University of Iowa startup Verdlilife has won $50,000 after demonstrating a new agricultural cleaning process, the Corridor Business Journal reports.
Mahdi Eghbali, Ph.D. candidate in economics at UI, was awarded for his pitch at the MegaWatt Ventures competition this month. Verdilife uses a proprietary process known as the Nano-Intelligent Smokeless Bio-Char System to transform wood and other biomasses into wood vinegar, an environmentally clean process to make use of wood waste. Verdilife had previously won first-place at the John Pappajohn Student Venture Competition in April, and will next compete in June at the Department of Energy’s Cleantech University Prize, CBJ reports.