Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

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March 16, 2022 | Tom Ballard

Applications for “Spark Cleantech Accelerator” close in less than a month

Applications close on April 11 for the inaugural “Spark Cleantech Accelerator” to be hosted by the Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park (UTRP).

The new initiative is partially funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to a team comprised of Evergreen Climate Innovations (formerly known as the Clean Energy Trust) and mHUB in Chicago, Centrepolis in Detroit, and the Spark in Knoxville. The local component is being offered with the support of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee Advanced Energy Business CouncilLaunch Tennessee, TVA, UT, UTRP, and other partners to support early stage cleantech businesses and drive commercialization of their technologies in Tennessee and throughout the Midwest.

We noted another cleantech and climate accelerator underway in South Florida that is operated by Endeavor Miami. What types of start-ups has it attracted to the city? Most are from the greater Miami area. Here’s the list.

  • Algas Organics, a St. Lucia-based agricultural tech company that uses seaweed to make farming more climate resilient;
  • Carbon Limit, a Boca Raton business designing tools for carbon capture and storage;
  • Cycle Technology, a Miami start-up that rewards consumers for recycling beverage containers via deposit return systems;
  • EcoRenew Solutions, a Haiti-headquartered waste management service focused on curbing pollution by recycling land and sea waste;
  • Hope Hydration, a New York start-up that designs, manufactures and installs free tech-enabled water fountains to reduce waste and increase access to drinking water;
  • Imagine Farms, an indoor, vertical hydroponic farm located in Miami that uses sustainable practices to grow large quantities of produce in urban centers;
  • Lean Orb, another Miami-based venture that makes plastic-free compostable packaging for the food and beverage industry; OBE Power, yet another Miami company building a private electrical vehicle charging network in the southern U.S.;
  • Own Power, a Miami-based marketplace for renewable energy businesses; and
  • The Addition Company, also from Miami that is using 3D printing, material science and sensor technology to build living seawalls to combat sea level rise in coastal communities.

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