Latest awards demonstrate positive energy for startup Touch Light

Swarnav Pujari has a vision – to change motion into electricity. In high school, he shared that vision with politicians in his home state of New York and with fans attending Westchester Knicks games. As a freshman at the University of Illinois, he turned that idea into a startup called Touch Light Innovations. Since being named a finalist for the Cozad New Venture Challenge in April, Pujari continues to garner accolades one semester into his sophomore year while pursing a degree in materials science and engineering.

Touch Light Innovations is pioneering the way the world harvests ambient energy to power daily tools and create a green environment. Its flagship product, Power Pad, is a low-profile device that sits beneath any moderate to heavy foot traffic location. Each step a passerby takes on the Power Pad generates up to 10 watts of power. By targeting the commercial building market space in city locations, Touch Light is able to offer a clean technology product that is designed for city-like environments.

In October, Clean Tech Open named Touch Light the Number One Emerging Clean Tech Company in the Midwest.

On Nov. 11, Touch Light was one of eight solution finalists chosen to present for the BIG Pitch Award at the Sixth Annual Ocean Exchange event in Savannah, Ga., and took home the top prize of $10,000. Ocean Exchange accelerates the adoption of solutions that help economies, health and the environment, while respecting cultures around the world.

On Nov. 16, Touch Light was a presenting finalist at the BOOST (Building Opportunities for Original and Sustainable Thinking) Funding Night and again took home the top honor. BOOST is a community-driven platform for funding emerging technologies in Chicago’s green economy. It awards unrestricted seed funding to launch enterprises that will strengthen the environment and economic vitality of the Chicagoland region.

In addition, the startup placed in the top 25 in competitions at TechWeek Dallas and TechWeek New York with Pujari taking home top student entrepreneur honors in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (EO GSEA).

“We have gained support and multiple connections in influential positions, which is bringing the Power Pad closer to stepping into the market,” Pujari said. “We are putting the money toward building our demo device which mimics an actual install to show to our interested clients and for bringing on a few engineers and consultants to help finalize our technology.”