Seatrec Selected as Finalist in General Excellence by Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards
Seatrec Selected as Finalist in General Excellence by Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards
Company’s SL1 Thermal Energy Harvesting System that generates electricity from the ocean’s natural temperature difference honored for pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet
VISTA, Calif. – WEBWIRE – Tuesday, May 4, 2021. Seatrec, the renewable energy company that harvests energy from temperature differences in the environment, today announces the selection of its SL1 Thermal Energy Harvesting System as a finalist for Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards in the category of General Excellence. The SL1 also received honorable mention in the energy category. The awards honor the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.
Seatrec is the first company to produce a portable power system that harvests energy from naturally occurring temperature differentials. Its patented thermal energy harvesting technology provides infinite power and is currently used to operate oceanographic equipment, including autonomous profiling floats and underwater gliders.
Many of the robotic platforms used by scientists, like autonomous profiling floats, are treated as disposable because retrieving them from far out at sea is expensive. That practice is not only a waste of resources but the batteries that power those devices can pollute the ocean by leaking toxic materials. Seatrec’s technology allows researchers to extend the life of their equipment, power more sensors, and collect data faster at a reduced cost and in an environmentally friendly manner.
“Protecting the ocean’s health is vital to life on Earth but understanding it is extraordinarily difficult without reliable, renewable energy to power sensors and the robotic platforms that carry them,” explains Dr. Yi Chao, founder and CEO of Seatrec. “The technology behind the SL1 is critical to innovating beyond current limited battery performance and providing clean power for research and key applications in the Blue Economy like aquaculture and maritime transportation.”
Seatrec is exploring a host of applications for its clean power technology to help drive the expansion of the Blue Economy from collecting data to improve hurricane forecasting, mapping the seafloor, developing carbon capture methods, aquaculture, and improving navigational routes for shipping to reduce bunker fuel.
The Blue Economy - sustainable, ocean-centric commerce - is expected to generate more than $3T in global economic impact and support more than 40M jobs around the world, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Aquaculture alone is projected to grow into a $274B per year market by 2025.
Now in its fifth year, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards honors innovations selected by a panel of eminent editors and reporters. This year the panel selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. Plus, several new categories were added, including Pandemic Response, Urban Design, and Architecture. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
Showcasing some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges, Fast Company’s Summer 2021 issue (on newsstands May 10) highlights, among others, a lifesaving bassinet; the world’s largest carbon sink, thanks to carbon-eating concrete; 3D-printed schools; an at-home COVID-19 testing kit; a mobile voting app; and the world’s cleanest milk.
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”
About Seatrec
Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders, and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrec’s technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
Media contact
Sean Yokomizo
On behalf of Seatrec
seanyokomizo@gmail.com
+1 925.878.1200
World Economic Forum Highlights Seatrec in Video
The World Economic Forum published a video that features Seatrec and explores the potential of our thermal-powered floats to help us better understand and utilize our oceans.
The oceans make up two-thirds of our planet and underpin our food and sustenance, medicine and vaccines, transport and commerce, and the global climate. And yet, as the video shows, our oceans are poorly understood; we currently have a clearer picture of Mars than we do of the seafloor.
What stands between our ability to measure, understand, and protect our oceans is energy – and Seatrec’s technology can generate infinite, renewable power from the ocean itself.
Through Seatrec’s ocean-based sustainable energy, we can monitor the climate, improve hurricane forecasts, optimize shipping routes, and so much more. Seatrec is currently working with oceanographers, government entities, and private companies across the blue tech ecosystem to map the ocean, conserve marine ecosystems, and unlock the potential of the blue economy.
Watch the full video here.
New Atlas: Seatrec Tech Uses Changes in Temperature to Power Underwater Gliders
https://newatlas.com/marine/seatrec-temperature-gradient-underwater-gliders/
Forbes Tech Council: Hurricanes Blow, But Our Forecasting Sucks
Our Founder and CEO, Yi Chao, is a member of the Forbes Technology Council. In his first contributed article, Yi addresses the challenges with hurricane forecasting.
2020 was an epic year for hurricanes with the most named storms on record. The rapid intensification of hurricanes, defined as a meteorological situation where a tropical cyclone intensifies dramatically in a short period of time, poses significant perils to coastal communities. Although hurricane forecasting has improved over the years, data problems abound with siloed data and a dearth of data below the ocean’s surface.
Read the article here.
Seatrec Raises $2M Seed Round to Commercialize Technology that Harvests Clean, Renewable Energy from the Ocean
Today, we're very excited to announce a $2M seed round to help us commercialize our energy harvesting technology that generates electricity from the temperature differences in the ocean. We are expanding our initial market of oceanographic research and defense to other Blue Economy areas such as aquaculture and maritime transportation.
Our funding round was led by previous investor Dr. Norge Larson with participation from Sunstone Management, Frontier Angels, SeaAhead’s Blue Angels, and returning investors from Pasadena Angels. Dr. Larson will bring his remarkable background in blue tech and business experience to Seatrec’s board as a director. Sunstone’s John Shen will join the board as an observer.
“We’ve proven the value of our clean, renewable energy harvesting technology with pilot sales to our beachhead market of research and defense,” said Dr. Yi Chao, founder and CEO of Seatrec. “Now, we’re ready to scale our commercial sales and expand the reach of our technology to power key applications in the Blue Economy like aquaculture and maritime transportation.”
Seatrec is the first company to produce a portable power system that harvests energy from naturally occurring temperature differentials. Its patented thermal energy harvesting technology provides infinite power and is currently used to run oceanographic equipment, including autonomous profiling floats and underwater gliders. With Seatrec’s technology, researchers can extend the life of the equipment, power more sensors, and enable faster data collection at reduced cost in an environmentally friendly manner.
Seatrec’s foothold in scientific research opens the door to collecting vast amounts of undersea data that can help increase the accuracy of forecasting hurricanes that are responsible for an estimated $54B in economic losses per year, as well as optimizing shipping routes to save millions of tons of fuel.
“Seatrec’s technology will power underwater robots to monitor the condition and health of the ocean,” explained Dr. Norge Larson, an oceanographer and entrepreneur. “This financing round helps Seatrec mature its products for several ocean applications. We are pleased to support this important work along with other key investors.”
The Blue Economy - sustainable, ocean-centric commerce - is expected to generate more than $3T in global economic impact and support more than 40M jobs around the world, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Aquaculture alone is projected to grow into a $274B per year market by 2025.
“Sunstone has a long history of identifying and investing in industry disruptors and cutting edge technology,” stated John Shen, founding partner of Sunstone Management and Seatrec's newest board member. “This innovative, sustainable technology is poised to rapidly revolutionize the Blue Economy with our enthusiastic support.”
Seatrec’s funding news comes on the heels of two recent $10,000 prizes under the Powering the Blue Economy: Ocean Observing Prize administered by the U.S. Department of Energy and NOAA. The company shared one of the prizes with Northrop Grumman for a joint Mission Unlimited UUV Station concept.
About Seatrec
Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrec’s technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Monrovia, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.
About Dr. Norge Larson
Dr. Norge Larson is a strategic advisor and previous investor to Seatrec. Dr. Larson was president of Sea-Bird Electronics until its acquisition by Danaher, one of the first successful exits for ocean tech companies. Larson joined Sea-Bird after obtaining his doctorate in oceanography from the University of Washington and helped establish the Sea-Bird Scientific as the gold standard for oceanographic sensors through the acquisition of Oregon ocean tech company Wet Labs and Canada’s Satlantic.
About Sunstone Management
Sunstone Management, with its subsidiary Sunstone Venture Capital Fund, is a diversified private capital management and investment firm offering comprehensive wealth management solutions to high net worth clients worldwide. Focusing on investments in U.S. based small businesses and lower-middle markets, its offerings are carefully structured to meet targeted investor goals ranging from short term senior debt products to longer-term, equity, growth capital, and venture capital investment strategies. For more information visit: sunstoneinvestment.com.
Here is the official press release.
