Nine startups that recently graduated from the 12-week immersive WERCBench Labs program pitched their big ideas to a group of investors and other business leaders last week during the 2017 WERCBench Labs Demo Day.

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WERCBench Labs, run by the Mid-west Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC), matches early-stage companies with mentors in the state’s energy, power and control industry to help hone their business plan and accelerate growth.

Held at the Milwaukee Public Library on Jan. 26, the event offered the nine participants five minutes each to pitch their newly revamped business ideas. Demo Day 2017 also included a keynote address from George Konstantakis, president of Brooks Stevens, who discussed the coexistence of entrepreneurship and innovation to maximize success.

The nine participating companies included:

  • H2Q Solutions, which developed new technology that can regulate the environment for plants, including heat, lighting, nutrients and humidity, to ensure a desired number of crops;
  • ICONAC, which created a non-invasive product that allows users to identify potential failures in water systems as well as find failures faster if they do occur;
  • Improovement, which developed a sensor-based technology that provides companies with analytics to maximize efficiency and work flow of manufacturing production facilities;
  • Process Machine & Automation, which created DATTUS, a new technology that provides manufacturers with potential failures that could occur to reduce or eliminate costly downtime;
  • Revolt, which created an innovative solar and energy storage system for the home, which is more cost-effective and easier to install than previous products;
  • SciArt LLC, which developed a proprietary topology and design tool for design engineers focused on weight reduction of structures; and
  • STEMhero, which invented new customer engagement and behavior change software that allows students to monitor their home water, gas and electric consumption to find real-world solutions, while allowing teachers to help them throughout the process.

Learn more about WERCBench Labs and Demo Day.