A Colorado company that started as a CSU spinoff took home the US Department of Energy’s annual Venture Award for their work with sugars and carbohydrates. Carbo Analytics, which is headquartered within the CSU Research Innovation Center, was among three companies that took home the coveted award.

Company founder and president Dale Willard said the award was an amazing achievement, and speaks to the solid foundation and work done by the company.

“Nationally, this is the highest profile startup company forum in the clean energy space,” Willard said. “Just having the opportunity to present was an honor, but receiving the award provides evidence investors believe we are building a solid company with the proper focus.”

The event was hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and attracted more than 400 investors, entrepreneurs and business personnel, with the overall goal of providing exposure for startups from around the country.

“Winning an award like this takes a talented team of people,” said Willard. “Our team starts with our dedicated employees and contractors but importantly includes the university where we are housed and incubated and the Rocky Mountain Innosphere that was instrumental in engineering the presentation through the SAGE advisor support.”

The company was founded in 2011, and is licensed by CSU Ventures. Their stated goal is to help companies in industries that rely on sugars, such as brewing, foods, biorefining and pharmaceuticals. The company licenses products from the CSU Chemistry Department and aims at making sugar analysis simpler by using a lab-on-a-chip system.