Entrepreneur Briefs

MIT: A Solar Car In Your Future Imagine owning a car without ever having to buy gas, change the oil, or pay for expensive transmission repairs. A group of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they are ready to make that possible, forming a startup called Solectron that will market virtually maintenance-free solar-powered cars. James Worden, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and Solectron’s project manager, says prototypes for a $10,000 commuter car (with a maximum speed of 45 m.p.h.) and a $20,000 two-seat sports car (65 m.p.h.) should be complete in less than five months, and cars should be ready for sale in about a year. When the prototypes are completed, the MIT team will test them out in races, both for publicity and safety reasons. He says Solectron, which has 10 employees, hopes to produce about 100 cars after the first two years, and to increase productivity after that. Listing other advantages, including no pollution, rust, and a scratch-free exterior, Worden says, "We want everyone to know that it is practical now.” One disadvantage involves a potential car crash, since the solar cars weigh less than 800 lbs., while the average car weighs more than 1,400 lbs. However, Worden adds, “It would be a much safer place [if all the cars on the road were solar cars].” Worden is optimistic about the market for these cars, citing interest that’ has already been expressed by U.S. and Canadian car buyers. Startup Aims To Reap Spoils Of Sulfite Ban The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 1986 ban on sulfites used as antibrowning agents in fresh produce may mean an influx of green for Extended Product Life Inc., a startup based in Conshohocken, Pa. The company, founded in February 1988, markets a sodium pyrophosphate/ascorbic acid treatment called Keep ‘M Fresh, a sulfite substitute that extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by slowing the respiration rate of the cut produce, thereby blocking the enzymatic action that produces browning. Another EPL product, Potato Fresh, is a potential antidote to the proposed FDA ban on sulfites added to fresh potatoes. Keep ‘M Fresh is descended from a product developed at Purdue University by a research team that included Joe Cherry, formerly a horticulture professor at Purdue. Cherry, now EPL board chairman and head of the botany and microbiology department at Auburn University, licensed the technology from Purdue. EPL currently employs a staff of six, including two scientists. Company president W. Scott Berger, a management consultant and certified public accountant, says he expects EPL to break even in the late summer or fall of 1990. Berger says EPL’s customers are “processors looking for extra shelf life,” to. Japan Grows As Venture Capital Source U.S. high-tech startups have found a new source of venture capital Japan. As of July 1, Japanese investors had already spent $214 million in 1989 to purchase equity in small U.S. businesses, putting it well ahead of Japanese venture investment for the whole of 1988, according to a study performed by Venture Economics Inc. of Needham, Mass. The $100 million that Canon Inc. spent for a 16.67% stake in NeXT Inc., the Fremont, Calif. based computer workstation company, accounts for much of the increase, but even discounting it, the figures are still on the pace for a sizable increase. According to Lindsay Jones, editor of Corporate Venturing News, which is published by Venture Economics and carried the report, the key target for Japanese venture capital is the California computer industry: Half of the Japanese venture investment in 1988 was in the Golden State, and 80% of that was in computers. enhance the appearance of produce on display or to maintain the freshness of products traveling to faraway markets. Because many of his customers are “concerned that they will give away their marketing edge” if news of Keep ‘M Fresh leaks out, Berger says he will comply with requests to deliver it in “unlabeled, generic containers."

Entrepreneur Briefs

The Scientist Staff

MIT: A Solar Car In Your Future

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