Wind turbine maker takes 1st in third Cox/Inc. pitch contest

ROBERT BAXTER, founder of CBC, maker of the Hidden in Plain Sight Wind Energy Systems, makes his pitch Thursday evening at the third Get Started RI pitch competition, held in Warwick. / COURTESY COX
ROBERT BAXTER, founder of CBC, maker of the Hidden in Plain Sight Wind Energy Systems, makes his pitch Thursday evening at the third Get Started RI pitch competition, held in Warwick. / COURTESY COX

WARWICK – Warwick-based CBC LLC, a designer and soon-to-be manufacturer of wind turbines for energy, took home the $10,000 first prize in the third Get Started RI Pitch Competition, put on by Cox Business and Inc. Magazine Thursday evening at the Harbor Lights Marina and Country Club.
Modeled after the ABC-TV series Shark Tank, the competition finalists made a two-and-a-half minute pitch to a five-judge panel, who subsequently asked follow-up questions of the participants. CBC’s technology, which focuses wind into turbines that spin on a vertical axis inside a self-contained structure, is designed to be placed on top of homes and commercial structures, without the need for large towers and blades.
Robert Baxter, founder of CBC, said that idea for the technology – which he has named Hidden in Plain Sight Wind Energy Systems – was the result of a client interaction when he ran a consulting business. Currently, there is a full-size prototype running on the Spring House Hotel on Block Island.
Using Rhode Island suppliers for the generators, composite blades and metal concentrators, as well as an outside supplier of the electronics, Baxter said he expects sales to begin in the first half of 2016. He estimates the cost of a commercial unit to be $3-$4 per watt, with smaller residential units to cost roughly $6 per watt. With a typical commercial unit expected to be of the 100 kilo-watt size, the cost would be roughly $30,000 to $40,000, before state and federal incentives are applied.
His research indicates that the average wind speed at the tops of urban buildings is in the neighborhood of 30 mph, but the system can generate electricity with wind as low as 5 mph. As a result, he said, “the big opportunity is for a metropolitan wind farm,” which would install 10 to 20 100kw units and utilize existing (and oftentimes surplus) energy transmission infrastructure. Baxter said that patent applications have been filed. He added that he “would welcome capital,” but he doesn’t need it to get started.
The other companies pitching at the event were:

  • Deelish Skin, NO SCARE Skin Care, a manufacturer of skin care products that are made of food products only, with products in the market, working out of Hope & Main, the Warren food business incubator
  • Movin, a company that buys used furniture at the end of the school year, then sells it to new students at the beginning of the next after refurbishment and/or customization
  • Ocean State Smoked Fish Co., a smoker of locally caught fish, including Scup, with products in the market produced at the Hope & Main food incubator in Warren
  • Primal Digital Marketing, a marketing company that uses behavioral patterns and automation to optimize the marketing channels for small businesses
  • XactSense, designer and manufacturer of drones and software that maps built and natural environments for engineering uses, replacing traditional surveyors

Previous winners of the Get Started competition were Last year’s winner, Food4Good, a nonprofit food truck that uses its weekday business to fund weekend soup kitchen activity, and in 2013, Care Technology LLC, which makes LED lighting products for commercial applications.
The $10,000 first prize is comprised of $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in Cox Business services.
The panel of judges included: Kim Anderson, president of Ava Anderson Non Toxic; Steve DeOssie, former NFL linebacker and co-owner of Fred & Steve’s Steakhouse; Ken Kraft, vice president of marketing, Cox Business, who also moderated the session; James Ledbetter, editor, Inc. Magazine; and Mark S. Murphy, editor, Providence Business News.
In addition to Providence Business News, Get Started Rhode Island was sponsored by Cumulus and its local radio stations, WPRO Newstalk 630 and 99.7, AM790, 92 PRO-FM and LiteRock 105.

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