Sustainable Mobility Accelerator kicks off in Chattanooga
Five start-ups shared their elevator pitches and hope for growth in the six-week program.
On Thursday, five start-up companies in the sustainable technology sector introduced themselves during the kickoff event for the 2024 Sustainable Mobility Accelerator, put on by The Company Lab (CO.LAB) and gener8tor.
The event was initially an in-person affair; however, due to weather conditions across the Southeast, CO.LAB made a portion of the meet-and-greet virtual. We joined the live stream to become better acquainted with the five selected companies.
Meet the founders
As we previously mentioned on teknovation.biz, Florida-based FLUIX Inc. was a participant in the 2022 inaugural cohort of the “Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator” in Knoxville. The company was founded by Abhishek (Abhi) Sastri.
However, at the kickoff event, Kush Patel represented the start-up as a business development contact. FLUIX has enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software that saves critical infrastructure on energy costs, time, and resources. The company’s technology has the potential to reduce energy costs by 40 percent, operational CO2 emissions by 45 percent, and daily water usage by millions of gallons. The FLUIX team said they are happy to be back in Tennessee.
Khushboo Shrivastava, who is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Coulomb AI, represented the company at the kickoff event. She got her start in electric vehicle research during her time working with General Motors in India as an engineer and data scientist. During her time with the company, she recognized a gap in the data… and decided to venture off and fill the gap.
“People thought we were crazy to leave our corporate jobs to do this, but here we are. We are super excited to be in Tennessee,” Shrivastava said.
Coulomb.ai helps to uncover key stress factors affecting battery health. Their technology helps prevent ageing and reduce the total cost of ownership. Also, the company provides comprehensive real-time analytics on how batteries are performing and key factors affecting failure and downtime.
Michael Marczi represented MarsCharge Inc., which is a start-up based in Silicon Valley that delivers ultrafast electric vehicle chargers, which also enhance the resiliency of the electric grid. He shared about how he drove from California to Chattanooga to participate in the accelerator. It took him three days to drive across the United States.
Michael Lim represented Xtelligent which is a start-up based out of Los Angeles. The company aims to revolutionize traffic control through its Xtelligent’s Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) technology that prioritizes the flow of people and goods. Additionally, they hope their technology provides a 20 percent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to other methods at a fraction of the cost.
“We are really excited to be in Tennessee,” Lim said. “I have been impressed with this area for a long time. I noticed how the organizations in the area surround and support startups in the region. I have also been impressed for a while – specifically by the large amount of federal funding the region has received to support startup culture.”
And finally, Alexander Johnson, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, represented Terminus, which is based out of Colchester, England. The start-up is an urban data mining company that engages public authorities and governments to take proactive action to make their cities smarter, safer and more efficient.
Johnson said data is one of the world’s most valuable resources. His company’s technology extracts data from micro and macro magnetic patterns through the use of artificial intelligence.
The Sustainable Mobility Accelerator program will support the growth of these five startups, through a $20,000 investment on the terms of their current round with additional funding consideration at the conclusion of the program. The program will run for 12 weeks.
