May was an unusually busy time for the Women In Cleantech cohort. Earlier in the month, our six finalists attended the Industry Growth Forum, an annual gathering in Denver hosted by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a close partner to MaRS. Considered one of the better networking events in North America for cleantech, the […]

Have you read any interesting books or literature lately to help you on your entrepreneurial journey? I’m currently reading The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and the Future of the Global Economy, by Mervin King. I’ve often struggled to learn finance, but King lays out the history of how the financial sector developed over time, […]

What technology challenges have you faced over the past few months and what steps have you taken to overcome them? A big focus for us has been developing the communication systems and live-stream video feed for our autonomous boats. Our solar-powered boats can travel both in coastal waters and far offshore, which means that, at […]

How do you enjoy juggling business operations (IP, hiring, governance, etc.) with technology development? It’s been an incredibly enriching experience to be involved in every aspect of the business thus far. Having started my company about six months ago, it’s been an exciting period of self-growth in terms of acquiring business and financial knowledge. Being […]

How do you like juggling the business side of entrepreneurship (IP, hiring, governance, etc.) with technology development? Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to build experience on both sides. As an entrepreneur, I think it’s important to strike the right balance between these two different but connected areas. It’s hard to do it all, […]

What technology challenges have you faced over the past few months and what steps have you taken to overcome them? We’ve had no technical challenges to overcome so far, but it is still early days. We did a lot of homework interviewing experts around the world before we began, that way we could design around […]

What is your company trying to do? Genecis is trying to reprogram bacteria to convert low-value waste into high-value materials. We are developing a synthetic biology platform to create bacteria that eats carbons from waste and turns it into premium materials like biodegradable plastics. Now that you’re a finalist, you have about two years ahead […]

What is your company trying to do? Solistra converts CO2 into liquid fuels using solar-activated nanomaterials called photocatalysts. These light-activated photocatalysts are our principal technology. By shining light directly onto our photocatalytic materials, we can activate a CO2-photocatalyst reaction system to begin the transformation of CO2 to downstream products. In the long-term, Solistra wants to […]

What is your company trying to do? Our goal is to transform how we understand and protect our waters by helping build an Internet of Things for the ocean. We are developing energy-harvesting autonomous boats equipped with sensors and cameras to make oceanic observations that can be relayed instantly. We offer a safer, more efficient […]

What is your company trying to do? Summit Nanotech wants to “green up” the lithium mining industry, increasing the yield of lithium production in a way that’s less harmful to the environment. The solution lies in a field of nanoscience that I have been working in for quite some time. Now that you’re a finalist, […]