Six startups have won approval to participate in the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology’s Clean Tech Research and Development Voucher Program that allows early-stage companies to more easily access specialized equipment at university or federal laboratory facilities.
The $435,000 program, which CISTI developed in coordination with the state Board of Public Utilities and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, continues to accept program applications on a rolling basis. The application is available at https://application.njeda.com/csit.
“Through the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program, we are able to support the cultivation of innovative technologies in our state’s earliest stage companies and showcase the breadth of amenities that our world-class universities offer to the innovation community,” said CSIT Chairman Gunjan Doshi. “We encourage all emerging companies to explore how this program can further their growth.”
Doshi noted that in addition to the six approvals announced Monday, another 10 applications are currently under review.
Through the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program, eligible applicants receive vouchers to subsidize the costs associated with using equipment at a New Jersey university or federal laboratory for product testing and development. Eligible applicants can apply for multiple vouchers up to a cap of $15,000 within any 12-month period. An approved voucher is valid for a period of three months.
The program specifically funds work on projects that are developing clean technologies that recapture or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases and/or criteria pollutants. The following technology areas are eligible under the program: chemicals/advance materials, energy distribution/storage, energy efficiency, energy generation, green buildings, transportation, waste processing, and water and agriculture. A New Jersey clean tech asset map listing university and federal laboratory resources in NJ is available on the CSIT website.
To be eligible for the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program, applicants must be registered to conduct business in New Jersey and must have no more than 50 full-time employees at the time of application. Additionally, 100% of the project work for which the voucher is being sought must be conducted in New Jersey. Full eligibility requirements can be found at https://www.njeda.com/csit.
The following startups were each approved for vouchers totaling $15,000, unless otherwise noted:
Parsippany-based BRISEA Group Inc. has provided environmental and energy professional services, technology and know-how transfer from the United States to the developing nations for over two decades. With support from the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program, the company is using equipment at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT’s) Otto York Center to develop technology that enables massive disinfection of personnel and medical equipment, material surfaces and waters that humans come in contact.
Eion NJ Corporation, located in Princeton, is developing a specialty fine-grained mineral product that rapidly captures and stores CO2 when applied to agricultural soils. Funding through the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program will support Eion Corporation’s use of equipment at the Rutgers University’s School of Environmental and Biological Science’s Greenhouses to further its efforts. Eion NJ Corporation previously received funding through CSIT’s Clean Tech Seed Grant Program.
Bordentown-based HiT Nano Inc. develops next-generation, low-cost and high-performance lithium ion (Li-ion) battery materials and energy storage systems by using novel high temperature nanotechnologies. The company will use equipment at the Princeton University’s – Princeton Institute of Materials (Imaging and Analysis Center and Micro and Nano Fabrication Center) to further the R&D of its technologies. (HiT Nano Inc. has been approved for $11,250 in vouchers through the program).
Michrinik Technologies, LLC., located in Cedar Knolls, is a green technology company focused on creating new materials for energy storage application. Support from the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program will help the company offset the cost of using equipment at the NJIT’s Maker Space and Otto York Centers it works toward commercialization of its products.
Nanosepex Inc., located in Newark, is an environmental research company that is developing what it considers to be the next generation desalination and water treatment technology. The company plans to use equipment at NJIT’s Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry and Nanotechnology to further its development of technologies to treat industrial wastewater (such as power plants and Fracking water) and ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emission.
RRTC, Inc., located in Belle Mead, is developing advanced composite materials for a myriad of uses based on Low Temperature Solidification (LTS) technology originally developed at Rutgers University. The company is using vouchers from the Clean Tech R&D Voucher Program to offset the costs of equipment at Rutgers University’s Materials Science and Engineering core facility as it produces materials for such applications as wind turbine blades, wood substitutes and capture media for a new solid-state carbon capture system.
