Over the past six months, the Greentown Go Make 2022 cohort of five climatetech startups has been working closely with Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) (“MCA”) and the M-Lab Companies to accelerate partnerships to deploy and commercialize supply-chain-decarbonization solutions.
Reducing emissions across supply chains, from production to packaging and distribution, is critical to making a net-zero future a reality. That’s why this Greentown Go startup-corporate partnerships accelerator dug into decarbonization solutions across supply-chain management, including packaging products and materials; alternative foods and ingredients; and green fleets and battery management.
The five participating startups—Energiency, Moment Energy, Nfinite Nanotech, RenewCO2, and Sensai Analytics—were chosen in a highly competitive selection process that saw close to 150 applicants. Throughout the accelerator, they worked with the program’s corporate partners to advance commercialization efforts—collaborating to de-risk their technologies, discover potential industrial applications, and develop viable go-to-market strategies. A group of experienced startup mentors and industry experts from MCA and from many M-Lab companies—ENEOS, Asahi Kasei, Yazaki, Mitsubishi Research Institute, Fujifilm, Tokio Marine, Intec, and Japan Post—allowed for a productive and successful accelerator program.
MCA is a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, a global integrated business enterprise with 10 business groups that operate across virtually every industry. MCA was the Leading Partner on Go Make 2022, and the program was supported by the M-Lab Companies—an innovation-focused consortium of large top-tier Japanese organizations, of which MCA is the founding, lead member.
“As a consortium with an open-innovation platform, it was a splendid moment to share our tangible achievements with hundreds of attendees at Go Make 2022 Final Showcase,” said Seiichiro Mukai, Senior Manager of Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) Silicon Valley Branch, “We’re committed to continually providing partners with the collective wisdom and proactive support to tackle climate-related challenges.”
Read about the startups, their progress during the accelerator, and how they worked with the corporate partners below, and check out a recording of the Go Make 2022 final showcase here!
Energiency
Technology at a glance: Energiency, based in Rennes, France, pioneers AI- and human-intelligence-driven energy-intelligence technology dedicated to manufacturing.
Work with program partners: Energiency plans to conduct a pilot with M-Lab company Yazaki at the corporate’s manufacturing facility in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. This project will give Yazaki deep insights into its energy efficiency, energy use associated with creating various products, opportunities for reducing energy consumption, and more.
Energiency is also in talks with program partners about other opportunities for integration and performance testing, and aims to explore service agreements with them in the future.
Moment Energy
Technology at a glance: Moment Energy, based in Coquitlam, BC, Canada, provides commercial-scale clean, affordable, and reliable energy storage by repurposing retired electric vehicle batteries.
Work with program partners: Moment Energy has received investments from M-Lab companies Asahi Kasei and ENEOS. Moment Energy has plans for three proof-of-concept projects with M-Lab companies Yazaki, ENEOS, and Asahi Kasei, all of which will involve testing the performance of Moment’s battery storage solutions and their integration with partner manufacturing sites. Moment Energy also signed a battery testing agreement with MCA, which will be conducted at the startup’s facility.
Beyond these exciting results, Moment Energy is collaborating with the program partners to scale into Japan and to explore further investments.
“We are impressed with how fast the corporate partners have helped us to move in this program,” says Gurmesh Sidhu, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Moment Energy.
Nfinite Nanotech
Technology at a glance: Nfinite Nanotech’s smart nano-coating enables sustainable packaging to keep products fresh and eliminate waste at scale. The startup is based in Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Work with program partners: Nfinite Nanotech is conducting a proof-of-concept with MCA, Mitsubishi Corporation Packaging, and a Japanese paper supplier. The project will demonstrate Nfinite’s coating process on Mitsubishi Corporation Packaging materials, and the companies will use its data to define the target application for Nfinite’s technology in Mitsubishi Corporation’s sustainable packaging.
During Go Make 2022, the startup and two corporations—MCA and M-Lab company ENEOS—conducted mutually beneficial market discovery, which Hiroki Taenaka, Assistant Vice President for MCA’s Food & Consumer Industry Group, said made “clear where in the value chain Nfinite’s technology can be placed.”
“We are one step closer to making all packaging in the world compostable and recyclable,” said Chee Hau Teoh, CEO and co-founder of Nfinite Nanotech. ““We look forward to the synergy between Nfinite and M-Lab companies through this multi-way collaboration.”
RenewCO2
Technology at a glance: RenewCO2, based in Cranford, NJ, uses cutting-edge research to design processes for CO2 conversion into polymers and chemicals.
Work with program partners: RenewCO2 did deep market and customer discovery with MCA, which allowed the startup to identify its target market of polyethylene terephthalate (commonly known as PET) producers and brand owners. MCA and M-Lab member ENEOS also aided the startup’s growth through assistance with technology discovery and exploration.
“I want to acknowledge all the support and help we got from Mitsubishi on this project—it’s like we went from a spectator at a sporting event to a player on the field,” says Peter Shepard, COO of RenewCO2. “Their inside knowledge of the industry was tremendously helpful in designing our go-to market strategy.”
Sensai Analytics
Technology at a glance: Sensai Analytics, based in Somerville, MA, helps commercial EV owners maximize the residual value of batteries.
Work with program partners: Sensai Analytics engaged in significant technology and market discovery with the program partners. Notably, the startup conducted product demonstrations of its analytics software with MCA and M-Lab companies Asahi Kasei, Tokio Marine, and ENEOS.
“Through this program, we really wanted to come in and talk to as many players in the commercial EV space as possible,” says Ian Mathews, CEO and co-founder of Sensai Analytics. “This program has been fantastic for us to do that. We’re now taking the learnings from this program to build our product, and we’re lining up proof-of-concept projects to use that product.”
Greentown Labs runs Greentown Go programs across five tracks: Go Make (manufacturing), Go Move (transportation), Go Energize (energy and electricity), Go Build (buildings), and Go Grow (food and agriculture). These startup-corporate partnerships programs challenge the status quo within each key greenhouse-gas sector as they accelerate partnerships between industry giants and innovators. Learn about current programs here!