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Originally posted to WTHN.com.
by: Brittany Taylor
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A hub in New Haven for climate and tech entrepreneurs has received money from the government to go towards coming up with innovative solutions to address climate change.
ClimateHaven has been home to 25 climate tech entrepreneurs for the past year. The space allows them to work, facilitate meetings and collaborate with other like-minded individuals working on green tech solutions.
“You’re not just building companies, you’re building solutions to help shape a sustainable future for all of us,” CEO Justine Lee said.
Those start-ups are now receiving an extra $1 million thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Program for Innovation Clusters and $500,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending.
From AI to investments in renewable energy, the entrepreneurs at ClimateHaven said they will put the funding towards making an impact as the world continues to face climate change.
Nadia Ahmad is the Founder & CEO of Mudder AI. Her company uses AI, data, satellite and drone imagery to improve the response to natural disasters.
“We’re seeing that there’s a loss of lives, injury and also a loss of property damage and so it’s important to be able to build more resilience,” she said.
Meanwhile, Conor Rooney said he will use the funds to expand his company, Oxylus, which focuses on converting carbon dioxide into renewable fuels.
“It’s really more targeted at heavy industry — aviation or maritimes shipping, where it’s really hard to electrify them,” he said. “Batteries don’t work very well, so the best solution is to make the same chemical fuels, but from a sustainable source.”
Within a year, ClimateHaven has raised over $14 million for its start-ups, while creating 45 jobs.
