Contact: Joshua Morby
414.791.9120
jmorby@m-werc.org

Rural electricity startup selected from among 12 finalists

MILWAUKEE – Midwest Energy Research Consortium WERCBench Labs graduate NovoMoto was presented with the Governor’s Business Plan Contest award by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at the 16th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference Wednesday in Madison.

NovoMoto, a graduate of the WERCBench Labs program, provides clean electricity for off-grid rural communities and remote villages in sub-Saharan Africa. A for-profit social enterprise, NovoMoto’s stand-alone solar-powered systems are cheaper, more efficient, and cleaner than the kerosene and diesel currently used in these communities.

“M-WERC congratulates NovoMoto for its innovative vision and entrepreneurial spirit and is proud of their accomplishments,” said Jeff Anthony, M-WERC’s Chief Operating Officer. “As a graduate of M-WERC’s WERCBench Labs program, NovoMoto is a rising star and we look forward to their success in years to come.”

The objective of the Governor’s Business Plan contest is to encourage entrepreneurs in tech-based businesses who are in the startup stage to compete. The contest helps connect up-and-coming entrepreneurs with a statewide network of community resources, experts, high quality education, management talent, and sometimes capital resources.

WERCBench Labs is an eight-week immersive program of M-WERC that brings together world-leading companies and educators that share a passion for making things. NovoMoto co-founders Mehrdad Arjmand and Aaron Olson participated in Year 3 of the WERBench Labs program this spring. Together with corporate members, technical colleges, and universities M-WERC provides access to technology and market insights that help companies build their product and scale their business.

WERCBench Labs is housed within the M-WERC Energy Innovation Center, which hosts an ever-growing collection of state-of-the-art testing, prototyping, and small-scale production equipment. Several companies are seriously looking at running their operation in the EIC space after the most recent program ends. Program participants have unparalleled opportunities and access to the leading companies in the world on energy, power and controls technology enabled by the M-WERC regional cluster of business and academic institutions.

To learn more about the WERCBench Labs program, please visit our website: https://www.m-werc.org/wercbenchlabs/

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