ST. LOUIS, July 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren
Corporation (NYSE: AEE) announced the seven companies that have
been selected to participate in the Ameren Accelerator, an
innovative public-private partnership with the University of Missouri System, UMSL Accelerate and
Capital Innovators, that assesses, mentors and invests in energy
technology startup companies. Selected companies include /blossom,
Hyperion Sensors, Omega Grid, Rebate Bus, SensrTrx, Switched Source
and WIFIPLUG.
"Building a future energy grid that meets evolving customer
needs and expectations requires collaboration, innovative thinking
and investment in the technologies of tomorrow," said Warner Baxter, chairman, president and CEO of
Ameren Corporation. "The companies selected for the Ameren
Accelerator offer promising innovations for the energy sector
and the customers we serve. We look forward to working closely with
these innovators and our partners through this unique initiative to
help find new energy solutions and to deliver even greater
value to our customers and the communities we serve."
More than 200 companies from 31 countries and 23 states applied
for the 12-week Ameren Accelerator program. The companies were
selected through a series of interviews and evaluations, which
culminated at a Pitch Day event where the final seven applicants
were selected. The selection process was spearheaded by Capital
Innovators with input from the Accelerator partners.
"The response to the Ameren Accelerator program was tremendous,"
said Judy Sindecuse, CEO of Capital
Innovators. "It wasn't an easy choice, but we believe we've
identified the companies that have the greatest potential to bring
their energy-related innovations to life and provide value to
Ameren's customers and the energy sector."
Each company will receive up to $100,000 in seed funding in addition to intensive
mentoring, technical assistance, facilities and networking
connections from the Ameren Accelerator partners. The participants
will be based out of UMSL Accelerate and Capital Innovators
co-working spaces located in Cortex, a St. Louis innovation district.
"The companies selected to participate in the Ameren Accelerator
have tremendous potential to positively affect the energy
industry," said Dan Lauer, director
of UMSL Accelerate. "We're delighted that students and faculty from
the four campuses of the University of
Missouri System are involved at various stages of this
unique partnership – contributing to its success and learning
lessons in entrepreneurism and innovation."
The Ameren Accelerator will better position Ameren to meet its
customers' future energy needs and expectations, create new jobs
through these startup companies and provide university students
opportunities to be more engaged in the energy business.
At the conclusion of the program, participants will be invited
to showcase their efforts to both the mentoring teams and potential
third-party investors during the Ameren Accelerator Demo Day in
October. Ameren may select the most promising projects for ongoing
mentoring and engagement beyond the Accelerator program.
"The Ameren Accelerator is one of the first of its kind in the
country to focus exclusively on energy technologies," said Baxter.
"The companies we selected for this innovative program come from
around the globe, across our region and within our own St. Louis community. The diversity they bring
in their geographic spread and areas of expertise will help us lead
today and transform tomorrow."
About the Ameren Accelerator Companies
Seven startup companies were selected to participate in the
Ameren Accelerator program. The companies include:
- /blossom (from St. Louis,
Missouri): /blossom is a tool for businesses to connect
and gather data and control their resources remotely.
- Hyperion Sensors (from Toronto,
Canada): Hyperion has developed a substation hardened
distributed fiber optic sensor for high voltage assets allowing
them to become "intelligent". In other words, enabling the internet
of things within the smart grid.
- Omega Grid (from Chicago,
Illinois): Omega Grid is a market software that removes
the revenue risk of distributed generation of utilities, encourages
energy investment by property owners, and enables access to lower
rates for everyone.
- Rebate Bus (from Madison,
Wisconsin): Rebate Bus is a platform for utility
programs to deliver instant incentives, online.
- SensrTrx (from St. Louis,
Missouri): SensrTrx is an industrial analytics
application focused on using industrial data to improve uptime,
performance, and reliability of manufacturing and industrial
systems.
- Switched Source (from East
Lansing, Michigan): Switched Source provides equipment
solutions for electric distribution companies that make the grid
more resilient and efficient while supporting the integration of
more distributed generation.
- WIFIPLUG (from Leeds, United
Kingdom): WIFIPLUG learns your routines making your life
easier, saving you money on your energy bills. You can control the
plug with your voice using Siri, Alexa and Google. The only smart
plug in the world to offer open source API for developers.
About Ameren Corporation
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the
quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than
900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through
its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility
subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric distribution and
transmission service, as well as natural gas distribution service,
while Ameren Missouri provides vertically integrated electric
service, with generating capacity of over 10,200 megawatts, and
natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of
Illinois develops regional
electric transmission projects. For more information, visit
Ameren.com, or follow us at @AmerenCorp, Facebook.com/AmerenCorp,
or LinkedIn/company/Ameren.
About the University of Missouri
System
The University of
Missouri System is the State of
Missouri's largest public university, with four campuses
serving more than 76,000 students, a health care system, an
extension program, and more than 500,000 alumni worldwide. The UM
System was created in 1963 when the University
of Missouri (founded in 1839 in Columbia) and the Missouri School of Mines
(now the Missouri University of Science
and Technology, founded in 1870 in Rolla), were combined with the formerly
private University of Kansas City (now
University of Missouri–Kansas City, founded in 1933), and a newly
created campus in suburban St. Louis
(University of Missouri–St. Louis).
About the University of Missouri-St.
Louis and UMSL Accelerate
The University of
Missouri–St. Louis is the largest public research university in
eastern Missouri with the greatest
concentration of alumni in the region. Their UMSL Accelerate
initiative fosters entrepreneurism and innovative thinking in and
outside the classroom and helps bring concepts from mind to market.
For more information, visit http://umsl.edu/accelerate/.
About Capital Innovators
Capital Innovators is an
innovation engine that creates practical solutions across
industries that can shape the future of organizations. Capital
Innovators provides innovation consulting, entrepreneurial-based
programs, acts as a liaison between Corporations, Universities and
Startups and investment into attractive early-stage businesses.
Capital Innovators has in-depth knowledge into the most
cutting-edge solutions through the Accelerator division of its
business, which has been ranked as a top Accelerator in the country
for four years in a row and has invested in and guided 70 companies
to date. Capital Innovators model is simple and effective:
Innovation, Iteration, and Implementation.
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SOURCE Ameren Corporation