5/8/2012
By Susan Killenberg McGinn, news.wustl.edu
Ten Washington University in St. Louis-affiliated entrepreneurs are among the winners of $750,000 in inaugural grants from Arch Grants, the global business plan competition providing $50,000 grants to startups and taking no equity in return.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Jim McKelvey, Square co-founder and head of the Arch Grants Advisory Board, joined Arch Grants today to announce 15 startups that will each receive $50,000 in funding to help launch and grow their business and create a more robust startup culture and infrastructure in St. Louis.
The 10 WUSTL-affiliated winners comprise five alumni, three faculty members and two students.
They are:
- Patrick Crowley, PhD, is an associate professor of computer science & engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science;
- Daniel J. Garcia is a senior in the School of Engineering & Applied Science;
- Michale J. Gidding is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and two master’s degrees, a master of engineering and a master of business administration;
The WUSTL-affiliated entrepreneurs and their winning startups are:
Crowley is CEO and founder and Finley is chief operating officer of Observable Networks, which is pioneering a new approach to enterprise network security and management. Observable Networks is the recipient of the Emerson Arch Grant.
Gidding is president and Garcia is director of science of Saturnis, LLC. Saturnis is commercializing a low-cost, thermochemical process that produces liquid transportation fuels from biomass sources that can be sustainably harvested in the Midwest. Saturnis is the recipient of the Peabody Arch Grant. Himadri B. Pakrasi, PhD, WUSTL’s George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences and professor of energy in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, is Gidding and Garcia’s faculty adviser.
Read more in the WUSTL Newsroom.
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