OptiEnz Sensors selected as semifinalist in Cleantech Open Business Accelerator program

By: Steve Wednesday June 26, 2013 Tags: Fort Collins, Mike Freeman, OptiEnz Sensors, Steve Witt

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FORT COLLINS --OptiEnz Sensors, LLC has been selected as a semifinalist in the Cleantech Open Business Accelerator for 2013, the world's largest cleantech accelerator.

The accelerator finds, funds and fosters entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today's most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. OptiEnz Sensors is a Rocky Mountain Innosphere client company and a spinoff from Colorado State University.

OptiEnz is developing biosensors that allow users to continuously measure the concentration of organic chemicals in water. The technology can be used in a wide range of applications, such as monitoring produced water in the oil-and-gas industry, particularly for fracking applications.

"OptiEnz is a great fit for the Cleantech Open, as they already have a prototype for continuous monitoring that is being tested in a variety of settings and the company is focusing on customer trials," said Mike Freeman, Innosphere CEO.

OptiEnz biosensors are placed directly in the water supply, so there is no need for someone to painstakingly remove samples, send them to a laboratory and wait hours or days for results.  This allows customers to get the information they need rapidly to quickly take corrective actions.

As a semifinalist in the program, OptiEnz will join a group of companies from across the country in a process that has assisted past participants in raising more than $800 million in funding and helped secure valuable relationships with future clients and partners.

"Access to capital is extremely important to OptiEnz, as it is to other early-stage companies such as ours," said Steve Witt, OptiEnz CEO. "We're in a growth phase and transitioning our company from the R&D phase to the commercialization phase. The network of investment partners that the Cleantech Open can introduce us to is invaluable.

"We're excited that the judges recognize our potential," Witt said. "The Cleantech Open aligns with our focus on the water treatment business, specifically the measurement and monitoring of produced water in the oil, gas and fracking industry."

For the next six months, OptiEnz will receive group training, individual mentoring, access to capital and showcasing opportunities designed to give a major boost to their chances of success. The company said it will provide them with the opportunity to tap into skills and contacts of some of the world's leading experts in their fields, develop and perfect their pitch, build a network and to work closely with other entrepreneurs with similar aspirations, challenges and resources.

For more information, contact Witt at [email protected] or 719-200-4722.

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