RMI2 welcomes three new companies

As if planning for a new, state-of-the-art facility wasn’t enough, the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative has continued to take on additional incubator companies at a record pace.

As of early February, the incubator had accepted three new companies, bringing the total to 24. The newest startups range from biomass to analytic instrumentation but are all looking forward to leveraging RMI2’s incubator process to get beyond the critical infant years of business. Meet the new incubatees:

Stewart Energy LLC

A spinoff of engineering veteran Stewart Environmental Consultants, Stewart Energy plans to commercialize biomass energy conversion technology. The startup is partnering with Colorado State University to bring anaerobic digestion technology developed in the College of Civil and Environmental Engineering to market. Anaerobic digestion involves harnessing bacteria in an oxygen-free environment to convert organic material into combustible gas.

“The key to an effective process is to increase efficiencies, decrease and deal with waste and manage environmental variables,” explained Forbes Guthrie, CEO of Stewart Energy. “Our new process shows significant advantages in efficiency, waste management and cost over traditional technologies.”

The new company plans to leverage the development process used for years by Stewart Environmental to bring the product to market. The process includes identifying and fully understanding the market needs; accurately verifying and testing the technology; documenting the physical, biological and chemical process of the system; and evaluating the mechanical requirements for the engineering and specification of the system.

Forston Labs

Founded last July, Forston Labs is looking to make waves in the relatively static water-testing market. The company’s LabNavigator handheld analytical measure platform seeks to consolidate a lab full of testing instruments into a single, field-ready device.

Forston Labs President and CEO Brian Williams admits that breaking into the analytic instrumentation industry is a daunting challenge. Including applications across all industries, the market is estimated at $60 billion and counts a number of very large corporations among its vast field of competitors.

“The reason we’re so different from everyone else is that our instrument crosses the boundaries that no one has ever crossed,” Williams said.

The LabNavigator uses plug-in sensors that automatically tell the device what type of test is being performed, to eliminate the need for different equipment for each test. The company currently has more than 30 sensors available. The device can also be customized to analyze data, which can be stored, making it possible for field technicians to perform work that chemists would have previously done.

“We’re not tackling the entire industry,” Williams said. The company will focus on reaching laboratory users, researchers and environmental testers. “It’s our focus for the next week,” he joked.

Forston’s acceptance into the incubator program comes at a great time, as the company will be officially launching its product at the Pittcon 2010 industry conference next week. Williams said the product is already commercially available and several partnerships are in place.

Crashboxx

Reconstructing crash conditions has been a longtime practice in the aerospace industry, but new incubator company Crashboxx is seeking to make it more common in the automotive sector as well.

The two-year-old company was founded by auto industry veterans with a specialty in safety systems. Its flagship product, the Crashboxx, uses kinematics – the mechanics of motion – to record detailed information in the event of a car crash.

The company is branching out to take advantage of the rapid evolution of the automotive GPS market. Crashboxx is currently beta testing a new software product – Driver Behavior Event Engine or DBE2. An integrator installs the software into a GPS device equipped with an accelerometer – the same technology used by Wii controllers, Apple iPhones and car airbag systems – to detect motion and force. The accelerometer technology can measure negative driver behavior such as excessive braking or acceleration. The technology will also allow fleet managers to track the location of vehicles as well as watch for and track improper driving habits.

Crashboxx President Peter Byrne said that only a limited number of GPS units today come with accelerometers but that within the next five years the technology will be standard. The company is also working on a hosted solution to complement DBE2 that would send e-mail and mobile alerts to fleet managers when an incident is detected, offer detailed historical reports, and similar reports.

“This is an ambitious undertaking for a small company,” Byrne admitted. In order to focus on product development, Crashboxx intends to deploy an annuity business model for its sales effort – the same model used in the cellular phone industry. End users will purchase the equipment and then pay a service fee for use of the added programs.

Kristen Tatti covers technology for the Northern Colorado Business Report. She can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 219 or ktatti@ncbr.com.

Other articles from this issue:

A-B in talks with city about selling land

Berthoud subdivision to seek home-grown power

E-bike maker test drives Old Town shop

Eco-friendly burials take recycling to logical end

Green Summit set for April with new features, awards

PVHS starts on Water Valley medical fitness center

Riverwalk could also include ice arena

What’s next for NextMedia? Restructuring under Chapter 11

Who ya gonna call? Don’t worry about it

Why did the doctors cross the road?

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