Thursday, November 30, CONNECT will proudly host the 30th annual Most Innovative Product Awards, honoring San Diego’s stars of innovation along with their newly launched groundbreaking products. This week we are getting to know the Finalists in the Cleantech, Sustainability, & Energy category.
Want to come see who takes the final prize for Mobile Apps? Buy your ticket or table here!
Aminox SafeCore
Aminox Safecore CEO: Jenna King
About Aminox SafeCore: SafeCore prevents a lithium-ion battery from being the source of fire or an explosion. It acts like a circuit-breaker or fuse in the battery to stop the flow of electricity.
Why did you apply to MIP? Our COO served on the board of CONNECT during his tenure at Qualcomm and knew the organization and of the award process. CONNECT represents the business clusters in San Diego and promotes innovation such as ours. CONNECT is uniquely situated in the middle of technology, business and policy and not only has local recognition, but is also recognized in California and Washington, D.C. Accordingly, it was the perfect place for us to seek our first recognition for our invention.
What is one of your favorite parts of being a startup? A small team with a common vision can accomplish much, as there is no bureaucracy. What would be small victories in a large company seem like massive achievements in a small company.
Grolltex
Grolltex CEO: Jeff Draa
About Grolltex: Today the highest quality ‘mono-layer’, or one atom thick, graphene materials are produced via a process called ‘chemical vapor deposition’ or CVD. Until recently, this process has been considered too costly and environmentally detrimental to meet the needs of high-volume manufacturing. Grolltex uses its proprietary schema to produce CVD generated mono-layer graphene in a low cost, high throughput, manufacturing-friendly ‘rolling’ schema that has virtually no impact on the environment.
How did you come up with the idea for your product? Principal inventor, Dr. Alex Zaretski, was a researcher at UCSD and was fascinated by the amazing properties of graphene but saw immediately that if the ‘wonder material’ couldn’t be produced in a sustainable and manufacturing friendly way, that industry might not adopt it for many years. He set out to find a practical process for the synthesis of graphene that would bring it into the mainstream and we have patented this process and build a business around it.
What is one of your favorite parts of being a startup? Charting your own course in completely new seas where no crew has yet successfully navigated creates a fun and new challenge almost every day.
Orison
CEO & Founder: Eric Clifton
About Orison: Orison energy storage is the first all-in-one, self-installable home battery solution, which does not require professional installation, permits, or additional hardware. Whether you get your energy from the grid or solar, you can now control when to store it and when to use it. It is sized to directly ship to apartment renters, high-density housing, and single-family homes.
How did you come up with the idea for your product? Orison founder and CEO Eric Clifton came up with its all-in-one, self-install energy storage out of frustration with his own home’s energy situation. The utility had switched his home to a time-of-use utility rate structure, which meant that his electric bill didn’t change unless his family shifted their energy usage to the evening. They started to do their chores at night. This caused Eric to become upset about a lack of quality family time. He began to envision the Orison home battery solution.
Why did you apply to MIP? Being a San-Diego based startup, we are grateful for the contributions CONNECT makes in our region for technology companies and beyond. We believe Orison energy storage is a revolutionary innovation worthy of CONNECT’s validation.