolutionize energy production and consumption through innovation,” said Colleen Wright, Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Constellation. “Constellation is proud to support mHUB’s program, facilitating the introduction of transformative ideas to the market and expediting the transition to a clean energy economy.”
“Invenergy is pleased to back this next wave of startups entering mHUB’s Climate and Energy Tech accelerator program,” said Maggie Pakula, Executive Vice President of Strategy at Invenergy. “Driven by our own entrepreneurial spirit, Invenergy continues to advance innovative clean energy technologies, and we eagerly anticipate guiding these teams as they bring the next generation of sustainable solutions to market.”
mHUB’s accelerator program provides startups with industry engagement, mentorship, and business leadership training. It also gives startups access to capital through mHUB’s $15.1M Product Impact Fund, over $6M in capital-intensive prototyping equipment and resources, and connections to an extensive manufacturing ecosystem. Situated in Chicago, a major manufacturing hub, mHUB has built a growing network of over 500 U.S. manufacturers and suppliers.
“The global climate crisis demands rapid innovation towards clean energy technologies as well as decarbonization of hard to abate industry sectors. Industry and governments are starting to come together to chart a course for massive change, but we need more,” emphasized Thierry Van Landegem, Executive Director of mHUB’s Climate & EnergyTech program. "By connecting early-stage startups with essential hardtech expertise, critical funding, and influential industry partnerships, our accelerator program empowers innovators to bring the disruptive solutions to market that dramatically reduce carbon emissions.”
The 2024 Climate and EnergyTech Accelerator will officially commence this October, marking the first cohort to operate from mHUB's new headquarters, a $50M historic manufacturing facility on Chicago's Near West Side, and solidifying mHUB as Chicagoland’s most active investor in the climate and energy technology sector. For more information about the mHUB Climate and EnergyTech Accelerator, please visit: https://www.mhubchicago.com/climatetech-energy-tech-accelerator
*Based on data compiled from Crunchbase and Pitchbook since January 1, 2022.
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About mHUB
mHUB is a leading independent hardtech and manufacturing innovation center that exists to convene the entrepreneurial ecosystem around physical product innovation to ensure that the manufacturing industry continues to accelerate, grow, and thrive. The mHUB community includes over 428 active and alumni startups and small businesses supported by a deep talent pool of product designers and developers, entrepreneurs, engineers and manufacturers, corporate leaders, industry experts, mentors, and investors. mHUB provides a hyper-resourced environment to entrepreneurs with the goal of commercializing new hardtech innovation that will lead to new businesses, intellectual property, investment, revenue, and job creation. Since launching in 2017, the mHUB community has generated more than $1.14B in revenue, launched more than 1,502 products, hired more than 5,193 employees, and raised over $1.49B in capital.
Learn more at www.mhubchicago.com.
About Invenergy
Invenergy drives innovation in energy. Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, own, and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation and storage facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Invenergy's home office is located in Chicago, and it has regional development offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Poland, and Scotland.
Invenergy and its affiliated companies have successfully developed more than 30,000 megawatts of projects that are in operation, construction or contracted, including wind, solar, transmission infrastructure and natural gas power generation and advanced energy storage projects.
Learn about Invenergy at Invenergy.com.
About Constellation
Headquartered in Baltimore, Constellation Energy Corporation (Nasdaq: CEG) is the nation’s largest producer of clean, carbon-free energy and a leading supplier of energy products and services to businesses, homes, community aggregations and public sector customers across the continental United States, including three fourths of Fortune 100 companies. With annual output that is nearly 90% carbon-free, our hydro, wind and solar facilities paired with the nation’s largest nuclear fleet have the generating capacity to power the equivalent of 15 million homes, providing around 10% of the nation’s clean energy. We are further accelerating the nation’s transition to a carbon-free future by helping our customers reach their sustainability goals, setting our own ambitious goal of achieving 100% carbon-free generation by 2040, and by investing in promising emerging technologies to eliminate carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy.
Learn about Constellation at www.constellation.com.
About Evergreen Climate Innovations
Evergreen Climate Innovations, formerly Clean Energy Trust, provides catalytic capital and support to entrepreneurs and startups that bring impactful climate technologies to market. The nonprofit pioneered its 501vc® Investment Fund to align philanthropic and corporate contributions to deliver environmental, economic, and social impact. Evergreen advances and expands access to innovation across the Greater Midwest and cultivates an ecosystem of investors, donors, and collaborators. For over a decade, Evergreen Climate Innovations has invested in startups that have raised $41 for every $1 invested.
Learn about Evergreen Climate Innovations at www.evergreeninno.org.
About Perkins Coie
Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients' success. With more than 1,200 attorneys in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property, and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world's most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.
Learn about Perkins Coie at www.perkinscoie.com
