Skip to main content

Cornell University

Center for Regional Economic Advancement

We support and empower people to to start and grow new ventures

W.E. Cornell

March 14, 2024

For innovators looking to make an impact with their climate technology research, entrepreneurship is a powerful tool. Climate tech startups like the carbon utilization company Carbon Upcycling advance climate solutions while creating jobs, stimulating the economy and improving industries.  At an event this month co-hosted by W.E. Cornell and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Madison Savilow, Chief of Staff at Carbon Upcycling, shared her insights on this burgeoning industry in a fireside chat with Andrea Ippolito ’06, M.Eng. ’07, Director of W.E. Cornell and founder of SimpliFed.  Savilow joined Carbon Upcycling part time during her final year at the University of Calgary. She was looking for a laid-back job and instead found herself in the fast-paced environment of a startup. She joined the company full time after graduation.  “I just fell in love with it right away,” she said. “I think for me, it was the fact that we weren’t just building a startup, we were building an industry, because carbon utilization was so new.”  Valued at more than $34 million, Carbon Upcycling’s technology transforms carbon dioxide, industrial waste and natural materials to produce improved materials, with a focus on cement. Although the technology has other applications, mentors advised the team to narrow their focus to a specific sector.  “A startup should be really mission-driven to accomplish something, not 10 somethings,” Savilow said.  Carbon Upcycling honed in on cement and concrete because of the strength of their cement product and the size of the industry — concrete is the most-used manufactured substance on Earth.   “We found that we had this unique advantage in the performance of our material as a replacement for cement in concrete,” she said. “It increases the compressive strength of the concrete by 40% and results in concrete that’s up to 60% lower carbon.”  Savilow emphasized the importance of offering an effective and environmentally friendly product with multiple advantages compared to alternatives.   “With the concrete sector, they have probably three or four key business problems that they’re trying to solve that our technology is a unique fit for,” she said. “That’s beyond just the carbon aspect of it or the sustainability aspect. That’s real business issues like supply chain issues, material shortages, performance issues.”  In 2019, Savilow co-founded Oco, a consumer brand of Carbon Upcycling that she calls “a startup within a startup.”  “Initially, it wasn’t actually meant to be a startup — it was supposed to be a marketing exercise because no one was talking about carbon utilization in the news,” said Savilow, who is now Oco’s Venture Lead.   “We were producing materials, so I wanted to show people that in a tangible way, just to give people something tangible that they could touch and feel and start to demystify what carbon tech was for a general population,” she said. “Then we got a couple artists involved and they productized our material and we got brands involved.”  Oco recently partnered with Adidas to produce 400,000 pairs of adidas’s TERREX hiking shoes using ink made with captured carbon, bringing Oco’s sustainable technology to customers of one of the world’s most well-known brands.  Given the breadth of her experience, Savilow offered the following advice for aspiring climate tech entrepreneurs:  Anchor your business in solving a problem: “We talked with clients and tried to figure out what they were actually needing from a solution, and then we tailored our technology to be that solution for them.”   Be resourceful and adaptive: “The ability to be open-minded and wanting to seek new skills and try new things, I think for us, that’s an attribute that everyone in the core team had.”  Take advantage of non-dilutive grant funding: “That made our projects possible. We were able to do a 10 million times scale up in production capacity in eight years because of grant funding, so it’s an incredibly powerful tool to use.”  Make sure you have mission alignment with your investors: “You have to be careful of the ones that they believe in you, but they’re investing in you for the image or for the optics of investing in you. There’s ways to negotiate to make sure that you are in line with your investors prior to actually doing the investment.”   Focus your value proposition on product quality rather than sustainability alone: “For us, it’s being able to solve the business problem for these companies first, rather than talking about sustainability. Carbon utilization is actually just the mechanism we use to get our high-performing products; most of our greenhouse gas reduction comes from cement abatement rather than the carbon utilization.”  To be notified of future climate tech speaker events, subscribe to the Center for Regional Economic Advancement newsletter.  

March 14, 2024

W.E. Cornell aims to empower STEM scholars to embrace their entrepreneurial ambition through a curriculum designed to help them commercialize their technology. The program is run over the course of two semesters, with each module advancing a different level of commercialization. Module I of the program begins in the fall, and it is available to all Cornell students doing research at the graduate level or above. The fall semester consists of workshops that introduce students to the possibilities for entrepreneurship and provide networking opportunities to find potential mentors. “It was such an inspiring and motivating environment, and we all fed off of the encouragement of one another,” said Emuna Rouhani, Ph.D. ’25, after completing Module I of the program. “I want to continue to be a part of this motivating environment to propel my entrepreneurship idea forward and see where it goes!” Module II of the program is with a smaller, select group of students who adjust their market fit and customer base through customer discovery interviews and research. The second module is complete at the end of the spring semester when participants present their final business pitch to the W.E. Cornell Advisory Board and celebrate their year of hard work. “It is such a special opportunity to be surrounded by brilliant, like-minded women facing similar niche challenges while working to commercialize STEM research,” says Mikaila Roncevich, Ph.D. ’25, about W.E. Cornell’s community. Meet the Spring 2024 W.E. Cornell cohort to see what lies ahead for these seven new entrepreneurs: Renae Brown, Ph.D. ’27, is developing an app to provide support with tasks through community connections. Tong Chen, Ph.D., ’25, is developing a high-throughput assay to detect cellular nutrient uptake to maximize data generation in metabolic research. Aiyana Fortin, Ph.D.’26, is developing an injectable nanodelivery vehicle for treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Psyche (Wanqing) He, Ph.D. ’26, is developing a tool that will help bilingual speakers of English to thrive in online communication. Mikaila Roncevich, M.S. ’25, is developing accessible tools for accurate impact evaluation of textile products using a life cycle assessment framework. Emuna Rouhani, Ph.D. ’25, is revolutionizing accessibility and inclusivity through innovative, personalized solutions that empower individuals with disabilities, fostering independence and enhancing daily life experiences. Shivani Tuli, Research Support Specialist, is developing technology to improve 3D bioprinting. “I am so honored to be a part of this cohort’s journey as they become the new generation of entrepreneurs,” said program director Andrea Ippolito, B.S. ’06, M. Eng. ’07. “I know that the work they do beyond this program will inspire countless generations after them.” Stay up to date with W.E. Cornell’s current cohort by following the W.E. Cornell news feed. Applications for next year’s cohort will open this summer.

March 2, 2023

W.E. Cornell is pleased to welcome 13 new STEM innovators to its Spring 2023 cohort. 

June 6, 2022

SimpliFed – a virtual platform founded by Andrea Ippolito providing personalized advice, service and support to parents – is responding to the baby formula shortage by offering free expert advice, and hosting a free virtual class to help new parents prepare for feeding their babies. SimpliFed is also offering a free class for postpartum parents, focused on ways to access formula along with a providing breastfeeding support, and how to harness a combination of both.

September 30, 2021

Five women-led climate tech companies have been selected for the Diversity in ClimateTech program administered by CREA and Chloe Capital with support from NYSERDA.

September 8, 2021

Earlier this summer, a panel of climate technology experts, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists convened virtually for “A Brighter Future: Climate Tech Innovation Fueled by Diverse Founders,” to discuss issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry and the importance of supporting diverse founders.

April 20, 2021

In collaboration with Chloe Capital, CREA has launched Diversity in ClimateTech with the purpose of recruiting, educating, inspiring and supporting capitalization in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and women founders developing startups with cleantech innovations.

March 11, 2021

The W.E. Cornell program, which aims to improve gender representation in entrepreneurship, is launching its spring cohort as industries reckon with the inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

February 25, 2020

A new company called BioAncient is taking an innovative approach to producing beverages. The startup specializes in fermented plant-based beverages that are naturally rich in bioactive peptides.

January 21, 2020

Andrea Ippolito ‘06, M.Eng. ’07, testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business on January, 15, 2020, and shared six policy recommendations to push for additional support and patents for diverse innovators in America.