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The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology (CSIT) recently awarded a series of grants to Garden State startups in the areas of food security efforts and clean energy.

Through its Food and Agriculture Research & Development Pilot Seed Grant Program, CSIT awarded over $500,000 in funding to seven startups. The grant funding is aimed at supporting startup companies in the development of commercially viable technologies that combat food insecurity. This includes helping to increase access to nutritious foods and alleviating food deserts.

“CSIT continues to provide robust support to early-stage startups in New Jersey, creating an unrivaled innovation ecosystem that strengthens the state’s economic competitiveness,” said Judith Sheft, CSIT executive director, in a Jan. 3 press release. “The grant awardees announced today are developing technologies and products that will promote New Jersey’s food security initiatives, keeping the state at the forefront of innovation.”

The awardees include:

• AGEless Biotechnologies, Bergen County
  Develops applications for a multi-functional protein modification platform
• Fork & Goode Inc., Hudson County
  Creates cultivated pork using a patented process that maximizes yield
• Gather Agriculture Inc., Hudson County
  Develops food resiliency on farms by building simplified robotic tools to increase harvest efficiency and farmworker safety
• Hydronos Labs LLC, Mercer County
  Developing and providing a key structured data layer for the global weather and climate risk transfer market via its TerraCognos software platform
• Inspired Growing Inc., Hudson County
  Harnesses cutting-edge indoor vertical farming technology
• Mycsology Foods Inc., Mercer County
  Developing a solid-state fermentation technology platform to produce nutrient-dense, high-protein ingredients
• Neoventech LLC, Mercer County
  Improving pesticide application efficiency to ensure more effective pest control

“Congratulations to the seven grant awardees,” said CSIT Chair and BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart. “We commend these companies for their work in developing potentially groundbreaking technologies and innovative solutions to address food insecurity and related issues across the state – and that could become solutions for the world.”

Clean tech

CSIT also awarded more than $2.7 million to 11 New Jersey startups via Round Two of the Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program.

The funding, also announced Jan. 3, supports pilot projects that mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. An agreement between the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) provides the support to early-stage, New Jersey-based clean tech companies.

“New Jersey’s startup companies are at the forefront of creative and transformative technologies that will move New Jersey closer to its goal of 100% clean energy by 2035,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan.

“The Clean Tech Pilot Programs build on New Jersey’s long history of innovation by helping develop and deploy new technologies that can play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change – benefiting us all in the future,” said NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy.

The program aims to support these companies’ projects — to hopefully transform the new discoveries from research stage into commercially viable products and services.

The 11 awardees include:

• AIVacua LLC, Somerset County
  Demonstrating an innovative spray flash distillation technology for water treatment
• Amatec Inc., Essex County
  Created an alternative material to cementitious concrete 
• Bezwada Biomedical, Somerset County
  Demonstrating and testing the innovation of proprietary biodegradable polyurethanes developed for use in packaging and consumer product applications
• Cecilia Energy Inc., Essex County
  Demonstrating a modular, microwave-based system that upcycles plastic waste into hydrogen and carbon nanotubes
• Coulomb Technology Inc., Somerset County
  Demonstrating a 5Ah zinc-ion batter for use in energy storage applications
• EV Edison, Hudson County
  Achieved full proof of concept for a mobile electric vehicle charging platform to deliver mobile EV charging to small, medium and heavy-duty vehicles
• InnoSepra LLC, Warren County
  Demonstrating its biogas-upgrading technology at a wastewater treatment plant or landfill in New Jersey
• NanoSepex Inc., Middlesex County
  Demonstrating innovative membrane technology and process for use in solvent recovery and recycling, biofuel refining, and treatment of aqueous waste streams containing low-concentration solvents and volatile organic compounds
• Pollux Technologies, Middlesex County
  Developing a novel filter monitoring technology for use in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
• PureLi Inc., Somerset County
  Demonstrating an interfacial crystallization process with superior performance in extracting lithium from saline water sources compared to current commercial operations
• PureNanoTech Inc., Morris County
  Demonstrating a next generation nanobubble technology designed to enhance wastewater treatment processes

“Congratulations to the 11 grant awardees of the Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program,” said Hart. “CSIT is proud to support innovative startups that are advancing clean tech breakthroughs that have the potential and promise to become environment-altering, commercially viable solutions – a testament to the extraordinary innovation emerging from New Jersey.”

Upcoming:

BioNJ will host its 32nd Annual Dinner Meeting and Innovation Celebration Feb. 6 at the Hilton East Brunswick. Here’s what to expect >>