Energy Monitoring Startup Acquired
January 11, 2017
Berkeley Lab startup Whisker Labs, formerly Wattstick, has been acquired by Earth Networks, which will launch Whisker Lab’s home energy monitoring device. Whisker Labs was founded by Berkeley Lab researchers Oren Schetrit and Steve Lanzisera, who developed a device to more easily provide building submetering, enabling building owners to monitor energy demand. Read the startup’s story in Venture Beat’s profile.
Seeking No-cost Wet Lab and Office Space in the Berkeley, CA Area
January 3, 2017
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is seeking a partner who is willing to provide Berkeley Lab researchers and startups working on developing Berkeley Lab technology with access to a minimum of 1200 square feet of mostly contiguous lab and office space at no cost. The space must include wet lab space, constant and reliable HVAC, at least two fume hoods, appropriate safety equipment, and space suitable for office work. Berkeley Lab or a Berkeley Lab partner will be responsible for equipping the space, equipment training and maintenance, hazmat management, meeting other environmental health and safety requirements, and managing space logistics, although the space-provider may also be willing to provide these services at minimal cost. The space must be no more than a 30 minute drive during commute hours from Berkeley Lab’s central location at One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720. POC: Robin Johnston, rjohnston@lbl.gov
Berkeley Lab Startups in the News
December 16, 2016
Lygos, which applies synthetic biology to create high value chemicals, raised $13 million in Series A funding. OS Fund, IA Ventures, First Round Capital, Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund, Fifty Years, Vast Ventures and various angel investors are among the participants. Lygos, spun out of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory technology, was highlighted in a Dec. 27, 2016 New York Times article by Quentin Hardy on a new wave of clean tech companies.
The Department of Energy recently highlighted the lab-to-market success of Aeroseal, a startup based on a Berkekley Lab ductwork-sealing technology. The Ohio-based company has grown to operate in Europe, the Middle East, Canada, the Philippines, and Australia and has sealed ductwork in more than 100,000 houses and tens of millions of feet of commercial space. Aeroseal estimates it saves customers a total of $4.2 million annually in energy costs.
Five 2016 R&D100 Awards for Berkeley Lab Technologies
November 8, 2016
Berkeley Lab technologies enabling energy-saving roofs, next generation Li-S batteries, faster development of disease-fighting therapeutics, safer drinking water, and risk assessment for proposed carbon capture technologies each received 2016 R&D 100 Awards last week at a recognition event in Washington, D.C. Since 1984, Berkeley Lab has won 85 R&D 100 Awards.
R&D Magazine‘s R&D 100 Awards, established 54 years ago, recognize 100 technologies and services introduced in the previous year deemed most significant by an independent panel of judges. Berkeley Lab News Center provided descriptions of the winning technologies in its Nov. 8 coverage. The full list of winners is here: http://www.rd100conference.com/awards/winners-finalists/year/2016/.
Bio-Based Innovation Award Goes To Lygos
October 11, 2016
Berkeley Lab startup Lygos won the Bio-Based Chemical Innovation of the Year award at the Bio-Based Live conference in San Francisco for its technology to produce malonic acid from sugars derived from non-food biomass. The Lygos process, demonstrated in 2015 at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Unit (ABPDU), offers a cleaner alternative to the current approach of deriving malonic acid from petroleum products. In March 2016, Lygos was awarded a DOE Small Business Voucher to continue scaling up its technology at the ABPDU.
IPO Talks Tech Transfer with Visiting Scientists
October 4, 2016
Dr. Ureshnie Govender (left) and Dr. Angeline Akelo Kasina (right) met with IPO staff to discuss lab-to-market approaches.
Technology Commercialization Associate Peter Bluford of Berkeley Lab’s Innovation and Partnerships Office discussed the lab-to-market process for science innovations with two scientists — Dr. Ureshnie Govender of of South Africa and Dr. Angeline Akelo Kasina of Kenya — who visited Berkeley Lab last month as part of the State Department’s TechWomen international exchange program. An article on the scientists’ visit to Berkeley Lab and the TechWomen program appeared Sept. 30 in the Berkeley Lab Computing Sciences News.
