Two Winners Receive Funding from UWs MECSL Competition

Two finalists walked away as winners of the Microbial Ecology Collaborative Startup Launchpad (MECSL), a pitch challenge focused on innovation in Wyoming-based startups in the fields of microbial ecology, environmental sustainability, natural resource management or data science.

Each team was awarded a share of the $25,000 seed fund during the May 19 competition.

MECSL is administered by IMPACT 307, the University of Wyoming’s business incubator network, and is supported by Wyoming’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) through funding from the National Science Foundation. 

The launchpad has brought in a series of teams that have been working to create functioning businesses in areas concerning the relationships between microorganisms as well as their environments.

The two teams receiving funding from this year’s MECSL competition are: 

-- FrostyFlake is a weather-monitoring service that allows snowplow operators and other customers access to real-time weather conditions with much greater accuracy than meteorological forecasts. FrostyFlake was founded and is run by CEO Marcus Curley.

“The funding we attained this year is going to help us level up to the next grade of maturity,” Curley says. “As an IT company, it is important that we improve our digital presence by simplifying customer onboarding and enhancing the user experience. That way, we can thrive in the digital landscape.” 

-- LifeGlass is a company focused on revolutionizing the way pharmaceuticals are transported and stored by removing them from the cold chain and, thus, making the process easier and more efficient. LifeGlass was created by Ryan Bettcher, a UW Ph.D. student from Brighton, Colo., majoring in molecular biology, and Thomas Boothby, a UW assistant professor of molecular biology.

IMPACT 307 is a network of innovation-driven business incubators committed to growing and strengthening Wyoming’s entrepreneurial community by providing resources and support for founders to thrive.