The New Venture Competition is an annual competition sponsored by the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Initiative open to all students and alumni who are launching new business and social impact ventures. This year, climate and sustainability were topics covered by over 30 entrants, underscoring the growing level of interest and opportunities to address this critical issue. The winners of both the Tough Tech Prize and Alumni Track had innovative approaches to confronting the climate challenge: Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA 2023) won the Tough Technology Prize for Carbon Vacuum and Steven Henderson (MBA 2016) and Michael Carter won the Alumni Track for FleetZero. We wanted to highlight the contestants from this year’s competition who are developing a wide range of ventures to address climate change.

Winners

• Tough Tech Prize Winner: Carbon Vacuum
  • Aaron Sabin, MBA 2023
    • Carbon Vacuum is commercializing technology developed at Harvard that mimics the ocean's natural process of absorbing C02 using renewable electricity.

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• Alumni Track Winner: FleetZero
  • Steven Henderson, MBA 2016
    • Fleetzero is building a fleet of electric ships to deliver cargo without a green premium.

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Semi-Finalists

• Social Enterprise Track Semi-Finalist: EarthQuake
  • Arnaud Pincet, MBA 2023; Edmund Lee, MBA 2023
    • At EarthQuake, we believe investing is just the first step toward transforming the companies of today. Why? No company is perfect, even those we invest in. We’re here to push them to be even better. As our movement grows, EarthQuake will advocate on behalf of our investors, fighting for better ESG practices at our portfolio companies. The bigger we get, the bigger our impact will become.
• Social Enterprise Track Semi-Finalist: Komo
  • Candice Choi, MBA 2023; Yaru Tan, MBA 2023
    • Komo is a food delivery platform that combines sustainability with beautiful & reusable foodware.

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Circular Economy Contestants

• MoveIt
  • Carmen Marin de Leon, MBA 2023
    • MoveIt is a new e-commerce platform that provides a one stop shop and logistics solution to buy/sell pre-owned furniture.
• Neutrall
  • Ernesto Humpierres, MBA 2011
    • Our cups have been created out of discarded material, and repurposed to keep them out of landfills. All Neutrall glassware is completely upcycled and sustainable, from the initial materials used to create the glasses to the eco-friendly packaging used to ship them. The drinking glasses are sturdy, compact, and Montessori-friendly. Since we promote zero-waste life, they are shipped in carbon-neutral packaging. Moreover, each purchase includes additional carbon offsets that help to guarantee that it's a carbon-neutral product.
• Sharing-O
  • Aurora Rotes, MBA 2009
    • Sharing-O, the sharing platform for those things that are still too good to go, filling the gap between new and pre-owned. Let’s be sustainable today, not in 10 years. The most planet-friendly product is the one that hasn’t been produced yet.
• The Resource
  • Ayanda Heita, MBA 2023
    • The Resource aggregates and curates the best secondhand fashion online. Our vision is to eliminate fashion waste.

Clean Energy, Buildings, & Transportation Contestants

• AGAPE
  • Graeme Johnson, MBA 1995
    • Armenian Gas and Power Enterprises Incorporated (AGAPE) is a privately-held company, headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Its long-term objective is to build a diversified portfolio focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of energy and other resource-related assets in Armenia and neighbouring countries. AGAPE intends to consider renewable energy projects like in-stream hydro, wind power, solar and bio-mass.
• Cleanville
  • Jakob Blomqvist, MBA 2022
    • CleanVille democratizes energy. We empower retail investors to access renewable energy and CleanTech projects. CleanVille is the one-stop shop that connects retail capital with project finance.
• Direct Kinetics
  • Ekhi Muniategui, MBA 2009
    • With virtually unlimited power in a singular design, the DKS radioisotopic battery solution offers an unprecedented, technological offering — an ultra-light power solution that lasts for decades and goes far beyond current market offerings, including the near-ubiquitous lithium ion battery.
• Earth Grid
  • Troy Helming, MBA 1979
    • Our vision is to build a subterranean network of tunnels to rapidly eliminate fossil fuels, reach 100% renewable energy, and offer quantum ultra-high-speed Internet, sustainable clean water, wastewater, transportation & delivery services.
• Ghoom
  • Aishwarya Kachhal, PLDA 2015
    • Ghoom is an Electric Scooter and Battery Rental and Subscription Platform, incubated at Harvard Innovation Labs. Ghoom was founded on a simple idea of improving, bettering and empowering the lives of people with convenient, affordable and clean mobility. Ghoom is building a robust ecosystem with a mobile app that brings together all the participants in the marketplace and controls the entire ecosystem of vehicles, batteries and charging seamlessly.
• Green Science Alliance
  • Ryohei Mori, GMP 2021
    • We are the chemical company researching on the cutting edge technology and material in the field of energy and environmentally friendly, carbon neutral, sustainable society. Those are nature biomass biodegradable plastic, biomass coating, biomass color ink etc…We are basically trying to replace all of petroleum origin chemical products to nature biomass origin chemical products. We also develop next generation type rechargeable battery, fuel cell, solar cell based on our advanced materials.
• Lydian Labs
  • Joe Rodden, MBA 2022
    • Lydian Labs aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the chemical industry by electrifying the chemical production process through our printed catalyst technology.
• RAB LAB
  • Xin Ma, MBA 2023
    • RAB LAB facilitates robotics fabrication of 3D printed housing units with the autonomous design system and adaptive components made of sustainable structural materials. Our mission is to accelerate buildings to simple fast assembly and achieve easy build anywhere, anytime.
• Sunrise
  • Domingo Garcia-Huidobro, MBA 2022
    • Solar marketplace for Latin America connecting homeowners, qualified local installers, and banks. Our mission is to offer a hassle-free digital platform to design, quote, and finance solar and storage projects.
• TerraTrade
  • Jacob Mansfield, MBA 2023
    • TerraTrade is a two-sided marketplace that eliminates consultants & enables corporates to buy power directly from renewable energy projects. TerraTrade aims to harness the potential of corporations to combat climate change by making carbon-abating product markets more accessible, competitive, and transparent.

Clean Water Contestants

• DetoXyFi
  • Rishon Benjamin, MBA 2022
    • We aim to provide everyone with access to clean drinking water by commercializing low-cost, natural, comprehensive water filtration devices.
• Ocean Cycle
  • Robert Goodwin, GMP 2007
    • OceanCycle works with leading brands to integrate more sustainability into their core products. We help their procurement departments and suppliers integrate our certified materials with cost-efficiency and minimal supply chain interruptions. This allows companies to utilize a high percentage of ocean-bound material in their products, and the more they sell, the more they are helping to keep our oceans free of plastics. Because companies find success using our certified material, it creates demand for more material —and that further incentives collection in at-risk communities, which leads to more income and jobs.
• T&M Productions
  • Anupama Mandloi, SELP 2017
    • An inspiring, need of the hour tale of a homemaker from Tamil Nadu, who, through her paintings, has been trying to draw public attention to the devastating effects of climate change on marine life and the coastal communities.

Consumer Goods & Behavior Contestants

• Belle House
  • Elizabeth Arenz, MBA 2022
    • Belle House offers the cleanest skincare you’ve ever seen. Into reading labels? No chemistry degree needed. Belle House envisions a future in which consumers don’t have to compromise between their short-term goals, long-term health and the condition of our planet.
• Clemence Mountain
  • Mandy Xu, MBA 2023
    • Luxury women's outdoor apparel offering sustainable pieces that will be in their wardrobes for life.
• KrnWtr
  • Daf Dubbelman, OPM 2010
    • With our sustainable water dispensers you can enjoy delicious water, without the aftertaste of unnecessary waste and transport. Together we will combat the use of plastic water bottles. We install sustainable water taps to make drinking locally tapped water more attractive. This way you can tap filtered, cooled and sparkling water, without the aftertaste of unnecessary packaging and transport kilometers.
• Terrum
  • Jared Brow, MBA 2023
    • A platform for sustainable shopping: from product discovery and informed buying to carbon tracking.
• Upcycle Corps.
  • Arunima Raavi, MBA 2023
    • Upcycle Corps is the world’s first B2B2C marketplace platform dedicated purely to sustainable brands, goods and services. We are bringing organic, biodegradable and sustainable products to the world.
• Urthee
  • Dana Armstrong, GMP 1988
    • We share tips and advice on the things that we can all do. Advice on everyday better buys and better everyday choice.

Finance Contestants

• Athena Impact
  • Ana Corina Sosa Machado (MBA 2023)
    • The first impact-only investment platform for millennials that combines true mission-driven investing with education. Empowering clients through friendly / easy-to-follow educational animations including on how to measure the investments impact on environment and society.

Food & Agriculture Contestants

• AGRIBUY
  • Sofia Altuna (MBA 2023), Josef Bromovsky (MBA 2023), Luis F Gutierrez (MBA 2023), Seyfihan Usarer (MBA 2023)
    • Our vision is to build a digital marketplace that connects Farmers directly with Restaurants, enabling farmers to earn higher profits by disrupting existing complex supply chains and giving restaurants access to a greater choice of traceable, local, fresh produce. Our solution will increase efficiency and lower waste.
• Cloud Forest Organics
  • Craig Leon, MBA 1991
    • Cloud Forest Organics is revolutionizing the concept of agribusiness by putting wildlife first. From our 170-acre pilot site in the upper Amazon, we are developing a next generation production model. Using non-traditional methods of agriculture, the land will propagate edible flora, restoring secondary forests and old pastures to their primary nature.
• DiBiz Global
  • Unnikrishnan Unnithan, AMP 2015
    • DIBIZ was founded in the year 2019 and, since its inception, DIBIZ’s aim has been to disrupt traditional supply chain models by allowing users to carry out digital business through a collaborative supply chain. DIBIZ is dedicated to users who struggle to find and source authentic certified and sustainable products. They can find verified suppliers and buyers on a global scale and start interacting with them, capture all trade related documents & communications, and intelligently track them.
• Graze It
  • Alexandre Allegue, PLDA 2015
    • Graze it is solving the major food security challenge in the Middle East (reliance on expensive import) by growing sustainable animal feed at the consumer’s site, through decentralized & innovative vertical farming. We Develop, Build & Operate hydroponic vertical farms, and sell the produce (fodder) to our customer via a secure long-term off-take agreement. Graze it is disrupting the feed value chain by simplifying it. Not only we grow faster, cheaper, and better, but we avoid the expensive & volatile transportation hurdles.
• NorthPaw
  • Sophie Levin, MBA 2022
    • NorthPaw will sell sustainable pet food, featuring cultivated meat, to eco-conscious pet owners. If cats and dogs made up their own country, they would rank 5th in terms of meat consumption. That’s a big carbon pawprint! We’re helping them reduce their environmental impact through sustainably sourced ingredients that are flavorful and nutritious.
• PicoGreens
  • Jesse Lou, MBA 2022
    • PicoGreens is replacing resource intensive crops by farming carbon-neutral microalgae for a sustainable food future. We’re engineering microalgae to be sustainable and cost-efficient substitutes for palm oils.
• TROVEMarket
  • Caroline Walton, MBA 2023; Andrew Morgan, MBA 2023
    • The packaged food industry wastes $30-50 billion worth of inventory each year! Trove Market partners with premium food brands to purchase excess inventory then sells it directly to consumers at prices 40-70% off retail prices, diverting food that otherwise would have gone to waste.