Iron Goat Tech Startup Takes Home $70K at MIT Competition
There are some great ideas and startups coming out of George Mason University. Iron Goat Technologies is one of them. This Mason-produced startup recently won $70,000 at the MIT Clean Energy Prize competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to a report on the school website.
Prior to winning this cash prize, Iron Goat has received $50,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy and $20,000 from GE Ventures for its product: a self-fueled harvester that produces agricultural products such as livestock feed and grass pellet fuel. Iron Goat’s process can produce feed products at a lower cost than conventional haying methods.
“Our hope is this will move us into a place where people notice the technology, and that will get us enough recognition it will be considered in the context of where U.S. energy is going,” Company founder Jason Force said.
According to Force, the prize money won at MIT will be used to continue developing their product.
Iron Goat began with guidance from Startup Mason and David J. Miller, executive director of George Mason’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Center is dedicated to providing experiential learning through academic programs, research and extensive extra-curricular programming for Mason students and alumni interested in innovation, entrepreneurship, and value creation.
“[Winning at MIT] validates the work we’ve been doing,” Miller said. “We give them the opportunity here and connect them with opportunities off campus. They create their own opportunities. We just get them started.”
Iron Goat’s business development manager Jade Garrett, an applied information technology major, is also program coordinator for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which provides resources to students (both undergraduate and graduate from all disciplines), alumni, faculty and staff, the Washington, D.C. Metro, and various corporations, government agencies, and social sector enterprises.
What’s next for Iron Goat? The startup will be vying for $100,000 in the Department of Energy’s Cleantech University Prize national contest in Denver in June.
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Max Pulcini
Max Pulcini is a Philadelphia-based writer and reporter. He has an affinity for Philly sports teams, Super Smash Bros. and cured meats and cheeses. Max has written for Philadelphia-based publications such as Spirit News, Philadelphia City Paper, and Billy Penn, as well as national news outlets like The Daily Beast.
