Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Cleantech Company ecoSPEARS Partners With Element Environmental to Clean Toxins From Water and Soil in Hawaii and Guam

Posted on: March 22nd, 2021 by Kirenaga Partners


Strategic partnership will accelerate growth, adoption, and delivery of green remediation technologies in the growing marketplace of soil and water remediation.

ORLANDO, Fla. – January 7, 2021 – (Newswire.com)

​​ecoSPEARS, a clean technology developer in Orlando, FL, announced its strategic partnership with the Hawaii-based engineering services company Element Environmental (E2HI). The collaboration between ecoSPEARS and E2HI will accelerate green remediation solutions in Hawaii, Guam, and Asia-Pacific countries. The pair has already secured remediation projects in Hawaii and Guam to extract and eliminate toxins like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) from land and waterways.The issue with PCB contaminated soil and sediment in Hawaii and Guam is that the traditional remediation methods are often cost-prohibitive, generating an incredible amount of CO2 in the process,” said Ryan Yamauchi, President at E2HI. “Our partnership with ecoSPEARS will accelerate the adoption of sustainable and cost-effective remediation solutions to clean contaminated soil and sediment in Hawaii, Guam, and the Asia-Pacific.”

Read the full article here


ecoSPEARS to Deploy Clean Water Technology at Port of San Diego America’s Cup Harbor

Posted on: March 22nd, 2021 by Kirenaga Partners

As part of a two-year pilot project under the Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator, ecoSPEARS, a cleantech solutions company ushering in the carbonless future of environmental cleanup for toxic contaminants, will deploy NASA-developed technology to remove Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) from sediments in America’s Cup Harbor. The primary goal will be to determine how much PCB mass the SPEARS technology will remove over a predetermined period.  The SPEARS technology will be deployed starting December 14.

“Our Blue Economy Incubator program seeks groundbreaking ways to protect the environment and San Diego Bay. The results of this pilot project have the potential to demonstrate an innovative win-win approach to a long-time pollution problem in waters worldwide,” said Commissioner Rafael Castellanos, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. “With a green approach that uses less emissions, energy, and water than traditional cleanup methods, this pilot project is a perfect complement to our efforts as a Port to ensure San Diego Bay remains a vital resource.” 

ecoSPEARS is the exclusive licensee of the NASA-developed Sorbent Polymer Extraction and Remediation System (SPEARS), a sustainable remediation technology to extract PCBs, dioxins, and other persistent organic pollutants from the environment. 

Read the full article here

Violet Defense and NY MTA launch first ever pilot with UVC Technology

Posted on: May 28th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced an ultraviolet (UV) light pilot program proven to kill COVID-19, with the first phase set to launch on subways, buses, and other New York City Transit facilities throughout the system early next week.

The MTA pilot will deploy approximately 150 dual-headed mobile devices from Denver-based startup PURO Lighting to test and evaluate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of UVC technology in a number of settings across New York City Transit including trains, buses, stations and occupational facilities, using strict protocols and procedures to ensure the safety of the employees and customers. After evaluation, the pilot’s second phase will expand to Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North.

To read the full article click here

Orlando company utilizes UV light units to protect against coronavirus

Posted on: May 28th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

Violet Defense production increased sevenfold amid COVID-19 pandemic

Since the pandemic began, the race has been on for new ways to protect yourself from coronavirus.

Just weeks ago, an advisor with the Department of Homeland Security said that they found the virus dies under ultraviolet rays.

“UV absolutely kills coronavirus,” Violet Defense CEO Terry Berland said.

Berland showed News 6 the technology behind his SAGE units, which stands for surface air germ elimination.

The high-powered flashes of light can clean a space with greater efficiency than aerosol disinfectant sprays because it also neutralizes the air, Berland said.

The bulbs are much more powerful than what you would find in something like a tanning bed, he added. Because of the strength of the technology and UV rays, Berland said the units won’t run if they detect someone present in a room.

Over the past couple of months, Berland said the company has seen an exponential growth in orders.

“We’re about seven times where we were back in February,” he said.

Violet Defense employees have already installed the company’s technology in places like the Amway Center, the arena where Orlando’s NBA team plays, and the Orange County Convention Center.

“Those are just the kinds of spaces that no one ever thought about using UV for disinfecting,” Berland said. “No one ever thought about disinfection as a big thing. Post-COVID, I think all of the world is going to think about all that differently.”

IROC Decontamination is utilizing the technology as part of a newly-debuted mobile trailer that will aid first responders out in the field.

“We’re ready to start moving this around,” IROC Decontamination President Serg Albino said.

Albino told News 6 the trailer will help Seminole County deputies and firefighters with disinfecting gear.

“Decontaminating their bomb suits, their hazmat gear and the larger equipment,” he said. “You can decontaminate a lot of things in about 15 minutes. Large things you cannot spray down with aerosol peroxide, things that corrode easily, and electronics.”

To view the article and watch the video click here

Orlando Firm [Violet Defense] Harnessing UV Rays to Defeat the CoronaVirus

Posted on: May 11th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

Like a lot of us, Mark Nathan noticed that no matter how successful a business trip had been, he regularly returned home only to fall ill from the bacteria and viruses he encountered on airplanes, in hotel and conference rooms and everywhere in between.

What sets Nathan apart is that he decided to do something about it, and that decision ultimately placed him on the front lines fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Trained and educated as a scientist and engineer, Nathan began experimenting with UV light and various ways to boost its germ-killing energy ability.

“Think of ultraviolet light as coming in three flavors,” said Terrance Berland, president and CEO of the company that would come of all this research, Violet Defense.

“Basically, you’ve got flavors A, B and C and the sun produces a bunch of it,” he explained. “A and B are what give you a sunburn. C we don’t get too much of because it’s blocked by the ozone layer.

“What our technology does is use a special ultraviolet source, a Xenon bulb, that flashes like a strobe light, and when it does it produces all three of the flavors on the spectrum,” he said.

Once he understood the germ-killing ability of the UV light source, Nathan developed a specialized lens that would both beef up the light’s disinfectant power and keep the system small enough to make it highly mobile and deployable.

Quality assurance testing showed Nathan’s bulb kills up to 99.9% of harmful bacteria and viruses on surfaces and in the air, including the stubbornly death-resistant norovirus.

Read the full article here

Franklin Templeton buys AdvisorEngine in bigger play for advisor desktop

Posted on: May 6th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

AdvisorEngine’s platform includes several pieces of core financial advisor tech, including CRM, portfolio management, reporting, marketing and a white-label robo advisor.

Franklin Templeton plans to use AdvisorEngine to create new proprietary technology, including a goals-based financial planning tool and digital portfolio construction analytics. Future products will emphasize “smart automation,” especially the next generation of Junxure, an advisor CRM AdvisorEngine acquired in 2018.

“We’re in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, and technological advances are reshaping how financial solutions are delivered,” said Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson in a statement.

Read the full article here and another release here

“We Can Do Well By Doing Good”- David Scalzo on CNBC Squawk Alley, January 24, 2020.

Posted on: January 24th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/01/24/kirenagas-david-scalzo-on-why-one-company-might-be-the-end-of-privacy-as-we-know-it.html

Facial Recognition Technology Doesn’t Have to Destroy Privacy

Posted on: January 23rd, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

These choices are made by human beings, not some otherworldly force. Technology develops too quickly to be effectively checked by regulation—however necessary that may be—so it’s up to CEOs, executives, and at times employees to reject projects that could so easily be used for malicious purposes.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/facial-recognition-technology-doesnt-have-to-destroy-privacy

Connecting Potential Investors with Local Tech Entrepreneurs

Posted on: January 16th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners

Digital technology has often been referred to as “the modern frontier” or “the electronic frontier,” recalling images of homesteads, covered wagons, and fur skin caps. But Tuesday’s Upsurge Florida event—organized by Economic Development Administration, in coordination with the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and Bridge Angel Investors, and quietly paid for by Goldman Sachs—used a different image: open water. Framed by beautiful Sarasota Bay, the event occurred at the Sarasota Yacht club, and sought to connect potential investors with local tech entrepreneurs. Water spanning towards the horizon, teasing endless possibility, made a compelling image for an event provoking its attendees to imagine a brand new Florida. A Florida where the capital, like the water, is fluid and plentiful.

The tone of the event was educational—a succinct one hour program (sandwiched between two leisurely paced mixers), aimed at walking its audience through the idea of investing in small scale, early-stage technology companies. Attendees were ‘accredited investors’ meaning that they met certain SEC standards for net worth and minimum income. Speakers like StarterStudio’s Terry Berland, an alumni of McKinsey Consulting, and a veteran of the technology industry, walked these potential investors through Tampa Bay’s financial and academic landscape.

“We see Sarasota-Bradenton as a part of Tampa Bay,” said Terry Berland. “Tampa Bay in our minds is Tampa, St. Pete, Lakeland, Sarasota-Bradenton and all the points in between. We got this grant to promote awareness of the tech industry in the entire 1-4 corridor, and Sarasota is one of our main assets in that pursuit.”

https://www.srqmagazine.com/srq-daily/2020-01-15/12415_Connecting-Potential-Investors-with-Local-Tech-Entrepreneurs

Plenty isn’t your normal family farm.

Posted on: January 9th, 2020 by Kirenaga Partners