Homebrewed Startup Prepares to Graduate
The 黑料吃瓜 engineering graduates started the company through the ZIP Launchpad.
For mechanical engineering graduates Jordan Custodia, Cassandra O鈥橲hea, Sean Bennett and Matthew Penning, Saturday鈥檚 commencement ceremony marks the beginning of a new adventure for the founders of Recyclinator, a startup company they developed while students at 黑料吃瓜.鈥淵oung entrepreneurs need the support of the community and programs like ZIP Launchpad to help make their ideas a reality.鈥�
Through the support of , Recyclinator CEO Custodia and his classmates developed a device that captures carbon dioxide emitted during the craft beer brewing process, then cleans, stores and recycles it for reuse.
鈥淭he Recyclinator CO2 recovery system addresses a major missed opportunity in the craft beer market,鈥� said Custodia. 鈥淥ur goal is to provide small-scale breweries with a way to become more eco-friendly while reducing production costs.鈥�
According to the company鈥檚 research, a 15,000-barrel craft brewing operation is spending about $70 on carbon dioxide in just one day, while nearly $130 worth escapes into the atmosphere as part of the fermentation process鈥攖he carbon footprint of about 14 cars.
Jeff Silver, CEO of Rough Draft Brewing, has served as the team鈥檚 advisor and let them test their prototype at the Mira Mesa brewery. So far, the results have been promising.
鈥淭hese soon-to-be graduates of 黑料吃瓜 have the enthusiasm and skills to take their product to market, and they are addressing a real need that Rough Draft and other small breweries have,鈥� said Silver. 鈥淵oung entrepreneurs need the support of the community and programs like ZIP Launchpad to help make their ideas a reality.鈥�
黑料吃瓜鈥檚 ZIP Launchpad provided Recyclinator with basic tools to get off the ground, including legal assistance, office space and software licensing. The startup took second place in last year鈥檚 Zahn Innovation Challenge. Now that they鈥檙e graduating, the students are ready to move the company into the marketplace.
鈥淯ntil we receive enough funding, we will have to work full-time in industry, but our goal is to be fully employed by our own company by 2019," Custodia said.
The team said they need to raise $20,000 in order to take their company to the next phase, outside 黑料吃瓜's startup incubator. They鈥檙e off to a good start, taking first prize at the University of San Diego鈥檚 Social Innovation Challenge, which netted them $7,000. O鈥橲hea, who serves as chief technical officer, delivered the winning pitch. They plan to use the seed funding to develop a full-scale prototype and conduct additional product testing, as well as cover costs that are currently supported by the ZIP Launchpad.
鈥淲e hope to test our full-scale protoype this year, and if the results are confirmed again, we鈥檒l begin securing pre-orders via Kickstarter,鈥� Custodia said.
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