By: Kathryn Pentiuk | Southfield Sun | Published October 10, 2024
SOUTHFIELD — The Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University’s C3 Summit featured cleantech, climate and circular economy companies that drew in a crowd of 400 attendees.
The event, held on Oct. 1 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, featured participation from more than 50 investors and resulted in 150 confirmed investor matchmaking meetings.
Centropolis connects small manufacturers and hardware entrepreneurs and provides access to resources such as mentors, workshops, cutting-edge technologies, corporate connections, student and faculty engagement, events, workspace, and a collaborative community, according to the program.
“Getting from the back of the napkin to the front of the market is no easy feat, and that makes incubators like Centropolis essential to our success, and the numbers really speak for themselves, because 40% of small businesses fail in a year, but the companies that Centropolis invests directly have a 100% commercialization success rate. One hundred percent. And there’s a reason why incubators like this one are becoming so popular. It’s because they work and because we believe so strongly in this model,” U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm remarked. “DOE (the Department of Energy) has delivered over $18 million to incubators nationwide to our Office of Technology Transitions EPIC prize competition, including $200,000 to date for Centropolis. A number of Centropolis companies have benefited directly from DOE funding, like RevX Technologies, which is a critical mineral recycling company, and they just received a $145 million grant through our battery materials processing program.”
During the C3 Company Pitches on Mobility, startups Bedestrian, BlueFlite, Civilized Cycles, LIVAQ and SeaLandAire presented before judges Kurt Baumgarten of GM Ventures, Joey Mullick of Skara Ventures, Josh Stevens of Polaris, Chris Thomas of Assembly Ventures, and Charlie Tyson of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification.
The following day, Michigan’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, in partnership with Centropolis, announced the 17 recipients of the Michigan Mobility Prototyping Grant Program. In this announcement, it was revealed that all of the startups that participated in the Mobility Pitches at the C3 Summit received funding.
The Michigan Mobility Prototyping Grant Program was launched earlier this year to provide funding and technical assistance to accelerate the development of innovative mobility and electrification technologies.
The funding focuses on key areas such as product development, prototyping, product testing and manufacturing readiness. With a total of $813,000 in funding, $525,000 comes from the MEDC and $288,000 from Centrepolis Accelerator.
Ann Arbor-based Bedestrian develops autonomous delivery vehicles for urban settings. BlueFlite is a Brighton-based company that designs and manufactures an advanced cargo drone platform to address “the modern-day challenges in the logistics industry.”
“Blueflite’s drones offer faster deliveries at a lower cost compared to conventional transport. The unique and patented design features vectored thrust and machine learning software, giving it unrivaled maneuverability and the ability to reliably operate in any weather. The platform allows for complete digital integration through blueDigital, the company’s drone operations software. It facilitates an all-automated supply chain for high-speed deliveries at scale,” stated BlueFlite CEO Frank Noppel.
Detroit-based electric vehicle manufacturer Civilized Cycles specializes in ultra-lightweight transportation. Civilized Cycles was recognized later in the day by Centropolis in the mobility category for its presentation on its latest development, the Semi-Trike, which offers the cargo capacity of a van with the capability to carry a 750-pound cargo load at 15 mph for a price of $13,000. This electric trike and trailer system is ideal for both personal and commercial use, attracting customers from shared mobility providers to universities.
“Today, I’m going to talk to you about how our technology is going to help fleet operators reduce emissions and operate costs by 80%,” Marc Liu, chief revenue officer of Civilized Cycles, said. “Every day in the United States, thousands of fleet operators move very large amounts of cargo relatively short distances, and say, 5 miles or less. These could include universities, campuses, hospital systems. There are many different types, but they all have roughly the same core challenge, which is to move as much power as possible, as cheaply as possible. Safety and emissions are increasingly important because this is often done in areas where there’s very heavy pedestrian traffic.”
Liu explained that for a transit van, over the course of 48 months, the total cost of ownership is about $80,000. He added, “On top of that, they’re incredibly unsafe in pedestrian areas and produce large amounts of emissions because most of them are not electric.”
LIVAQ was founded in June of 2022 in Detroit and produces electric off-road vehicles with a focus on high-performance, eco-friendly ATVS.
“Our flagship product, the EQUAD, delivers superior performance with a top speed of 87 mph and a range of 230 miles, addressing the increasing demand for sustainable alternatives in the recreational and eco-tourism industries,” commented David Medina Álvarez, the founder and CEO of LIVAQ.
SeaLandAire Technologies Inc., based in Jackson, focuses on innovating unmanned systems for environmental monitoring and defense.
For more information on the Centropolis Accelerator, visit www.centrepolisaccelerator.com.