WERCBench Labs: Northwestern Mutual named presenting sponsor of WERCBench Labs Demo Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, January 28, 2019
Contact: Joshua Morby
(414) 791-9120
jmorby@m-werc.org 

MILWAUKEE – Five start-up companies with technologies ranging from energy storage to power generation are finishing the final weeks of MWERC’s WERCBench Labs accelerator program.  

“WERCBench Labs has built a reputation as one of the region’s top accelerator programs for entrepreneurs to test their ideas and grow their businesses relating to energy, power and controls,” said Managing Director, Jacquin Davidson who leads the program. 

“We’re excited to be able to feature another incredible group of businesses in our fourth annual Demo Day thanks to the generosity of this year’s presenting sponsor, Northwestern Mutual. 

“Northwestern Mutual’s commitment to Milwaukee’s startup community and their support of efforts like WERCBench Labs illustrate their interest in creating jobs and investing in new companies and ideas.”

Businesses participating include:

Advanced Ionics
Chad Mason
Milwaukee
ONSITE, ON-DEMAND CLEAN AFFORDABLE HYDROGEN
Advanced Ionics is a Midwest-based company developing new electrochemical energy technologies.  These will enhance our country’s economy and security while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.  Advanced Ionics is currently focused on a product for very low-cost hydrogen production using electrolysis.  

Blue Line Battery 
Dustin Herte
Whitewater, Wis. & Milwaukee
BUILDING INTELLIGENT INDUSTRIAL BATTERIES FOR MORE EFFICIENT BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Blue Line Battery engineers and manufactures state-of-the-art industrial lithium ion battery systems for motive power and stationary energy storage. 

ClearFlame Engines
BJ Johnson & Julie Blumreiter
Woodridge, Ill.
CLEANER, MORE POWERFUL, HEAVY DUTY ENGINES
ClearFlame Engines is commercializing a Stanford technology that enables alternative fuels to be utilized in a high-efficiency and low emission Diesel engine configuration, enabling a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions without loss of performance. This technology easily integrates into existing engine designs and has the ability to displace Diesel-fueled technologies by providing a cleaner and lower cost solution, especially in applications/geographies where electrification is more challenging. ClearFlame has secured over $1M in competitive, non-dilutive funding for their work, and has cultivated grant partnerships with leading industry OEMs to support their R&D.

Present Power Systems
Jason Katcha & Ezana Mekonnen
Milwaukee
POWER TECHNOLOGY FOR REDUCED SIZE, COST AND LOSSES
Present Power Systems (PPS) is developing a new class of extremely compact power electronics for the solar, energy storage, medical and automotive industries. We exclusively use new Silicon-Carbide switching devices coupled with advanced high-frequency magnetics and high-bandwidth digital controls to achieve size reduction versus existing products. PPS has pioneered the use of FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) digital control for high-frequency switching power electronics. The method provides very high bandwidth control allowing PPS to take full advantage of the new Silicon Carbide switching devices, for > 10X reduced size and > 4X increased efficiency. 

Radiant Panel Technologies
Harry Giovanni
Milwaukee
MANUFACTURING ENERGY EFFICIENT RADIANT HEATING SYSTEMS
Radiant Panel Technologies (RPT) markets new and proprietary radiant panel products and adapts them to applications in the North American market.  These panelized heating products may be integrated into a variety of product applications. All RPT Graphene products have a common invention and production connections that consist of proprietary Graphene conduction ink that is then bonded to a variety of surfaces for a myriad of applications.   

For more information on the event or to find out how to register to attend click here