Entrepreneurs Pitch Sustainability Solutions for Cash Prizes, In-Kind Support
Image by Jodie Andruskevich
04/29/2025
Brooke Coupal,听communications, economic impact and research development specialist, Brooke_Coupal@uml.edu, and Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu听
LOWELL, Mass. 鈥� Startups seeking to revolutionize plastics recycling and hydrogen transportation won top prizes at the fourth annual Clean Green Challenge, hosted by the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub.
The competition designed for entrepreneurs working on breakthrough sustainability solutions drew 38 applications from nearly a dozen states. On April 16, 11 finalists pitched their solutions to a panel of seven judges, vying for more than $10,000 in cash prizes and in-kind support, including social media coaching and intellectual property consulting.
鈥淭his is tough work: creating a company, organizing resources, coming up with a solution to a problem, trying to fund it to the next stage鈥t takes a lot of courage,鈥� said Clean Green Challenge judge Joe Vaillancourt 鈥�90, 鈥�01, founder and managing partner at Venture Enterprises and member of the Robert J. Manning School of Business Advisory Board.
received one of the top cash prizes of the night 鈥� $5,000 sponsored by Venture Enterprises. The Cambridge, Massachusetts startup upcycles low-quality plastic waste into high-quality plastic products using a novel low-energy chemical process.听
鈥淲e will utilize those financial resources to buy equipment that can recycle plastics better and help our chemistry scale faster,鈥� said Jan-Georg Rosenboom, co-founder and chief technology officer at MacroCycle Technologies. 鈥淎s a startup, we are grateful to be able to raise funds and support.鈥�
MacroCycle Technologies also won a $1,000 cash prize from Casella, an intellectual property consulting session with an attorney at Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds, and a one-year membership to the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub, a premier co-working space that provides the benefits of a top-tier research university.
鈥淯Mass Lowell has one of the best plastics engineering programs and faculty with tremendous experience in plastic processing,鈥� Rosenboom said. 鈥淎s a plastics recycling company, we really want to tap into the expertise here.鈥�
A $5,000 cash prize sponsored by multinational corporation Saint-Gobain went to , which seeks to alleviate the high costs and inefficiency of hydrogen transportation through a novel palladium-based membrane reactor. The technology has the potential to positively impact the environment, as hydrogen is a promising clean energy source.
鈥淚t feels amazing to win in an ecosystem where folks are forward-thinking about climate,鈥� said Ian Naccarella, co-founder and chief executive officer of OmniPath H2. 鈥淭his funding will help us scale our reactor out of the lab.鈥�
Image by Jodie Andruskevich
The company also won an intellectual property consulting session with an attorney at Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds and a technology value proposition discussion with David Sudolsky, the founder, president and chief executive officer of Anellotech.
鈥淭he competition is so great because it brings us into the same room with other like-minded startups that are also in the early stages,鈥� said Devan Solanki, co-founder and chief technology officer of OmniPath H2.
Two companies that spun out from innovations by UMass Lowell faculty also pitched in the competition. This included H2 Everywhere, which uses technology invented by Chemistry Prof. David Ryan to generate low-cost green hydrogen, and OptionV Energy, which uses a nature-inspired extraction process to convert industrial waste into high-purity vanadium for energy storage, co-invented by Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Assoc. Prof. Ertan Agar and UMass Dartmouth Chemistry Assoc. Prof. Patrick Cappillino. Both companies received support from UMass Lowell's New Venture Development, which provides a path for university-owned innovation to become a startup.
鈥淎t UMass Lowell鈥檚 New Venture Development, we are proud to lead the transformation of cutting-edge research into real-world solutions that address critical global challenges,鈥� said UMass Lowell Associate Director for New Venture Development Hakim Hammach. 鈥淭he launch of OptionV Energy and H2 Everywhere is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit we foster and the strength of our strategic partnerships with MassCEC Climate Tech Studio and FedTech. These ventures exemplify how academic innovation, when paired with the right support, can create impactful startups that advance a more sustainable and energy-resilient future.鈥�
In addition to Saint-Gobain, Venture Enterprises, Casella and Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds, contest sponsors included Enterprise Bank, GC Ventures, Jeanne D鈥橝rc Credit Union, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, MassVentures, Rist DifferenceMaker Institute, Sallop, Rist Institute for Sustainability & Energy, StitchDX, TransAtlantic Science, UMass Lowell, UMass Lowell New Venture Development and Withum.
鈥淭he Clean Green Challenge is a powerful catalyst for innovation, providing critical resources to entrepreneurs as they develop bold, scalable solutions to our most urgent environmental problems,鈥� said UMass Lowell Executive Director for Innovation and New Ventures Mary Ann Picard. 鈥淲e are thankful for our partners whose sponsorship supports these visionary founders.鈥�
The UMass Lowell Innovation Hub, located at 110 Canal St. in Lowell serves as an incubator for sustainability-focused startups. Since launching in 2015, the Innovation Hub has provided dozens of startups with the space, resources and mentorship needed to succeed.
鈥淎t the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub, we鈥檙e proud to foster a collaborative environment where entrepreneurs can thrive,鈥� said UMass Lowell Innovation Hub Associate Director Lisa Armstrong. 鈥淲e鈥檙e continually inspired by the creativity and determination of the startups in our community that are driving meaningful progress toward a more sustainable future.鈥�