Sustainable Venture Prize: The 2023 Winner

The Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) is delighted to announce the winner of the 2023 Sustainable Venture Prize.

The Sustainable Venture Prize, created in 2008, awards $25,000 to a promising student business venture that advances environmental sustainability. As part of Startup Yale, the Sustainable Venture Prize was held on Friday, March 31st, 2023 and the four teams pitched their businesses that advance sustainability.

Finalists:

  • Carbon Loop: Creates a circular economy by cheaply sequestering carbon at low-temperatures from industry and produces high-value byproducts
  • General Biological: Makes mass-market chemicals from sugar instead of oil
  • Karuna Foods: We make the world's first microbial protein-based dog food with the least carbon footprint, offering nourishment without any adverse effects
  • Tyree Tech: Convert CO2 from major emitters to high-value, carbon-negative products 

The teams pitched their ideas and answered questions from the judges. Following deliberations, the judges awarded General Biological the $25,000 prize. Carbon Loop won the Audience Choice Award of $2,000.  

 

The 2023 SVP Winner ($25,000)

General Biological

Abhinav Godavarthi, David Sozanski (YC '23), and Julian Rubinfien (YC '23) seek to make mass-market chemicals from sugar instead of oil. Their goal is to supplant petrochemistry and demonstrate that biology can be scaled as a technology - in other words, to catalyze the shift from industrial chemistry to industrial biology.

The Audience Award ($2,000)

Photo of audience prize winner - carbon loop

Carbon Loop

Harrison Meyer (YSE/SOM ‘24), Perry Bakas (SOM ‘24), Conor Rooney (Ph.D, Yale Chemistry) seek to create a circular economy by cheaply sequestering carbon at low-temperatures from industry and producing high-value byproducts. Their goal is to develop cheaper point source carbon capture and create high-value carbon products, a technology that is scalable across hard to decarbonize sectors.

Thank you to our judges

Judges at StartUp Yale 2023

The CBEY team is very grateful for the team of judges that participated in this process. 

Sophie Beckham (MF’ 02) is VP and Chief Sustainability Officer at International Paper (IP), a global packaging and pulp company, where she works across the enterprise to advance sustainability strategy development and implementation.

Ryan Dings is a venture partner for Connecticut Innovations’ new $100M ClimateTech Fund and Founding Executive Director of Climate Haven, the new climate incubator based out of New Haven. 

Justin Freiberg (MESc '10) is Managing Director at the Yale Carbon Containment Lab, based out of the Yale School of the Environment, where he designs, develops and supports novel methods of atmospheric carbon removal and containment. 

Lindsay Greene (MBA '11) is the President and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), overseeing a 300-acre economic hub for innovative manufacturers and creative makers shaping the future of the industry and tackling big problems of our time.

Sara Harari (MBA/MEM '19) is the Associate Director of Innovation & Strategic Advisor to the President at the Connecticut Green Bank, where she designs new programs to deploy clean infrastructure throughout the state.