A startup that makes compostable and recycled shipping mailers took home the largest share of prize money at Startup Yale 2021, the university’s largest entrepreneurial contest.
A total of 28 student-led venture teams pitched in seven categories at the annual event, which took place both virtually and in front of a live audience on April 29 through May 1.
EcoPackables, a company founded by Yale College student Shervin Dehmoubed, won in two categories and left with $40,000 in prize money.
The startup seeks to replace plastic shipping mailers with a 100% compostable product made from a combination of PBAT, a bio-based polymer, and cornstarch.
The company won both the $25,000 Sabin Sustainable Venture Prize and the new $15,000 Yale Innovators’ Prize, given to the startup with the potential to produce the greatest impact “financially, socially or otherwise.”
Other winners announced on the contest’s website were:
The New Haven Civic Innovation Prize (up to $10,000): Co-winners were Project Lighten Up, a crime prevention program to improve street lights and install exterior house lights in the Newhallville neighborhood ($7,000); and LawText, an AI-powered platform to support immigration attorneys and asylum seekers ($3,000).
Rita Wilson Prize Fund in Support of Innovation and Entrepreneurship ($10,000): Mindful Kala, a startup that aims to help elevate mental and social well-being by using Indian Classical Dance to explore mind-body movements and cultivate intercultural relationships.
Thorne Prize for Social Innovation in Public Health or Education ($25,000): Sprxng, a reusable menstrual disc that provides menstrual pain relief. The company aims to combat the stigma around menstruation globally.
Miller Prize for innovative tech or tech-enabled solutions ($25,000): Floe, which developed an automated ice dam prevention system using de-icing fluid.
Rothberg Catalyzer Prize @ Yale ($15,000): ReCore, a startup creating reusable biopsy devices that reduce cost and increase global access to cancer diagnosis procedures.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com
