LAWRENCE, Kansas — a A sustainable engineering startup from the University of Kansas placed fifth in a recent business competition at Rice University in Houston, winning more than $180,000 in prize money and a chance to make history at its founder's alma mater. .
equorium engineeringthe first Kansas team to compete in the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC), co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) Dr. Karin Baca pitched alongside Abby Harders, research and development engineer at Echorium and university doctoral candidate.
“I couldn't be more proud of Abby and Karin,” said Dr. Mark Shiflett, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Ichorium, who accompanied the team to Houston as an academic advisor. “Both of us have been working very hard over the past few years in our lab at KU to develop these technologies, and we're excited to start this company and bring our research to market to help solve some of the challenges. We work just as hard to create opportunities.'' Critical real-world problems. ”
Icorium, a spinout from the University of Kansas' Wonderful Institute for Sustainable Engineering (WISE-KU) located at the KU Innovation Park in Lawrence, is a research and development organization that aims to enable and encourage a circular and sustainable economy for refrigerants. , we are developing new technologies and converting them into commercial solutions. The company says it also contains other important documents.
The company's pipeline of new chemical separation technologies enables the reuse and recycling of even the most complex chemical mixtures, minimizing environmental impact and turning waste into valuable industrial materials. can.
click here Learn more about Echorium Engineering here.
Every year we host Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship RBPC is the world's largest and most well-funded student startup competition in partnership with Rice University's Jones School of Business. RBPC provides a real-world opportunity to learn what it takes to successfully launch a new business. In addition to large cash, investment and in-kind prizes, the competition centers around mentorship from investors and experienced entrepreneurs.
RBPC alumni have raised more than $6.1 billion in funding and 288 are in or have successfully exited businesses.
Icorium was one of only 42 teams selected from over 450 applicants to compete in a competitive, multi-round pitch competition featuring the best student startups from top universities around the world. was.
Baca, Harders, and Shifflett — KU's Chemical Engineering Foundation Distinguished Professor and WISE-KU director — were joined in Houston by Erik Blume, Icorium's chief strategy officer. His full-time job with the company begins in November and is focused on commercializing Icorium's growing pipeline of technologies and services.
Blume, a graduate of KU's School of Law and MBA programs, first collaborated with Icorium in 2021 during his six-year tenure at the KU Innovation Park, where he joined dozens of startups seeking to build companies and commercialize KU's research. We cooperated with
“Rice Alliance ran a great competition with a roster of really great teams, including some from universities with a strong entrepreneurial spirit,” Bloom said. “The opportunity to compete and connect with other teams was a great learning experience for all of us. We are honored to know that Icorium is the first team in Kansas to compete in the RBPC. We are excited to share what we learned with others. We look forward to sharing with KU and Innovation Park startups and seeing more promising Kansas teams compete at the RBPC in the coming years.”
Dr. Mark Shifflett, Dr. Karin Baca, Abby Harders of Echorium Engineering, and Eric Bloom hold checks representing prize money at the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) in Houston. There is.Photo courtesy of Ichorium Engineering
To kick off the competition, one member from each of the 42 startup teams delivered a 60-second elevator pitch. His Baca pitch for Icorium won the company the Mercury Elevator Pitch Award for best sustainability/energy company.
Baca and Harders then advanced through multiple highly competitive rounds, honing their pitches based on judges' feedback, to advance to the 15-team semifinals and then the seven-team final round.
Icorium ultimately finished fifth overall and won a $5,000 fifth place prize sponsored by EY. Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. In total, Icorium earned her more than $182,000 in investments and other cash and in-kind prizes, including a $100,000 Owl Investment Award and a $40,000 Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Award. nCourageous investment Group receives $1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Award.
“All the teams that presented at the competition were really impressive and it was a great experience to even make it to the final round,” Baca said. “The whole event was a great experience. Despite the intense competition with large prize money and investment potential at stake, all the teams were incredibly friendly and supportive of each other throughout the competition. Ta.”
“I couldn't be more pleased with this result,” Blume added. “Ichorium has a great story, and I don't think anyone told it better than Karin and Abby in the final round.”
“At this stage the prize money will make a huge difference to the company,” he continued. “And we have made important connections with investors and other key partners who see the potential and are interested in helping Echorium succeed.”
The recent convention in Houston isn't the first time Baca and Harders have successfully worked together to promote their company. A year ago, the two won a $20,000 third-place prize at the 2023 DOE Energy Tech University Awards Contest in Austin.
“Karin and I have worked very closely together over the past few years at both KU and Ichorium, and we make a great team,” Harders said. “Although some of the Q&A sessions felt a bit intense, we received a lot of excellent and valuable feedback from the judges during and after the competition. We also received a lot of great and valuable feedback from the judges afterwards to strengthen our pitch and company strategy. I received a lot of helpful and supportive advice from investors” and more. ”
Mr. Harders plans to pursue a Ph.D. He completed his PhD in chemical engineering in July and will join Ichorium full-time as a fourth year Mechanical Engineering student at Ichorium as an R&D engineering intern alongside fellow undergraduate engineering student Luke Wallisch. It's a schedule.
“We feel very fortunate and are very grateful to RBPC, all the contest judges and investors,” Harders said. “Luke and I have always had plans to join the company full-time once we graduate this summer. Thanks to the prizes and investment we won in the competition, we are confident we can make that happen and we are excited to be joining KU I can focus on getting good results.”
This story is made possible by Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures.
Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures (EGV) is a division of Network Kansas that supports innovative, high-growth entrepreneurs in Kansas. Network Kansas fosters an entrepreneurial environment by connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with the expertise, education, and financial resources they need to succeed.
