Mycocycle Founder and CEO Chosen as Argonne National Labs’ Chain Reaction Innovations Cohort

Rodriguez was one of seven selected from a field of 18 finalists.

Mycocycle, Inc., a leader in using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste, announced that Founder and CEO Joanne Rodriguez has been selected to be part of Argonne National Labs’ Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI) Cohort 6.

“Our team has been working to develop a strong platform of science+business opportunity on which to build our climate tech. Being selected by Chain Reaction Innovations and supported by the Department of Energy is a tremendous honor for me and our team. The opportunity to advance our technology with Argonne means working with best-in-class scientists, researchers and labs. It is truly an honor.”

CRI provides a two-year fellowship for innovators focusing on clean energy and science technologies. Participants are selected through an annual call for innovators and will receive the financial and technical support needed to perform early-stage research and development (R&D) that may launch their energy or manufacturing businesses in the future.

“We are excited to support these innovators and help them leverage Argonne’s deep expertise and world-class facilities to accelerate the development of their climate-fighting technologies,” said Dick Co, CRI’s director in a statement. “Addressing climate change will require speed and scale across all sectors, and these startups are poised to make an impact when they graduate from CRI.”

The support and guidance help companies develop and scale their technologies. Fellowship funding covers salary, benefits and the use of a dedicated lab and office space. Participants also receive assistance in developing their business strategies, conducting market research, and developing relationships with potential partners.

About Mycocycle

Mycocycle, Inc. was founded in October 2018. It is a woman-owned, early stage cleantech company using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste. Mycocycle was one-of-seventeen companies worldwide selected to The Circulars Accelerator in 2022 through the World Economic Forum and Accenture, was the winner of the 2021 1871 Momentum Awards as an Industry Disrupter and Chicago Innovation “Up and Comer” Award, recognized as a Finalist in FastCompany's "2021 World Changing Ideas" Awards issue, recognized as a Forbes “Next1000” Entrepreneur and Energy+Environment Top 100 Leader, selected as a Top 100 Global Deeptech Pioneer by Hello Tomorrow, and a 2020 Innovation selection in the EPA's Innovation and America Recycle's Fair. For more information visit www.mycocycle.com.

About Chain Reaction Innovations

Chain Reaction Innovations provides a two-year fellowship for entrepreneurs focusing on clean energy and science technologies. Selected annually through an application call, the program enables innovators to work on their technology full-time, de-risking their startups with the help of leading experts and equipment from Argonne National Laboratory. Each cohort works to build their startups into market-ready businesses. CRI is located at Argonne and supported by area mentors from the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago.

Chain Reaction Innovations is part of the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). EERE created the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs to provide an institutional home for innovative postdoctoral researchers to build their research into products and train to be entrepreneurs.