Grannus Flourishes at CTO Global Forum
TUCSON, AZ (Dec. 2, 2013) – Grannus LLC, one of two Tucson companies to compete at the world’s largest clean-technology accelerator, The Cleantech Open, won the runner-up spot in the competition’s national sustainability category for its “Grannus Process”.
Matthew Cox, Grannus Chief Executive Officer and co-business principal James “Kelly Merritt, Jr., Grannus Chief Development Officer, see how the Grannus technology will transform the world. They describe the new process as a moment of insight and a lot of hard work to create the new low-cost, low-impact, no-emission fertilizer process that also produces efficient energy. The process is considered green technology because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions from traditional fertilizer production and produces electricity. The “green” effect of the process is multiplied because its distributed and scalable size also reduces the need for international transportation of fertilizer.
“The Cleantech Open put the company in an international spotlight and raised new awareness about the transformational technology the Tucson company offers,” said Corey Smith, Grannus Vice President of Corporate Development. “We had such positive meetings with potential investors and venture capitalists attending the Open.”
“Urea is a $60 billion global commodity that is critical to maintaining a stable and reliable world food supply and the Grannus Process is a global market-disruptive technology that reduces fertilizer costs, brings fertilizer production closer to farms and produces energy for rural communities,” Cox said. “In addition to agriculture, this patent-pending process produces urea, a product that can be used in a variety of industries from cosmetics to flame retardants.”
The National Sustainability Award category was won by Garden Fresh Farms which is building a nationwide network of investor-owned, inner-city indoor hydroponic farms. The categories in the Cleantech Open Forum include: Agriculture; Water and Waste; Energy Generation; Green Building; Chemicals and Advanced Materials; and, Information and Communications Technologies.
To gain entry into the national finals Grannus won a Cleantech Open Rocky Mountain National Finalist Award as well as the Rocky Mountain Region Sustainability Award. The regional wins provided Grannus a generous cash prize and in-kind business development consulting worth approximately $20,000.
Congratulations to the 2013 winners and finalists, which represent the best in cleantech innovation and viable solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges, said Rex Northen, executive director of the Cleantech Open.
In addition to Grannus, Tucson company HJ3 Composite Technologies was awarded runner-up to the Grand Prize “Cleanie” award for the Top Cleantech Entrepreneur of the year, as well as winning in the category of Chemicals and Advanced Materials.
Winners and finalists were announced in San Jose at the Cleantech Open Global Forum, the “Academy Awards of Cleantech,” which marked the grand finale of this year’s Cleantech Open Accelerator and the culmination of the 2013 Cleantech Open Global Ideas Competition. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who has played a key role in promoting the vibrant Silicon Valley cleantech industry and has been a vocal supporter of the Cleantech Open, kicked off the awards ceremony.