Brunswick rocket-maker bluShift selected for global accelerator program

Courtesy / bluShift Aerospace Sascha Deri, bottom left, and Lindsay Becker, top row, of bluShift Aerospace attended an online event with mentors and participants of the Kaplak Partners and MassChallenge Decarbonization Accelerator last week.

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By Laurie Schreiber

BluShift Aerospace has joined a global program designed to fast-track businesses aiming to address climate change by reducing CO2 emissions across multiple industries.

The Brunswick-based company and nine other businesses — in industries including food, fintech, energy and aerospace — from Europe, Asia and the U.S. comprise the first cohort of Kaplak Partners and MassChallenge’s four-week Decarbonization Accelerator program.

BluShift is an eco-friendly, dedicated small satellite launch solution. In January 2021, it launched the first commercial rocket in the world powered by nontoxic, carbon-neutral biofuel from Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone.

“We’re particularly excited to be working with mentors and investors who can accelerate our efforts to revolutionize the cubesat launch market to be environmentally responsible, faster, and more customer-centric,” Sascha Deri, CEO and founder of bluShift, said in a news release.

The company piqued the interest of Jeff Dunn, head of partnerships and policy communications at Google and a mentor with MassChallenge, a global accelerator for innovators looking to solve global challenges and create meaningful change.

“We don't typically associate sustainability with rocket launches, but bluShift has an impressive propulsion solution poised to bring rocket fuel options into the 21st century,” Dunn said.

Dunn said bluShift has the potential to be “a real game-changer.”

Matt Hooper, managing director of Kaplak Partners, said bluShift “has already made history with their nontoxic, carbon-neutral biofuel.”

New York City-based Kaplak Partners provide startups with strategic advice, leadership expertise and a global network to help them grow at far greater speed and scale.

The Decarbonization Accelerator program is expected to help bluShift scale its vision of developing the space tech ecosystem while ensuring principles of sustainability, Hooper added. It offers participants one-to-one access to industry experts and global leaders, a framework for leadership and strategy, meetings with venture capital firms and a mentor network.

The Decarbonization Accelerator program launched Jan. 23 and will conclude in March in New York City with an in-person demonstration day.

Jim Hagemann Snabe, chair of Siemens and also Kaplak Partners, said Kaplak partnered with MassChallenge in establishing the program to deploy decarbonization technologies at an industrial scale and mentor “a new generation of purpose-driven business leaders.”

He continued, “We believe that the technologies that will define the next century have already arrived and that what’s required now is global cooperation and leadership to scale faster and convert decarbonization to a business opportunity.”

Other participants

Sundial Foods, which creates plant-based meat alternatives.
Prezerv Technologies, which uses data and AI to solve challenges in civil infrastructure.
Cadence OneFive, which accelerates building decarbonization and adaptation in residential buildings.
TechnoCarbon, which proposes CarbonFibreStone, a new, low-carbon-footprint material designed to replace concrete, steel and aluminum in construction.
Regli Energy Systems, which makes high-efficiency, sustainable heat pumps.
Nazava, which sells a household water filter.
WATS, a digital platform for business waste management to enable cost savings and emissions reductions through operational efficiency.
Sol Clarity, which provides a transparent product called Electrodynamic Screen as overlays for solar panels that automatically remove dust and improve energy yield and output power of solar panels without the need to wash the panels with water.
Ecolytiq, which provides banks and financial institutions with digital infrastructure for green finance.

Founded in 2014, bluShift has designed a bio-derived rocket fuel and a modular hybrid rocket engine, and is working toward a rocket that will launch small payloads suborbitally. The startup is targeting the education market, providing a service to businesses and academic and civil researchers.

In January, bluShift learned it was awarded a $50,000 NASA grant through the Maine Space Grant Consortium to investigate whether rocket engine parts can be made more effectively using 3D printing compared with standard industry processes.