Ideaship completes two new climate deals with $100K patent equity investments in Eden Technologies and Skip Technology
Portland, Oregon – October 31, 2023 – Ideaship has closed two $100,000 patent equity investments, one in Utah-based Eden Technologies, and one in Oregon startup Skip Technology. Ideaship invests in startups developing novel intellectual property and supports portfolio companies in constructing a solid IP foundation to support venture-backed growth. Eden Technologies and Skip Technology are Ideaship’s sixth and seventh climate investments, respectively, in its current fund.
Eden Technologies, based in St. George, Utah, was founded by Hunter Manz and his cofounders Reece Thompson and Zachary Manweiler to address the severe water shortage Hunter grew up fearing from his childhood home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company has developed a unique reverse osmosis system for water desalination plants that can improve clean water capture by 40%, helping make desalination more viable and efficient.
“We’re facing the happy problem of being approached by water desalination plant managers all over the world seeking joint development agreements and other kinds of partnerships in the race to shore up clean water sources. We’re so glad to have Ideaship in our corner as we negotiate these proposals in a way that will protect our IP while also allowing us to quickly scale to meet demand,” said Manz.
Skip Technology, based in Portland, Oregon, was founded by Dr. Brennan Gantner and Dr. Ben Brown after they cracked the code on a liquid battery membrane that opens up so called “flow batteries” as an inexpensive, safe, reliable source of power storage. Designed initially to help power EV charging stations, municipalities, and small and mid-sized commercial projects like housing developments and wineries, their innovation is perfectly timed to support the US energy transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.
“We’re excited to work with Ideaship to further develop the underlying intellectual property at the heart of our solution,” said Gantner, Co-Founder and CEO of Skip Technology. “We know it has the potential to speed up and smooth out our transition to renewable energy by creating accessible, safe, affordable storage for commercial users of all kinds.”
Eden Technologies and Skip Technology are the latest in a series of climate investments made by Ideaship in the last year, following patent equity investments made in agtech innovator Canopii, electric marine propulsion company Photon Marine, refill station designer Wonderfil, alternative fiber processor ESG Brands.
Ideaship’s focus on patents is important for climate startups as more investment dollars are channeled into the sector. PitchBook research confirms that startups with patents generate significantly higher valuations and exits over non-patent startups. Between 2011 and 2020, deal sizes for patent startups were 40% to 60% larger than those for non-patent startups in a given year, and patent-seeking companies accounted for 79% of VC exit value but only 24% of VC exit count during the same timeframe.
About Ideaship
Ideaship is a venture capital firm by Global Technology Transfer Group (GTT Group), currently deploying its third fund. In total, Ideaship funds have made more than 75 investments in startups developing novel intellectual property since 2018. For more information, please visit ideashipfund.com.
Contact:
Lauren Winkle
Marketing Manager
Email: lwinkle@ideashipfund.com
