Gross-Wen Technologies Inc. Secures $225,000 from Angel Investor to Support Innovative Algal Wastewa
ISU Startup Factory
2710 S Loop Dr.
Ames, IA 50010
Contact: Julie Lelonek
Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations
515-294-1562/jlelonek@iastate.edu
Fri, Dec 9, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gross-Wen Technologies Inc. Secures $225,000 from Angel Investor to Support Innovative Algal Wastewater Treatment Technology
AMES, Iowa (December 9, 2016) – The Iowa State University StartUp Factory today announced Gross-Wen Technologies Inc. (GWT) has secured $225,000 in additional financing from strategic angel investor Dave Furbush, founder and vice president of Midwest Project Partners, Inc., an Aureon Company. The additional capital will provide GWT interim funding to expand their business and increase their operational capacity prior to generating revenue from their products and services. GWT is a cohort member of the ISU StartUp Factory, which is led by managing director Bill Adamowski and housed at the Iowa State University Research Park.
GWT, founded in 2013, is commercializing an algal wastewater treatment technology developed at Iowa State. The technology, called the Revolving Algal Biofilm Treatment System (RAB), removes nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants from municipal wastewater. GWT’s patent pending process is sustainable and carbon-negative, providing municipalities an efficient and cost-effective technology for pollutant removal in wastewater. A major differentiator of the GWT technology is the vertical orientation of the product, using far less space than conventional algal treatment systems.
“We are so thrilled to have this strategic partnership with Dave Furbush,” Dr. Martin Gross, GWT co-founder & CEO said. “Not only is Dave a tremendous strategic thinker and dynamic implementer, he has been a fervent supporter of water quality ever since he wrote a middle school paper on the 1972 Clean Water Act. That shared passion along with his great business experience working with a vast number of companies will prove to be very advantageous to our startup company.”
Learn more.
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About ISU StartUp Factory:
The Iowa State University (ISU) StartUp Factory is a 52-week intensive program housed at the ISU Research Park (ISURP). Entrepreneurs in the StartUp Factory receive formal training, resources, and access to a network of business mentors, advisors, counselors, and investors in two 26-week blocks: the first, a formal curriculum centered on business validation, and the second, customized to their individual business needs. For more information on the ISU StartUp Factory program, call 515-294-7444 or visit www.isustartupfactory.org
About Gross-Wen Technologies, LLC:
GWT is commercializing an algal based wastewater treatment process that recovers nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. The algae biomass that is produced can then be used as a slow-release algal fertilizer. GWT's patent pending process is not only sustainable but also carbon negative. For more information on GWT, visit http://www.gross-wen.com
About Dave Furbush
Furbush has been a successful management consultant for thirty years. He is the founder of Midwest Project Partners (MPP), a Des Moines-based project management and management consulting firm specializing in the financial services industry (with approximately 50 employees). Furbush and his partners sold MPP to Aureon in May 2016. Prior to founding MPP, Furbush was a Global Account Manager for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, a Senior Program Manager and Vice President for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and a Manager with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Furbush holds a Bachelor’s degree from Principia College, and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Furbush has lived in Clive, Iowa since 1993, but grew up in Wilmington, Delaware.
