VERDE Nanomaterials

Looking back, the last two months were full of meaningful connections, exciting opportunities, and so much learning for VERDE Nanomaterials. Here’s where we went and what we loved about it: 📌 Activate Demo Day in Boston: Engaging with climate tech investors, sharing our technology and mission, and spending time with other Activate fellows. 📌 ABLCNext in San Francisco: Exploring the future of the bioeconomy and reconnecting with friends and colleagues. 📌 Village Capital Dream Climate Tech Launchpad Summit in Pittsburgh: Connecting with an amazing community of founders driving real climate impact. 📌 Climate Symposium at Harvard Business School Pitch Competition: Our founder Danielle Pascoli pitched our solutions to a broad audience and judges and had a great time! 📌 PACK EXPO in Chicago: Strengthening existing connections and creating new collaborations with industry leaders in the sustainable packaging space. We’re excited about the connections we made and inspired by the future of sustainable innovation!

Thank you for the feature, ClimateRaise!

It has been amazing being part of the Dream Climate Tech Launchpad 2024 cohort! This program, led by Village Capital in partnership with Dream.Org, is dedicated to empowering Black and Latinx-led climate tech startups focusing on solutions that will help decarbonize our global economy. We are grateful to have been part of this community, connecting with fellow changemakers who are building climate solutions and making the green transition more accessible for all!🌱

Last month, we successfully demonstrated our technology at a 10L scale! ✅ VERDE Nanomaterials, in collaboration with the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) at Berkeley Lab, executed a scale-up trial using a 10L reactor. This key milestone confirms that our technology can achieve consistent results at both pilot and lab scales, showcasing its robustness and scalability. Starting with raw corn stover biomass, we successfully produced high-quality cellulose nanofibers. This achievement brings us one step closer to commercializing our nanofibers as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based materials. As we start our new DOE-funded project in collaboration with Berkeley Lab, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory, we are dedicated to further de-risking and demonstrating our technology at scale. A big thank you to everyone involved for their hard work and commitment. We look forward to continuing this journey towards a greener future!

Climate tech innovation is on the rise in the US, but many of these technologies remain inaccessible to low-income communities and communities of color. We're thrilled to announce the Dream Climate Tech Launchpad 2024 cohort, in partnership with Dream.Org and with the support of Salesforce. Now in its second year, this program will support ten more Black and Latinx climate tech founders building environmental justice solutions to ensure a green transition for all. Interested in energy, the built environment, and electric transportation solutions in the US? Meet the founders who will receive USD 5K as a non dilutive, equity-free grant and the two startups who will be selected by their peers to receive additional investment capital of USD 25K from Dream.Org to further scale their solutions. Meet the cohort: Airbuild Inc, Arke Inc., Boaz Bikes, Carbon Negative Solutions Inc, Monuments, NetaCarbon, OptimizeEV, Peoples Energy Analytics, Pirl Technology, and VERDE Nanomaterials.  https://bit.ly/4c8A8KD

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉 VERDE Nanomaterials is thrilled to announce that we have been selected to receive $420k in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office to further de-risk and scale our process for making nanocellulose from waste feedstocks! In this project, we will collaborate with top researchers from three national laboratories and leverage the unmatched capabilities and resources of the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC). This partnership will leverage the advanced research and development capabilities of national labs to address key challenges in feedstock variability and bioproduct conversion processes. We are eager to contribute to groundbreaking advancements in sustainable bio-based products and support the decarbonization of various industrial sectors. Thank you to the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office and the FCIC for this incredible opportunity! Learn more about it here: https://lnkd.in/dwUfHXXJ

Last week, I participated in the LEEP Demo Day in Denver, CO, alongside my exceptional cohort of Cyclotron Road and Activate 2022 fellows, and showcased VERDE Nanomaterials. It was a very special moment as we "graduated" from the program and reflected on the incredible accomplishments we all achieved over the past 2 years. I am super grateful to the program for its unwavering support, with special thanks to Jill Fuss, Melanie Sonsteng, Katie Sharp, Thomas Kirchstetter, and all Berkeley Lab staff. And to my cohort fellows that also participated in the event, Daniel T. Sun, Sarah Placella, Bilen Akuzum, Ph.D., Behtash Behin-Aein, PhD, and GJ la O', thanks so much for your help and support throughout this journey — you are my biggest cheerleaders, and I will always be yours too 😄 This event also provided an excellent opportunity to connect with fellows from other LEEP nodes across the country. It was inspiring to meet and learn from such a diverse and talented group of scientists and entrepreneurs 💡💛

We're thrilled to be part of an incredible community of scientists working to revolutionize the way we think about plastics 🌎💚 At VERDE, we're on a mission to make cellulose nanofibers cost-competitive, paving the way for them to replace plastics and other petroleum-based materials in many applications 🌱

We’re looking forward to hearing from Berkeley Lab Cyclotron Road program fellows Bilen Akuzum, Ph.D. of Aepnus Technology, Behtash Behin-Aein, PhD of Ludwig Computing, Sarah Placella of Root Applied Sciences, Daniel T. Sun of Sunchem, GJ la O' of Tyfast, and Danielle Pascoli of VERDE Nanomaterials at LEEP Demo Day in Denver, Colorado on May 1. They are among 20 entrepreneurial teams from Chain Reaction Innovations, Cyclotron Road, Innovation Crossroads, West Gate pitching their market-ready #cleantech ideas that they’ve refined with us over the last 2 years as a part of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lab-Embedded #Entrepreneurship Program. Get a sneak peek at the featured tech and claim a spot in the audience by April 26: https://lnkd.in/g364Wtrf

We are so proud to be a part of this incredible community! Thank you Cyclotron Road for the shoutout and continued support!