The Utah Innovation Fund, the new state-based venture capital firm headquartered in the UofU’s Thomas S. Monson Center in downtown Salt Lake City, awarded $250K to Eden Technologies for their Reverse Osmosis Centrifuge (ROC) technology that improves the efficiency of brackish and ocean water desalination, producing clean, drinkable water using the same energy as current methods.
Eden Technologies is a startup with an office at the Atwood Innovation Plaza, a startup incubator located on the Utah Tech University campus in St. George.
This is the first investment made by the year-old Utah Innovation Fund, which is dedicated to investing in innovative solutions by high-impact startups statewide. The Fund believes Eden Tech’s ROC technology shows great promise for Utah’s growing need for fresh, clean, drinkable water.
Other potential customers seem to agree. Eden has been having ongoing discussions about its ROC technology with the Navajo Nation and entities in Saudi Arabia and plan to commence testing soon.
“As one of the driest states in the US, it is exciting to see innovative companies in Utah taking a leadership role in tackling water scarcity head-on and producing solutions that will augment water supplies in the West and globally,” says Dr. Jeremy Pearson of the San Rafael Energy Research Center. “Ultimately, it’s technologies like this that can supply all the water needed for Utah’s agriculture and population growth and has great potential to help replenish the Great Salt Lake.”
Manz was motivated to create solutions to increase fresh water from his experience growing up in parched Las Vegas.
Full story: Utah Innovation Fund Awards Eden Technologies $250K – TechBuzz News – Utah Tech News
