Cykloburn Technologies LLC, a company developing a low-emission combustion system that converts biomass into energy, announced that it has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant. The grant money will be used to fund further development of the Cykloburn technology, which was invented by Dr. Seong Lee at Morgan State University and licensed to Cykloburn Technologies in December 2017.
The technology addresses two significant societal needs: managing environmentally damaging pollution from excess poultry farm litter and generating energy (both electricity and heat) from renewable resources. The technology represents a significant value proposition to individual poultry farmers, by ridding them of waste, creating electricity for operations, and providing heat for poultry houses. The technology also offers an environmentally friendly solution to the State’s environmental issues related to poultry waste.
“It is exciting to receive this grant from the NSF,” said Rob Meissner, CEO Cykloburn Technologies. “Not only will the funds help us further the development of the technology, but the NSF’s detailed technical and business review and subsequent award decision confirms that the value we see for the technology addresses a significant environmental concern while improving farmer’s profitability.”
The company previously received a $150,000 investment from TEDCO’s Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) to help commercialize the innovation. In addition, the University, in partnership with the company, was awarded a $100,000 Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) Program grant supported by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to further develop the CykloBurnHeating System for use in poultry houses.
“We invested in Cykloburn because of the smart and high-tech solution they bring to our environmental problems. The fact that this is both a cleantech and an energy tech company that will potentially have direct economic development impact on our farming community in Maryland is icing on top!”, says TEDCO MII Director, Arti Santhanam.
About Cykloburn Technologies, LLC:
Founded in 2017, Cykloburn Technologies is a Baltimore City-based startup focused on commercializing an innovative poultry waste to energy technology licensed from Morgan State University. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Technology Commercialization Ventures LLC; a Maryland company formed to license and commercialize intellectual property from Federal and University research institutions. Since forming Cykloburn, TCV partners Doug Zeisel and Rob Meissner have raised nearly $500,000 for additional research and commercialization from TEDCO (MII Phase II), the MTECH MIPS program, and now the National Science Foundation SBIR grant.