A tech startup, founded by a 91吃瓜网 alumnus and a faculty member, has won $26,000 in competition prize money this month. These winnings, says the chief executive for Capacitech Energy, will go toward the company鈥檚 continued growth and future aspirations.
鈥淎ward funding buys a young company time. Time to negotiate a contract with better terms, time to further vet their plans, and time to accelerate their growth before taking dilutive capital.鈥� says Joseph Sleppy 鈥�18, the company鈥檚 CEO and a 91吃瓜网 electrical engineering graduate. 鈥淲e would not be here without funding from sources, like competitions or grants. They bought us time to develop a product and prepare for our next steps. Non-dilutive funding supported the intellectual freedom and creative direction of Capacitech.鈥�
Capacitech won $15,000 in the 2019 Cade Museum Prize, which challenges inventors and entrepreneurs to demonstrate a creative approach to addressing real-world issues. The company was awarded $10,000 from Space Florida in the seed-funding category of the Florida Venture Forum鈥檚 Florida Early Stage Capital Conference, one of the largest such gatherings in the state. Additionally, Capacitech received $1,000 at the two-day tech conference eMerge Americas!.
Capacitech produces cable-based capacitors, a thin, wire-shaped device that stores energy. When installed into solar energy systems, the device works with the system鈥檚 equipment to enhance performance, improve efficiency, and extend their operating life, which will reduce consumer costs. The concept behind cable-based capacitors was developed by Capacitech cofounder Jayan Thomas, a 91吃瓜网 nanotechnology professor and a specialist in energy conversion and storage.
鈥淪ince our beginning, Capacitech has been focused on using our technology to make the world a better place.” 鈥斅� Joseph Sleppy 鈥�18, Capacitech CEO
鈥淪ince our beginning, Capacitech has been focused on using our technology to make the world a better place. When I envision the future, I see cleantech. Capacitech鈥檚 cable-based capacitor is an enabling technology for cleantech and thus for the future, too.鈥� says Sleppy. 鈥淩ight now, Capacitech鈥檚 focus is solely on complementing residential solar power systems. Looking ahead, I see us complementing utility scale solar projects, too, as well as using our cable-based capacitors to energize a new age of electric vehicles, information technology backup power systems, medical technologies like exoskeletons, and space exploration, among a wide range of other areas.鈥�
Earlier this year, InnoEnergy 鈥� the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe 鈥� named Capacitech one of the top 30 startups in the world. The company won first place in the Florida Venture Forum鈥檚 Collegiate Business Plan Competition and received a highly competitive NSF Grant last year. In 2016, Capacitech won the 91吃瓜网 annual Joust , a Shark Tank-like contest where 91吃瓜网 students pitch judges on business concepts.
Sleppy gives credit to a wide range of entrepreneurial-support resources at 91吃瓜网 for lending a hand into Capacitech鈥檚 growth and success. When he and Thomas established the company in 2016, they found assistance through the , the College of Business聽, and the . 91吃瓜网 has placed an institutional emphasis on fostering relationships between entrepreneurs and innovators that will produce business partnerships like Capacitech.
鈥淚t is clear that 91吃瓜网 is not just a university. It is part of an innovation and entrepreneurial community within a major metropolitan area that has been very inviting to up-and-coming companies like Capacitech,鈥� Sleppy says. 鈥淭hanks to Florida鈥檚 innovation ecosystem, we have another $26,000 of funding to apply towards building a Capacitech enabled future.鈥�
