Michigan entrepreneurs are ramping up for the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, which will take place in the historic Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit from November 12 through November 14.
The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition will reward finalists with more than $1 million in cash and in-kind prizes. The Spirit of Michigan Award will be presented to Fred Keller, CEO of Cascade Engineering and for the first time, NextEnergy will sponsor a $25,000 Transportation and New Mobility award. Several NextEnergy clients have been selected as semi-finalists in this year’s competition including AMF Nano, Covaron Advanced Materials, GreenLancer, Inmatech, Inventev, Nostrum Energy, Ornicept, REL Inc., SkySpecs and Pelastar by Glosten. Each of the companies will present their innovations in technologies ranging from energy storage, sensors and communications, renewable energy e-commerce software, advanced manufacturing, vehicle electrification, advanced combustion, unmanned aerial vehicles and lightweight and advanced materials.
“We are thrilled to see 10 of our clients in the semi-finals this year,” said NextEnergy President and CEO, Jean Redfield. “At NextEnergy, we provide our clients with targeted information on energy markets, technologies, supply chains and commercialization pathways and work collaboratively with regional SmartZones, economic development corporations and other accelerators to jointly support them.”
The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an international business competition designed to bring entrepreneurial companies together with local, national and international investors, and showcase the best new business concepts to foster economic growth in Michigan. The competition is led by the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan (which includes Ann Arbor SPARK, Automation Alley, Macomb-OU INCubator and TechTown), Business Leaders for Michigan, the University Research Corridor (which includes Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Wayne State University) and the New Economy Initiative, which have come together to support the advancement of Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through several collaborative initiatives.
“We are excited to provide a platform to support innovation in Michigan,” said Accelerate Michigan Executive Director, Lauren Bigelow. “The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition highlights many competitive and cutting edge businesses and innovators on a national scale. Most of the technologies featured in the competition are homegrown; born out of Michigan universities, SmartZones, or local industry.”
Semi-finalists will present their innovations during the competition, which will begin with an Opening Reception on Tuesday, November 12. Finalists will be selected by a panel of judges and announced on Thursday, November 14. Keynote speakers for the competition include Carla Harris, Chair of the National Women’s Business Council and Tony Scott, CIO of VMWare.
For more information about the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition visit www.acceleratemichigan.org.
About NextEnergy:
Founded in 2002 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, NextEnergy is one of the nation’s leading accelerators of advanced energy technologies, businesses and industries. NextEnergy drives technology demonstration and commercialization; delivers industry and venture development services; and provides an authoritative voice in the public sector. Since its inception, NextEnergy has helped attract more than $1 billion of new investment in the state of Michigan, including programs in excess of $150 million in which NextEnergy has directly participated. For more information, visit nextenergy.org.
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Source: NextEnergy.org