August 30, 2022

SusMaX, a startup co-founded by a Drexel PhD graduate and College of Engineering faculty member, was selected to be a part of The Heritage Group Accelerator program as part of its Fall 2022 cohort. The selection comes with $150,000 in funding, access to lab support, and dedicated financial, business development, and R&D mentorship.

SuxMaX was started by Mohammad Balapour (PhD Civil Engineering ’21) and Dr. Amir Farnam (Associate Professor in the College of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering) to produce a new type of lightweight aggregate for construction products from waste coal ash. 

The Drexel startup is one of seven companies selected to participate in the Heritage Group's immersive 13-week program at their innovation hub in Indianapolis. The Heritage Group (THG) Accelerator hosts startups with a focus on the circular economy, energy, sustainable materials, water and waste management, infrastructure, and SaaS for hardtech. It draws from the Heritage Group's more than 30 operating companies as well as external partners to deliver robust support for their startups while they're in the accelerator program.

“The need for innovators interested in a greener future has never been more clear. At The Heritage Group Accelerator, we pair innovators with hand-selected resources and expertise to scale their transformative technologies and write the next chapter in sustainable manufacturing, materials, infrastructure, waste and water treatment, and other hard tech verticals,” said Nida Ansari, Managing Director of the THG Accelerator.

Founded in 2020, SusMaX uses a patented thermochemical process to produce construction Lightweight Aggregate (LWA) from historically landfilled waste coal combustion ash (W-CCA). Potential early customers include ready-mix concrete producers who have challenging accessibility to this construction material. The LWA invented at Drexel meets required industry specifications and has a wide range of applications including structural and insulating concrete, geotechnical fill, masonry concrete block, and road material. 

The THG investment and accelerator participation will help the company build on its foundation of Drexel and ic@3401 support before returning to the Philadelphia region to scale their business. SusMaX has also been the recipient of NSF SBIR funding and was the winner of a Drexel Startups Fund competition.

“This is a great news for SusMaX and a sign of the strength of discoveries and entrepreneurial vision coming out of Drexel labs from our talented students and professors,” said Shintaro Kaido, Drexel’s vice provost for innovation and executive director of Drexel Applied Innovation. “The THG Accelerator is an amazing opportunity for SusMaX to develop and refine their business model as they prepare to pilot and scale their innovation.”
Read more about the Accelerator and SusMaX here: 
https://www.hgaccelerator.com/news/hg-accelerator-2022-cohort 
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