Startups Pitch Solutions at Launch Alaska Tech Deployment Track

Absent a magic wand, Applied Atomics is looking at possibly powering the Richardson Highway corridor between North Pole and Delta Junction, which would entail Golden Valley Electric Association retiring coal-fired power plants. A second possibility is co-locating with Chugach Electric Association’s main generators at Beluga, across Cook Inlet from Anchorage. Kellie also suggests the Donlin Gold project, which has been planning a 313-mile natural gas pipeline to power the Upper Kuskokwim mine site, might need a 100 MW power plant.

“I would love if our first project with a utility was here,” Kellie says. “I love Alaska and want to decarbonize Alaska, so here I am trying to figure out how to make it work.”

Where There’s Smoke

Another pitch for decarbonizing the atmosphere directly came from AirVitalize, whose founder moved from once-legendarily smoggy Los Angeles to set up shop in notoriously smoky Fairbanks. The company is developing the Vita 2.0 air purifier, a unit somewhat larger than a trash can that scrubs PM2.5 particulates (soot particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers), like the smoke from wood stoves, using a filterless ionizing process.

“We are not a direct air capture company,” emphasizes Carina D’souza, who handles partnerships and business developments for AirVitalize. “We see ourselves as more of the HVAC side of things.”

Fairbanks is serving as a testbed because the city’s geography produces temperature inversions that trap particulates near the ground. The team, in cooperation with UAF, is also testing to ensure that the Vita 2.0 can operate in -40°F weather.

AirVitalize envisions four Vita 2.0 units positioned around a football field, as an example, blowing clean air into the area. But the exact range and effectiveness is not yet known. The company is ready for a pilot project this winter sponsored by North Star Tutors.

“They get to put their branding on it,” D’souza says, “and then we try to clean the air as best we can to support students’ educational outcomes.”

AirVitalize is mainly seeking brand partners in athletics, such as the upcoming Olympic Games in Los Angeles or creating clean zones at auto racing tracks for pit crews. Municipalities might also invest for parks and recreation, or any company that needs to invest in clean air for regulatory compliance reasons.

Since the last time AirVitalize presented a larger model to Launch Alaska advisors, the business model has been adjusted to include potential revenue from data analysis of the recovered particulates. The company might even devise secondary uses for the soot collected inside the device. But those spinoffs all depend on outdoor air purification working as a technology.

The Hand That Flips the Switch

One startup that’s already earning revenue is Remote Hands, a gig work platform for remote technical services. Its founder and CEO, Gabriel Low, was a teacher in Quinhagak when he saw the need for locally sourced skilled labor.

For instance, a telecommunications company might spend $10,000 to fly a technician to a rural village just to “power cycle” (i.e., turn off and turn on again) some glitchy equipment. 

“Hopefully that model can change as this gig work ecosystem is built in Alaska,” says Low. “It hurts to watch people fly in to fix stuff that’s like, dang, my uncle knows how to do that.”

Low compares Remote Hands to Taskrabbit, an online marketplace for handyman tasks. He charges $900 for a four-hour service call dispatched to a certified technician living in the community.

“I will add that ‘technicians’ is a term I’m trying to use less,” says Low. “Because what other needs are out there? Translation services: the federal government has a meeting, and how do they find someone who can translate to Yup’ik, and how do they pay that person?” He also sees a need for field research assistants, but for now Remote Hands is building a roster of workers competent in electronic or mechanical systems.

Recent investments in workforce development have made Remote Hands possible, says Low, as well as the build-out of broadband internet to connect and supervise remote workers. The company has scored nearly a dozen customers so far, and Low wants to recruit enough part-time workers (as employees of Remote Hands, covered by its liability insurance) to have backup personnel in any given village.

What he needs is a major contract from a statewide client. Low says, “It’s a much more effective recruiting strategy to say, ‘We have a job right now for you,’ instead of, ‘Join us and we might give you a job.’”

Accelerating Technologies

Remote Hands, AirVitalize, and Applied Atomics are competing not only for clients and investors in Alaska, but they’re up against some Outside startups that also gave Tech Deployment Track pitches.

From Washington came Foss Toilets, inventor of a self-contained flushing system, and OCOChem, which is developing a technique for capturing carbon dioxide as formate, an industrial chemical that can also be used as fuel. New York-based Vycarb has a different approach, converting carbon dioxide into bicarbonate.

From Oregon came BladeRunner Energy, and from California came Natel Energy, both working on in-river turbines. Also from California were GridWrap, selling a patch material to ruggedize power poles, and an autonomous cargo aircraft built by MightyFly.

From Texas came GeoKiln, developer of a technique for producing hydrogen from iron-rich subsurface rocks. And Massachusetts-based Eden Geopower wants to revolutionize hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas with its “electrical reservoir stimulation” method.

Now that advisors heard the pitches, they’ll evaluate the startups. Feedback will help the entrepreneurs refine their businesses. By next spring, perhaps half of the dozen might be invited to join the Launch Alaska portfolio for additional support.

“Even though we’re an accelerator, you still take time to build relationships and validate ideas,” says Suzanna Caldwell, deputy director of Launch Alaska in charge of the Tech Deployment Track. “We want to make sure the technologies are actually coming to Alaska.”