New Jersey is looking to ramp up its profile as a clean tech innovator and meet its goal for reducing carbon emissions  with a new partnership with Cleantech Open Northeast (CTONE), a business incubator that has helped hundreds of clean energy entrepreneurs across the region.

CTONE is the second company to join NJ Accelerate, a start-up support program run by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), the agency announced last week. CTONE will focus mainly on climate change issues. Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab was the first NJ Accelerate partner.

The partnership with CTONE will offer participating startups a boot-camp environment, with training and classes in entrepreneurship, mentoring opportunities and connections with venture capitalists and angel investors.  Cleantech graduates that locate in New Jersey within six months of completing the accelerator program can also secure matching loans of up to $250,000.

Announcing the partnership, a press release from NJEDA said CTONE would provide “the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships that turn ideas into successful global cleantech companies.”

“Connecting New Jersey entrepreneurs with capital and mentorship they need to succeed not only strengthens the individual startups, but also bolsters our state’s innovation ecosystem as a whole,” said NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan.

NJEDA also provides vouchers of up to $15,000 to support early-stage clean energy companies, while Clean Tech Seed Grants from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities are also available to early-stage clean energy companies.

As part of the partnership, CTONE will be paid $25,000 per event — up to a cap of $100,000 — to organize events, pitch competitions, in-person classes and similar networking and educational events to attract start-ups to the program.

“There’s a huge potential that is untapped” in the state, said Beth Zonis, CTONE’s regional director.

Carbon Capture and Smart Windows

NJEDA’s partnership with CTONE reflects New Jersey’s vigorous efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and position itself as a key player in the development of clean energy in the Northeast. The state’s 2019 clean energy masterplan identified the need to “expand the clean energy innovation economy” as one of seven key strategies the state should pursue.

The state is also moving ahead with another initiative from the masterplan: building a wind energy port and manufacturing hub in South Jersey to serve the growing offshore wind energy sector along the East Coast.

While Boston and New York are farther ahead in the development of clean energy entrepreneurship and have larger programs to promote innovation in renewable energy, “New Jersey is up and coming in many ways,” Zonis said.

Drivers for growth include the state’s aggressive commitment to clean energy, the presence of research institutions such as Princeton University and Rutgers University, the potential for wind energy off the New Jersey coast and “a growing ecosystem” of clean technology-focused entrepreneurial entities, she said.

Founded in 2005 at the Massachusetts of Technology as an accelerator for Boston  entrepreneurs, CTONE joined with Cleantech Open, a national organization, in 2010 and expanded to all the Northeast and Eastern Canada. It is managed by the Boston-based Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC). The accelerator has worked successfully with some New Jersey companies through its existing programs. Six of the 40 companies that completed CTONE’s 2020 accelerator program were from the state, with winners receiving grants of $10,000.

Cranford-based RenewCO2 took a leap forward after it participated, and was among the winners, in CTONE’s 2020 accelerator competition, said CEO Anders B. Laursen. The company is developing a process, which originated in research at Rutgers University, that removes carbon dioxide from the air and uses it in the production of industrial chemicals.

The accelerator “really was crucial for us in order to develop,” said Laursen, adding that he and co-founder Karin Calvinho have strong technical and academic backgrounds but little business experience. CTONE helped fill that gap and forge relationships that have since yielded about $2 million in funding, he said.

“The mentorship program is really outstanding,” Lauersen said. “We got paired with several mentors that were both in our industry and in our space, as well as just general entrepreneur experts. They helped us for six months, and we are still using them as mentors today”

Andluca Technologies, another New Jersey winner, said the experience helped to bring the company to the cusp of putting its product on the market. The company makes UV-solar-powered smart glass that can control the entry of light and infra-red heat into a building and improve energy efficiency.

NJEDA paid half Andluca’s entry fee into the CTONE boot camp, said CEO Nick Davy. The company’s success in the competition “gave us increased exposure and momentum to hit $1M in total funds raised and expand our team,” Davy said. Since then, Andluca has received a $50,000 grant from New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology and has applied for a $1 million small business grant from the National Science Foundation, to fund five positions at the company, he said.

Andluca is testing its first product and expects to roll out some “early adopter” projects by the end of the year.