SAF Magazine announced this week the six companies selected to pitch to a group of investors at Pitch Day at the 2024 North American SAF Conference & Expo, taking place Sept. 11-13 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Pitch Day at the North American SAF Conference & Expo has also been selected as a Regional Competition site for Startup World Cup. The pitch event will see contestants judged by a panel of venture capitalists, with the winner attending the grand finale in California’s Silicon Valley to compete against semifinalists from across the globe for the $1 million investment prize. The judging panel will consist of venture capitalist organizations aimed at supporting startup growth. 

“There are countless innovations happening in the sustainable aviation fuel industry,” said John Nelson, vice president of operations, sales, and marketing at BBI International. “Giving companies the opportunity to pitch new technology to investors is a prime example of how SAF Magazine is committed to the success of the SAF industry.”

The six companies selected to give an in-person pitch at the International North American SAF Conference & Expo are: 

• Rimba
  Rimba is the first compliance platform to streamline sustainability certification reporting and audit for biofuel supply chains from feedstock to product using intelligent document processing technology. Rimba automates data processing for supply chain traceability, replacing manual data entry, reconciliation, and verification of documents (e.g. pdfs, delivery notes, certificate of weight, shipping documents, invoice, contracts, etc), automatically generating mass balance and greenhouse gas emission traceability reports.
• California Ethanol + Power
  California Ethanol & Power, LLC's first project, Sugar Valley Energy is a sustainable 160-acre biorefinery campus now in the final stage of development, and is comprised of the ethanol production facility, a bioelectric power island and wastewater treatment facility. In addition to SAF, sustainable energy products produced at Sugar Valley Ethanol will include low-carbon sugarcane ethanol for transportation fuels blending, renewable natural gas, renewable diesel, electricity, CO2, hydrogen and local wastewater treatment connections to benefit regional businesses and residents.
• Green Science Inc.
  Green Science is Global Microwave Gasification Leader for solid waste to clean fuels. Microwave gasification technology is the U.S. Department of Energy’s key technology initiative for solid waste to clean fuels. Green Science’s technology was verified and approved by DoE/NETL in April 2022.
• EcoTech Biofuels
  EcoTech Biofuels, LLC has the field-proven engineering processes for converting biological and carbonaceous waste materials into advanced synthetic fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel. Their team of experts has many decades of experience successfully designing, fabricating, and operating advanced renewable fuels plants. The Rio Grande Biofuels project will extract over 500 tons per day of highly flammable fuels (i.e. tinder dry dead forest waste) from Colorado’s forests and convert to over 16 million gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel and synthetic diesel. The impact will be fewer forest fires and cleaner skies.
• Dairy Distillery
  Dairy Distillery has developed a method to transform unused lactose, a byproduct of dairy processing, into low-carbon alcohol. This pioneering approach addresses the growing issue of excess lactose facing the dairy industry. Dairy Distillery has formed the Dairy Distillery Alliance in partnership with the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA). Together, they are building an alcohol plant in Michigan, which will convert 14,000 tons of milk permeate into 2.2m gallons of alcohol annually. Dairy Distillery is working to scale production of its low-carbon lactose ethanol to supply the growing demand for sustainable aviation fuel.
• Haffner Energy 
  Haffner Energy designs, manufactures, licenses, and operates cleantech solutions using all types of residual biomass. Its innovative, patented thermolysis technology produces Sustainable Aviation Fuel, as well as renewable gas, hydrogen, and methanol. Its SAFnoca® patented technology is an essential brick for SAF production that is compliant with SAF mandates around the world. Launched in 2024 in the U.S., Haffner Energy, Inc. has been invited to participate in a growing number of projects.

“SAF Magazine is thrilled to announce these six companies selected to present at Pitch Day at the North American SAF Conference & Expo,” said Marla DeFoe, marketing and advertising manager at BBI International. “Partnering with Pegasus Tech Ventures as a regional host for Startup World Cup expands the investment opportunities for these companies to gain even more exposure and investment opportunities.” 

Anis Uzzaman, founder and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures, added, "We are thrilled to partner up with BBI International for Startup World Cup Regional in Saint Paul and are delighted by the quality and enthusiasm of the competing startups. Critical to meeting climate goals and sustainability, innovation within climate tech is important to Pegasus Tech Ventures, and we are excited to be working with BBI International to initiate our first vertical-based regionals within this key sector."

Investors who are interested in attending Pitch Day at the North American SAF Conference & Expo can do so by contacting Marla DeFoe at mdefoe@bbiinternational.com. 

Now in its second year, the North American SAF Conference & Expo has extended into a three-day event featuring more than double the content from 2023. The first day, Wednesday, Sept. 11, will focus entirely on the U.S. SAF Grand Challenge. An extra track room has been added to the event to provide attendees with more content. Concurrent sessions will run throughout Thursday, Sept. 12, and Friday, Sept. 13.