Chalmers: trio of awards for innovation

Time Magazine has ranked the tidal power generation technology developed by the Chalmers University spin-out Minesto as one of this year’s 50 best inventions and two other spin-outs, Oxeon and Avinode have received awards. At the same time Chalmers Innovation is celebrating its one hundredth investment. 

Oxeon received the 2010 Gazelle award from the Swedish financial newspaper Dagens industri. Oxeon’s technology for weaving carbon fibres is based on work carried out in India by Nandan Khokar. He formed Oxeon seven years ago together with two Chalmers graduates and with financing from the university. 

The company’s sales reached SEK 25 million (€2.73 million) last year for its ultra lightweight, extremely strong tow carbon reinforcements that it primarily markets to the sports industry.
Avinode received the award for best international growth in Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition one day earlier. The company, which provides online booking systems for chartered jet planes, is located in Gothenburg and Miami. Like Oxeon, the company began as a project at Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship. It was first financed by the university’s Encubator and subsequently by Chalmers Innovation.

Chalmers Innovation invested in its one hundredth technology company two weeks ago, Optium, which has been set up to commercialise technology for increasing data transfer rates in optical networks at a low cost.

Minesto’s product called Deep Green consists of kites that are tethered to the ocean floor and generate electricity. The technology is a spin-off from Saab Group, but has been further developed towards commercialisation at Chalmers. The company raised SEK 20 million in venture funding earlier this year, enabling it to install and test one of its power plants over the course of 2011 off the coast of Northern Ireland.