Clean Crop Receives $1.2 Million from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative
The grant will allow the company to scale deployment of its Clean Current technology, a first-of-its-kind, fossil fuel-free defense against crop disease
HOLYOKE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clean Crop Technologies (Clean Crop) today announced it has received $1.2 million in grant funding through the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), a program run by the Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech).
M2I2 helps bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization in manufacturing, primarily through grants for equipment capital expenditures. Clean Crop will use the M2I2 funding to engage with additional contract manufacturing partners across Massachusetts to satisfy rising demand for its product. The funds will also be used to scale the company’s team, capacity, revenue and impact on-site at its seed tolling facility in Holyoke, MA.
Clean Crop’s mission is to stop global crop loss at the source. The company’s EPA-approved Clean Current system is a dry, fully electric and residue-free seed decontamination process that replaces fossil fuel-dependent and chemical treatments. By combining electricity and air to create cold plasma, the Clean Current system inactivates a broad spectrum of contaminants on seed surfaces. It is the world’s first industrial-scale, cold-plasma seed treatment device and can treat 25 - 50+ lbs. of seed per hour. To date, Clean Crop has signed $3.4 million in purchase orders for its Clean Current seed treatment from companies that represent 39% of the global vegetable seed market.
“Seed contamination is a massive problem, contributing to $220 billion in lost agricultural revenue and impacting global food supply. Traditional seed treatment solutions can reduce contaminants, but they harm seed quality, require large footprints, are labor intensive and use fossil fuels,” explained Daniel White, co-founder and CEO of Clean Crop. “Clean Current technology decontaminates seeds without impacting seed quality or requiring any chemical or water additives, while also eliminating the risk of chemical run-off after planting. With support from M2I2, we’re able to overcome our current capacity constraints and bring additional Clean Current systems online to meet growing demand from the seed market.”
“These 13 companies have demonstrated immense potential to scale manufacturing in Massachusetts,” said Center for Advanced Manufacturing Director Christine Nolan. “The Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) program helps to ensure that companies who will use these funds to build out pilot scale production capacity also invest in their communities and employees. Manufacturing continues to be an industry that drives the Massachusetts economy and provides good paying, sustainable jobs for people with and without college degrees.”
The M2I2 funding comes during a period of momentous growth for Clean Crop. In May, the company won the Agriculture Category of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas. Clean Crop was also recently named to TIME’s list of America’s Top Greentech Companies of 2024. Based in Holyoke, MA, the company is partnering with Springfield Technical Community College to establish a workforce-development training program for electromechanical technicians in the region. Clean Crop is committed to equipping local residents, particularly those from under-served backgrounds, with the skills needed to operate and maintain its Clean Current technology within its seed tolling facility.
For more information on Clean Crop, including open manufacturing partnership and hiring opportunities, visit cleancroptech.com.