ST. LOUIS, June 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Six startup companies have been selected by Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) to come to St. Louis to participate in the 2018 Ameren Accelerator, an innovative public-private partnership with the University of Missouri System, UMSL Accelerate and Capital Innovators, that assesses, mentors and invests in energy technology startup companies. The selected companies – from Canada, Israel and the United States – include Applied Particle, Jrop, Narya Security, ResilientGrid, Ryvit and TouchLight.
"Being on the leading edge of energy innovation and technology is essential for Ameren as we continue to find valuable solutions for our customers and our industry," said Warner Baxter, chairman, president and CEO, Ameren Corporation. "Now in its second year, the Accelerator has shown its potential to meet evolving customer needs and expectations, as well as attract companies and jobs to the St. Louis region. We look forward to collaborating with these promising startups as we continue our investment in the region and technologies of tomorrow."
More than 300 companies from 49 countries and 24 states applied for the 12-week Ameren program. The companies were selected through a series of interviews and evaluations, which culminated at a private Pitch Day event where the final six applicants were selected. The selection process was spearheaded by Capital Innovators with input from the Accelerator partners.
"We had an extraordinary applicant response to the 2018 Ameren Accelerator program," said Judy Sindecuse, CEO of Capital Innovators. "The six companies selected offer promising innovations in the energy sector and we look forward to helping them take their energy-related innovations to the next level."
Each company will receive up to $100,000 in seed funding in addition to intensive mentoring, technical assistance, facilities and networking connections from the Ameren Accelerator partners. The participants will be based out of UMSL Accelerate and Capital Innovators co-working spaces located in Cortex Innovation Community, a vibrant 200-acre innovation hub and technology district in St. Louis.
"The Ameren Accelerator program provides our students and faculty from the four campuses of the University of Missouri System the opportunity to positively affect the energy industry," said Dan Lauer, director of UMSL Accelerate. "We look forward to supporting these latest startups, offering meaningful assistance and contributing to their overall success."
At the conclusion of the program, participants will be invited to showcase their efforts to the mentoring teams, potential third-party investors and the general public during the Ameren Accelerator Demo Day in September. Ameren may select the most promising projects for ongoing mentoring and engagement beyond the program.
One of the first of its kind in the nation, the Ameren Accelerator was launched in 2017 to better position Ameren to meet its customers' future energy needs and expectations, create new jobs through these startup companies and provide university students opportunities to be more engaged in the energy business.
About the 2018 Ameren Accelerator companies
Six startup companies have been selected to participate in the 2018 Ameren Accelerator program. The companies include:
About Ameren Corporation
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric distribution and transmission service, as well as natural gas distribution service, while Ameren Missouri provides vertically integrated electric service, with generating capacity of nearly 10,300 megawatts, and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops regional electric transmission projects. For more information, visit Ameren.com, or follow us on Twitter at @AmerenCorp, Facebook.com/AmerenCorp, or LinkedIn.com/company/Ameren.
About the University of Missouri System
The University of Missouri System is the State of Missouri's largest public university, with four campuses serving more than 76,000 students, a health care system, an extension program, and more than 500,000 alumni worldwide. The UM System was created in 1963 when the University of Missouri (founded in 1839 in Columbia) and the Missouri School of Mines (now the Missouri University of Science and Technology, founded in 1870 in Rolla), were combined with the formerly private University of Kansas City (now University of Missouri–Kansas City, founded in 1933), and a newly created campus in suburban St. Louis (University of Missouri–St. Louis).
About the University of Missouri-St. Louis and UMSL Accelerate
The University of Missouri–St. Louis is the largest public research university in eastern Missouri with the greatest concentration of alumni in the region. Their UMSL Accelerate initiative fosters entrepreneurism and innovative thinking in and outside the classroom and helps bring concepts from mind to market. For more information, visit http://umsl.edu/accelerate/.
About Capital Innovators
Capital Innovators is an innovation engine that creates practical solutions across industries that can shape the future of organizations. Capital Innovators provides innovation consulting, entrepreneurial-based programs, acts as a liaison between Corporations, Universities and Startups and investment into attractive early-stage businesses. Capital Innovators has in-depth knowledge into the most cutting-edge solutions through the Accelerator division of its business, which has been ranked as a top Accelerator in the country for four years in a row and has invested in and guided 70 companies to date. Capital Innovators model is simple and effective: Innovation, Iteration, and Implementation.
SOURCE Ameren Corporation