Elateq, Inc. Awarded Competitive Grant from the National Science Foundation
Small Business Innovation Research Program Provides Seed Funding for PFAS-related R&D Elateq, Inc. has been awarded a $1mn National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to conduct research and development (R&D) work on a novel technology for advanced electrochemical degradation of “forever chemicals” or PFAS in water. The R&D will result in affordable, scalable, sustainable technology for effectively destroying PFAS, which can be easily operated and maintained on-site. The technology integrates electrochemically induced, advanced oxidation and reduction processes alongside an improved design of the conventional electrochemical flow cell to achieve high-performance mineralization of PFAS. Elateq’s sustainable technology for removing PFAS from water aims to protect public health and the environment from the adverse impacts of PFAS, not only from direct exposure to these chemicals but also indirect adverse impacts originating from current solutions—high energy consumption, harsh chemicals used for maintenance, and the need for, e.g., incineration as a PFAS-loaded waste post-processing. Roderick Anderson, Elateq’s CEO: “The NSF SBIR award is a critical support of Elateq’s efforts to develop such technology that we can comfortably stop naming PFAS as forever chemicals.” About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $275,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II (up to $1,000,000). Small businesses with Phase II funding are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investments or sales. To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/ America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.5 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
Lily Rajic is Awarded into the Newest Class of Activate Fellows
We are thrilled to announce our newest class of Activate Fellows, Cohort 2024! With 62 fellows and 50 companies, Cohort 2024 is our largest yet. Selected from over 1,000 applicants, this new class of fellows is pioneering some of today’s most promising innovations across a range of critical sectors, including energy, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and national security. During the two-year Activate Fellowship, our new fellows will turn their breakthroughs into businesses and transform into high-impact science entrepreneurs. “People, not ideas alone, move the world forward. It is through the drive and determination of brilliant scientists and engineers that we are witnessing true progress,” says Activate CEO Cyrus Wadia. “Our current Activate Fellows and alumni are already pioneering innovative solutions that make a measurable difference. We’re thrilled to support the next 62 visionaries who will lead the charge in addressing our most urgent issues through groundbreaking science and technology.”
Advancing water treatment: UMass startup Elateq Inc. wins state grant to deploy new technology
AMHERST — In the four years since its founding on the UMass campus, startup Elateq Inc., a water treatment and hardware company, has landed contracts big (think PepsiCo) and small (think town of Amherst). Now the company, which uses advanced electrochemical technology to treat wastewater and produce treatment products, has received a $92,000 grant from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Accelerate Program to assist with the purchase of new equipment as it seeks to continue its early growth for its all-in-one water treatment system. “We are looking for a bright future,” said CEO Roderick Anderson. Anderson co-founded Elateq in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, with Ljiljana Rajic, a former research scientist at Northeastern University whom he met about seven years ago. Anderson, who taught at Trinity College, abandoned his liberal arts studies and started his own business, as a way to have a greater influence on the world after 11 years of “preaching from the periphery.” “I was passionate about my research, but I did not want to do it anymore,” said Anderson. “I want a more sustained job and to produce real-world, tangible things.” He said he and Rajic share a common goal to pursue a different life and get out of a laboratory. “Give it a try, so operating a company is our mutual goal to work on our projects outside of the universities,” said Anderson. Elateq’s first contract was with the town of Amherst, which hired the company to apply its technique as a pretreatment to extract heavy metals from groundwater that was corrupting the town’s pumping station. They used state funding available from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Catalyst Program to demonstrate a new approach: solar and storage-powered systems, using solar energy to purify water in a more sustainable and eco-friendly way. The process traditionally has involved using reverse osmosis systems to power water filtration systems, which involves many steps and a significant amount of energy. Solar-powered systems are thought to be superior in terms of sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental impact because they do not require electricity. “Our solar system is very unique,” Anderson said. Amherst served as the starting point, but Elateq is currently a rising star with more global impacts. They started working with PepsiCo last year, the second-largest food and beverage corporation in the world, to cleanse wastewater by using less energy via electrochemical means, eliminating pathogens as well as organic and inorganic pollutants. Elateq is the only water treatment company selected to work with Pepsi’s European supply chain, and Anderson says its system is helping the giant company work toward its 2030 objective of 100% water recovery at all of its manufacturing production facilities worldwide. With the new state grant, the Amherst startup aims to buy equipment and pursue technological advancements that they believe would increase equipment efficiency. “We need advanced equipment to help us generate the macro electrodes, and get them ready for assembly,” said Anderson. One to three of the employees at the firm, located at 240 Thatcher Road, will go through additional training funded by the state grant. The company has three full-time workers and five to 10 contract employees. MMAP, launched by the Center for Advanced Manufacturing in 2021, invests in initiatives that help employers meet production techniques that rely on smart technologies, such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and clouded computing. Elateq is one of 17 businesses funded in the current round for a total of $3.14 million. “The Center for Advanced Manufacturing is confident that these targeted investments can help manufacturers increase the adoption of digital technologies across our supply base, leading to increased productivity and competitiveness. Without this, the industrial capacity across our state and country will be limited. We are thrilled to support innovative companies like Elateq which are well poised for growth and success,” said CAM Director Christine Nolan. Elateq will use the MMAP grant to purchase more advanced machinery that help create the needed electrodes for water treatment. Most of the imported equipment currently in use needs to be updated, making it difficult for American businesses to use these older machines due to the inefficiency, Anderson said. In addition, the cost of new equipment makes it nearly impossible for businesses to increase their production capacities without financial assistance. Anderson added that the grant will help them scale up the business, increase their global influence, and elevate their standing in the industry in the current situation. “We’ve already set a whole lineup of market verticals, but we will keep growing,” he said. “And let’s make the magic happen.”Xinyi Yang writes for the Gazette from the Boston University Statehouse Program.
MMAP Grants Awarded to Elateq
Since 2022, MMAP has awarded over $10.1 million to 53 Massachusetts-based manufacturers. Funding enables companies to meet industry demands and aids in manufacturing new technologies that align with key state industries. Elateq, Inc. Project: Elateq, Inc. is a woman-, minority-, and veteran-owned company that offers advanced electrochemical technologies for wastewater treatment, providing chemical-free, sustainable compliance solutions for water discharge. The MMAP grant will allow Elateq to acquire custom electrode modification tanks, an electrode preparation controller, and a 4300 handheld Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analyzer. Elateq will be able to advance the manufacturing efficiencies and quality of their proprietary electrode material, and manufacture mixing components at-scale for their treatment units. Elateq expects to upskill 1-3 employees.https://cam.masstech.org/mmap-grants-awarded
Elateq Joins MIT Enterprise Forum’s Spring 2021 BIPOC Cohort
Elateq is pleased to announce our participation in the MIT Enterprise Forum’s Spring 2021 BIPOC cohort. MIT Enterprise Forum Cambridge BIPOC Program is created to support early-stage tech entrepreneurs of color. Over the next 9 months Roderick Anderson, Elateq Co-Founder, and CEO will join a collective of 9 innovative entrepreneurs for MIT’s Smart Start seminars and mentorship program. These courses focus on advancing business acumen specific to the dynamic start-up realm, including unique legal issues, refining go-to-market strategy, tailoring pitches for a wide range of audiences, managing investments, and scaling. It is an honor to have been selected for this competitive program and we look forward to sharing updates as we progress and continue to evolve Elateq’s business in the pursuit of our mission – delivering cost-effective cleantech solutions for advanced wastewater treatment removing heavy metals, pathogens and toxic man-made chemicals through our novel all-in-one approach.
Amherst water treatment startup Elateq moving forward with PepsiCo contracting to use its high-tech technology
AMHERST – Roderick Anderson compares his company’s water treatment to the difference between a cell phone and a rotary phone. Instead of having a water treatment system with multiple steps, Elateq’s does everything together in one system that also saves energy, water and money. “It is an all-in-one treatment,” said Anderson, chief executive officer of Elateq. “You don’t need harsh chemicals to clean, you don’t need high-pressure pumps so it reduces your energy costs.” PepsiCo Europe embraces digital start-ups to unlock sustainability solutions across the supply chain 26 July 2022, London. Today, PepsiCo has announced that it will elevate its supply chain in Europe, and collaborate with breakthrough start-up companies to pilot ground-breaking technologies which aim to unlock sustainability solutions. Six successful start-ups have been selected through a rigorous outreach program, which focused on engaging the start-up community to bring emerging technologies to the fore. Over the next year, PepsiCo plans to foster further collaborations, as part of the ongoing project. The program is being led by PepsiCo Labs, a team which was created with the ambition of harnessing the power of digital solutions by acting as a conduit to the world of emerging technology. The team functions to identify, and collaborate with, breakthrough tech start-ups to drive growth, unlock shared potential and develop new solutions to drive positive business growth. Once the results of the trials have been analysed, PepsiCo aims to scale the successful technologies across the supply chain during 2023 & beyond, placing the company at the forefront of cutting-edge technology that solves complex, real-world problems. Katharina Stenholm, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo Europe, said: “At PepsiCo, we believe in the value of harnessing a digital future to accelerate positive change for our people and planet. We recognise that we have a responsibility to use our resources efficiently and reduce our overall emissions, but we can’t do it alone. By embracing smart collaborations through PepsiCo Labs, we can unlock breakthrough solutions, and play our part in scaling technology innovations. It’s part of our commitment to solving sustainability challenges across our supply chain, and progressing PepsiCo Positive.” The pilots will be taking place across Europe, in locations including Turkey, Belgium and Portugal, with trials focusing on four key areas: Efficiency and automation Sustainable Cleaning & Hygiene Technology Recycling Water recovery David Schwartz, VP, PepsiCo Labs says, “PepsiCo Labs was launched to propel PepsiCo into the future. We aspire to lead in tech innovations by integrating start-up solutions at a global scale. It is a privilege to collaborate with six exciting, innovative start-ups, as they pilot ground-breaking technologies and develop new solutions that aim to solve the sustainability challenges the world faces. We hope that by working together we can accelerate the growth of these promising start-ups, whilst putting sustainability and innovation at the heart of our own business.” To date, PepsiCo Labs has scaled >30 start-ups across over 200 countries. This includes WINT technology, which has been successful in creating a positive water impact in the supply chain. The technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to prevent water leaks in PepsiCo factories by using digital monitors to collect water flow data, which is then analysed through pattern matching and machine learning. It is estimated that PepsiCo can cut annual water consumption by approximately 20-25% using WINT’s technology. This project is aligned with PepsiCo’s broader PepsiCo Positive (pep+) agenda, an end-to-end transformation announced last year which puts sustainability and human capital at the heart of the business. The work forms part of PepsiCo’s ambition to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 75% by 2030, a goal which is on track according to PepsiCo’s ESG Summary released earlier this month. Implementing solutions to address climate change is integral to the future of PepsiCo, its customers, consumers and the planet. Today’s announcement follows PepsiCo’s recent ambitious target to achieve net zero by 2040 – ten years ahead of the Paris agreement – in a bid to decarbonise its entire value chain. ### Press contact: Lian.Peacham@pepsico.com About PepsiCoPepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. 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