At Long Last... A Cleantech Seed Fund for Michigan!
- July 7, 2021
July 2021 Newsletter Article – Dan Radomski
I have been in the cleantech space for over 20 years now. There has been talk of establishing a fund to support cleantech innovation in Michigan for many years. We have been blessed with a promising ecosystem of technology developers in private industry and in our academic institutions, so it brings me great pleasure to announce a new seed fund for cleantech innovation.
The Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University has been awarded a $1.55 million seed fund from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to enable its’ new C3 Accelerator’s mission to support the development and scaling of Cleantech, Climatech, and Circular Economy technologies in Michigan. The support from EGLE comes at the right time as applications have been pouring in from all over the world to assist the state of Michigan’s goals to foster a more energy efficient and sustainable circular economy.
C3 is a growth stage accelerator focused on identifying best in class proven technologies globally, connecting them to Michigan partners that can benefit by deploying these innovations and supporting the scaling of these businesses in Michigan. The program offers equity free, zero-interest $50,000 investments to support commercialization efforts. Accelerator services include product design, engineering, prototyping, testing, and validation, along with pilot and demonstration project cost sharing, assistance from experts-in-residence, design for manufacturability assessments, supply chain development support and go-to-market support services. The Accelerator will also help in applying for federal grants and connections to universities, national laboratories, customers, strategic partners and investors.
The C3 Accelerator is focused on identifying the best in class Cleantech, Climatech and Circular Economy technologies, no matter where they reside in the world, and finding pathways for these promising innovations into Michigan to support our state’s goals for reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency and recycling rates. We want these companies to come here to Michigan to manufacture their products as well as demonstrate and scale their technologies with local partners. And more importantly as these technologies are implemented they provide a positive impact to our energy use and environment. This fund is of critical importance to our goals of reducing harmful emissions by 28% below 1999 levels in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 as well as tripling our recycling rate to 45% recovery rates.
Funding partners in the C3 Accelerator include EGLE, Lawrence Technological University, the city of Southfield, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Prize, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, New Economy Initiative, and the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2). The program also has dedicated funding to support underrepresented entrepreneurs including companies led by women, people of color, veterans, people with disabilities and firms located in distressed communities.
We are grateful to have the support of EGLE, Wells Fargo, New Economy Initiative and others to support the seed fund and this important C3 Accelerator program. Looking forward to supporting a lasting impact for Michigan’s environment and economy.
Dan Radomski
Executive Director
Centrepolis Accelerator