Holiday Newsletter 2017
Year‑end holidays signify the time of year that we wind down and reflect on our work just concluded. Colorado Highlands, aka the “clean range,” is a place where the magical connection between science and industry and market development innovation are on display every day. The deep technical resources of three major US research universities and national laboratories combined with excellent trade associations and smart politics are resulting in a company development ecosystem that is now recognized globally. And, we count ourselves fortunate to be based at the epicenter in Boulder.
Much of the effort by the SEP team in 2017 pushed the boundaries of alternative fuels and advanced materials commercialization. We played a key role in the large financing for AMP CNG that is a unique company in the alternative fuels space — developing renewable sources of methane for use in transportation fuels. Redmark CNG grew their business nicely and is poised to expand their vehicle services well outside of Colorado next year and their fueling station services in Colorado. Materials with atomic layer deposition films have been commercialized this year by ALD NanoSolutions, a CU Boulder spin‑out company, in markets ranging from lithium ion batteries to LED lighting.
As a new addition to our team, we have enjoyed the valuable contributions by four graduate and undergraduate student interns. These students, based at CU Boulder and CU Denver, consistently bring a high level of energy, work ethic, and impactful perspective to our work. As we push forward with existing and new companies in our portfolio, the SEP senior team is busy developing a new investment fund to participate across all three of our focus areas: alternative fuels and technologies, advanced materials, and micro-grid/distributed energy. The alternative fuels and technologies area may also include elements of connected vehicle, mobility logistics, and automated/autonomous vehicle opportunities in the future.
Many thanks to our senior advisors, interns, companies, investors, employees, and stakeholders for your collaborative effort toward value creation and contributions to a better planet. Happy Holidays to all.