(Ed Rodriguez, managing director of accelerator programs at TME, and Dhirendra Dr. J. Herbert Smith ACOA Chair)
Energia Ventures, a newly-established accelerator program at UNB, is helping startups get on solid footing by providing entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to grow and master their businesses.
Launched through the J. Herbert Smith Technology Management Entrepreneurship Centre (TME), Energia Ventures will help develop companies in the energy, clean tech and cyber security fields. The program’s first cohort consists of Stash Energy, Beauceron Security, Trispectra Innovation Inc., Rising Tide Technologies and Mbissa Energy Systems.
“One of my big goals at Energia Ventures is to create opportunity,” says Ed Rodriguez, managing director of accelerator programs at TME. “Opportunities for new companies. Opportunities for jobs, for innovation, for creativity. Energia Ventures will create opportunities for learning, for mentorship, opportunities for personal growth and success.”
Energia Ventures is evidence of a growing entrepreneurial eco-system in New Brunswick and of successful collaboration between academia and public and private sectors.
“At Energia, we intend to do our part in propelling these kinds of exciting innovations forward. We’ll harness the creativity of startup entrepreneurs and match them with our trusted industrial partners and with leading researchers right here at UNB,” says Rodriguez.
Stash Energy has created an energy storage solution that works with residential heat pumps in order to shift peak energy usage and optimize the use of renewable generators. They are currently working with utilities across Atlantic Canada to bring their product to market. Their product will allow for the reduction of environmentally harmful generators being used across North America while saving utilities hundreds of millions of dollars.
Beauceron Security helps companies measure, monitor and manage cyber risk through an innovative focus on people, process and culture – as well as technology-based risk. Their software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform adapts the tactics used by cybercriminals into a series of metrics, methods and counter-measures. They help organizations 'measure their members' cybersecurity attitudes, behaviours and perceptions as well as providing baseline education to improve their awareness. Their cyber attack simulations test employee awareness and, along with their incident reporting tool, help improve accountability throughout an organization. Beauceron bridges the gap between the C-suite, boards and cybersecurity by presenting easy-to-understand S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and timely) metrics. Beauceron helps organizations of all kinds make more informed decisions about their cybersecurity strategies, programs and investments. They are currently beta testing their platform with UNB.
Trispectra Innovation Inc. (Trispectra) is a New Brunswick based start-up that is developing a sensor-based communication and analytics platform that provides real-time monitoring of power lines. The company is focused on delivering a cost-effective and innovative product that can disrupt the Smart Grid industry in Canada and around the world. By combining sensors, hybrid communications architecture, web-based interface, and an advanced grid analytics platform, Trispectra is creating a data-centric hardware and software solution that will increase the efficiency and efficacy of outage response.
In the burgeoning field of tidal energy extraction, Rising Tide Technologies is developing a new approach for producing clean electricity. The method seeks to overcome some of the technical limitations and environmental impact of competing technologies. A major emphasis of the design is to incorporate energy storage with the tidal power extraction in order to have the capability of generating on-demand power.
Mbissa Energy Systems is making a difference in rural Africa. They develop and deploy sustainable wind, solar and hydro energy systems, allowing them to empower local individuals with the tools and knowledge needed to build, maintain, and use these systems so that they may lift their own communities out of the cycle of poverty. With over a decade of experience in Cameroon, Africa, and the success of the pilot project on Mbissa, the international team is ready to lead rural Africa into a bright, renewable future.
Read UNB’s newsroom posting on the launch of Energia Ventures.
