Four Wyoming startups pitched their businesses to a panel of expert judges on March 26th, 2020. All hoped to go home with a piece of the $25,000 prize.
“All four teams have significant potential to shape business in Wyoming and all contribute to protecting or commercializing microbial ecology in some way,” says Eric Schlidt, Director of the Casper WTBC.
The Microbial Ecology Collaborative Startup Launchpad (MECSL) awards new Wyoming startups with business capital to further their
ventures. This state-wide entrepreneurship platform plans to disperse $25K in
startup capital funded by the National Science Foundation and Wyoming’s
Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
The Startup Launchpad is one of many initiatives of Wyoming EPSCoR’s five-year Micro Program. The Micro Program supports microbiome research
in the state. Research utilizes techniques such as the application of modern genomic sequencing and data
science methodology to answer questions about how microbes affect our
ecosystem. As part of the broader impacts of the Micro Program, MECSL promotes the
commercialization of research and development activities state-wide.
Wyoming EPSCoR partnered with the Wyoming Technology Business
Center (WTBC) to administer MECSL, the first state-wide WTBC program that focuses on microbial ecology and data science startups. The WTBC supports
innovative startups in Wyoming through regional startup challenges, business
counseling, and business incubator space in Laramie, Casper, and Sheridan.
“Startup funding makes an incredible impact in our communities,” Fred Schmechel of the WTBC in Laramie explains. “Giving these emerging businesses a debt-free way to build capital is a game changer for startup growth in Wyoming.”
The finalist businesses are as follows:
Livestock Wx, Casper, founded by Chad McNutt, provides
timely and authoritative weather information for beef, pork, poultry, and sheep
producers with a focus on impacts to livestock health and well-being.
Theraneutrics, Laramie, founded by Christoph Geisler, is
an innovative biomedical startup working to solve gout through engineered
probiotics.
Enviro Cast, Pinedale, founded by Loren Wilcox, is focused
on reducing micro plastic pollution one cast at a time with their completely
natural and biodegradable fishing line.
Asimica, Laramie, founded by Nikolai Mushnikov and
Grant Bowman, co-inventors of Microbial Stem Cell (MiSt) technology. Asimica
seeks to improve biomolecule production efficiency in the pharmaceutical
industry using their microbial stem cell technology.
Three out of four of the teams have presented their
businesses in similar startup challenges in the past. The Southeast Wyoming
Innovation Launchpad saw Theraneutrics as one of the top contenders, in
February 2020, taking home $5,000 in startup capital. Livestock Wx competed in the 2018 Casper Start-Up Challenge,
which boasted a $50K seed fund. Asimica was also a contender for the 2018
Fisher Innovation Launchpad, which gives UW student entrepreneurs the
opportunity to receive capital from a $125K seed fund.
“We are really excited to see how high these companies
reach,” says David Bohling, Director of the WTBC in Laramie. All four MECSL
companies are established in Wyoming and will continue to serve as great
examples of entrepreneurship in the equality state.
No comments:
Post a Comment