Clean Crop Receives $1.2 Million from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative
11 Julio 2024 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
The grant will allow the company to scale
deployment of its Clean Current technology, a first-of-its-kind,
fossil fuel-free defense against crop disease
Clean Crop Technologies (Clean Crop) today announced it has
received $1.2 million in grant funding through the Massachusetts
Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), a program run by the
Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) at the Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative (MassTech).
M2I2 helps bridge the gap between innovation and
commercialization in manufacturing, primarily through grants for
equipment capital expenditures. Clean Crop will use the M2I2
funding to engage with additional contract manufacturing partners
across Massachusetts to satisfy rising demand for its product. The
funds will also be used to scale the company’s team, capacity,
revenue and impact on-site at its seed tolling facility in Holyoke,
MA.
Clean Crop’s mission is to stop global crop loss at the source.
The company’s EPA-approved Clean Current system is a dry, fully
electric and residue-free seed decontamination process that
replaces fossil fuel-dependent and chemical treatments. By
combining electricity and air to create cold plasma, the Clean
Current system inactivates a broad spectrum of contaminants on seed
surfaces. It is the world’s first industrial-scale, cold-plasma
seed treatment device and can treat 25 - 50+ lbs. of seed per hour.
To date, Clean Crop has signed $3.4 million in purchase orders for
its Clean Current seed treatment from companies that represent 39%
of the global vegetable seed market.
“Seed contamination is a massive problem, contributing to $220
billion in lost agricultural revenue and impacting global food
supply. Traditional seed treatment solutions can reduce
contaminants, but they harm seed quality, require large footprints,
are labor intensive and use fossil fuels,” explained Daniel White,
co-founder and CEO of Clean Crop. “Clean Current technology
decontaminates seeds without impacting seed quality or requiring
any chemical or water additives, while also eliminating the risk of
chemical run-off after planting. With support from M2I2, we’re able
to overcome our current capacity constraints and bring additional
Clean Current systems online to meet growing demand from the seed
market.”
“These 13 companies have demonstrated immense potential to scale
manufacturing in Massachusetts,” said Center for Advanced
Manufacturing Director Christine Nolan. “The Massachusetts
Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) program helps to ensure
that companies who will use these funds to build out pilot scale
production capacity also invest in their communities and employees.
Manufacturing continues to be an industry that drives the
Massachusetts economy and provides good paying, sustainable jobs
for people with and without college degrees.”
The M2I2 funding comes during a period of momentous growth for
Clean Crop. In May, the company won the Agriculture Category of
Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas. Clean Crop was also recently
named to TIME’s list of America’s Top Greentech Companies of 2024.
Based in Holyoke, MA, the company is partnering with Springfield
Technical Community College to establish a workforce-development
training program for electromechanical technicians in the region.
Clean Crop is committed to equipping local residents, particularly
those from under-served backgrounds, with the skills needed to
operate and maintain its Clean Current technology within its seed
tolling facility.
For more information on Clean Crop, including open manufacturing
partnership and hiring opportunities, visit cleancroptech.com.
About Clean Crop Technologies:
Clean Crop is a Holyoke, Massachusetts-based electro-chemical
innovation company, specializing in food and agriculture solutions
at industrial scale based in the Pioneer Valley since 2019. Clean
Crop’s proprietary ‘Clean Current’ technology combines electricity
and food-grade gasses to remove contaminants from seeds and foods
to increase crop yields, reduce food waste, and increase food
safety. In 2024, Clean Crop was honored to be named on TIME’s list
of America’s Top Greentech Companies. To learn more about Clean
Crop, visit cleancroptech.com.
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Media Contact: Kerry Walker kerry@walkercomms.com