April 2022: Pause and Reflect ☀️
Reflections, events and opportunities!
Startup Yale kicks off today! Join us!
As the Yale Student Community approaches the final few weeks of the academic year, we are all reflecting on the year that has passed as we emerge from the heights of the pandemic. This past year for us at CBEY and Tsai CITY has been an exciting period where we saw an emerging interest in green innovation - be it through student engagements, independent studies and more.
Last month, we wrapped the Planetary Solutions Generator, where student teams worked on impactful solutions to planetary problems over six weeks. The ideas put forth by teams included waste elimination in construction, a compost collaboration as well as a food security program. Other solutions proposed included energy retrofits that incorporated a systems thinking approach as well as a behavioural transport system for Yale students in New Haven. Sassy+ expanded on the Six Americas Survey created by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and identified results in order to create actionable insights. Moreover, Environmental Culture of Responsibility (EnCOR) examined ways to pair students' eagerness to make impactful change with Yale’s power to make change happen. Learn more about the solutions here.
Yale and New Haven happenings:
🚀 Startup Yale | 28th - 30th April 2022
The countdown is over! The much awaited Startup Yale begins on 28th April, bringing together Yale’s biggest entrepreneurship awards over three days packed with pitches, prizes, and world-changing ideas. Here, Yale innovators join community leaders, investors, and practitioners to reimagine the future. Grounded in inclusivity and impact, Startup Yale is a crossroads for a new kind of innovation ecosystem. This year, we're handing out over $135,000 in cash prizes! If you haven’t already, register for Startup Yale events here.
New York-based Air Company, a carbon-tech firm that makes alcohol and consumer goods from captured carbon, closed its Series A round this week, netting $30M in funding. Carbon Direct Capital Management, led the funding round, other investors include Toyota Ventures, JetBlue Technology Ventures, and Parley. Their patented and proprietary technology imitates photosynthesis by taking captured CO2 and converting it into impurity-free alcohols with oxygen and water as the only byproducts. Congratulations to Air Company and CTO Stafford Sheehan PhD ‘16!
🤝 Yale Innovation Summit | 17th - 18th May 2022
The Yale Innovation Summit unites innovation and entrepreneurship at Yale, in New Haven and Connecticut as a whole. The Summit over two days offers unequaled networking, education, and inspiration for the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem. To know more about the event, register here.
🔗 Join our LinkedIn Group!
We have a vibrant and growing community on LinkedIn! It’s the #1 place to connect with others in this group and to get updates between newsletters.
If you’re not already part of it, you can request to join here.
Cool stuff from other green innovators:
💡 Carbon2Value Initiative | April 29th
The Carbon to Value Initiative is seeking carbontech companies for its six-month accelerator program. Selected startups receive scale-up support from C2V’s partner, Fluor to advance their commercialisation objectives. Moreover, startups get access to Carbon to Value Initiative’s extensive network — including the Carbontech Leadership Council; expert mentors; and resources from the Urban Future Lab, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA networks.
🌎 Global Innovation and Impact Awards | May 25th
The Global Youth Innovation and Global Impact Awards aim to award ideas and commitments rigorously designed to test, learn, and scale solutions and build a worldwide community of learning, practice, and action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The awards include seed funding, mentorship, networking, education and global recognition. Learn more and apply here.
🎳 Toyota Ventures Accelerator | May 31st
The 2022 Toyota Ventures Call for Innovation is looking to enhance scalable solutions to modernize manufacturing, advance sustainable production and help make the factory of the future a reality sooner. Startups have the opportunity to receive between $500,000 and $2 million in venture capital funding from Toyota Ventures. In addition, get a chance to collaborate with Toyota on a proof-of-concept project in partnership with Toyota’s Manufacturing Project Innovation Center (MPIC) and Toyota Research Institute.
💚 Million Lives Collective | June 3rd
Million Lives Collective (MLC) is a platform that recognises and raises awareness of innovations reaching 1 million people living on less than $5.50/day. The MLC is seeking innovations making significant impact to join the MLC Membership. By becoming an MLC Member, innovations are celebrated through profiling on an international stage, learning and networking events, capturing key lessons on scaling, and facilitating collaborations within the network. The MLC is accepting applications from Monday 25th April until Friday 3rd June. You can find more information on the MLC’s application process here (link).
That’s all for now. Keep taking care of yourselves and the planet.
If you have thoughts, questions, or comments about this email, please reach out to aishwarya.kuruttukulam@yale.edu.