Lessons from Cohort 2023: Shifting Mindsets from Science to Business

Celebrating the Activate Anywhere Community’s graduating Cohort 2023 and how one fellow transformed from scientist to science entrepreneur during their two-year fellowship

A year ago, Andres Ochoa reflected on his first year as Managing Director of the Activate's first-ever virtual community: Activate Anywhere. His main takeaway? "In my time at Activate, I’ve learned that a virtual community is not only a nice-to-have but a must-have for supporting science entrepreneurship." He also wrote about how the virtual community created a sense of belonging for entrepreneurs outside of traditional innovation hubs, and how it was crucial for cultivating untapped entrepreneurial potential across the United States.

Now, with Cohort 2023 graduating this month, we want to celebrate everything this class of fellows has achieved over the last two years. Activate Anywhere’s Cohort 2023 achieved amazing milestones during the two-year fellowship, ranging from hiring first employees and creating IP and technical moat for their businesses to building MVPs, raising first rounds of investment, and getting paid by their clients.

Rok Sitar is a graduating Cohort 2023 fellow in the Activate Anywhere Community and co-founder and CEO of Blaze Energy Technologies. Blaze Energy is developing a Flex-Fuel Power System to bring fuel flexibility to the maritime shipping industry, accelerating the adoption of alternative fuels. During Sitar’s finalist week presentation, he stated his goal for the fellowship would be to transform from a scientist into an energy entrepreneur with the help of Activate’s mentorship and community, and eventually become a resource and mentor for future technology leaders. Through his reflections of his past two years, it is clear his goal was met and he’s well on his way to helping Activate continue to build our community for future leaders.

What has been the toughest challenge in your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Both the toughest and also the easiest challenge was making the decision to go 110 percent with the company,when we took the leap and hired our first employee and closed our first fundraising round. After that, there was no turning back—only full speed ahead on creating a product that we hoped would change an entire industry.

What resources did you utilize to navigate that challenge?

Network, network, and network. If there is anything that I have learned in the last two years of my Activate journey, it is that building a business is all about people. Activate provided me with resources and access to an enormous network of industry veterans, technology experts, hard-tech investors, fellow entrepreneurs, and more. It’s all about getting information, processing it, learning from it, and making decisions based on what you have learned. The world moves fast, and we have to discover not only what is happening now but also what will happen tomorrow, in one, five and ten years. Having Activate’s support structure, a safety net of financial stability for the duration of the fellowship, and people who are there to support you—that is how the toughest challenge can be overcome with the highest conviction.

“Having Activate’s support structure, a safety net of financial stability for the duration of the fellowship, and people who are there to support you… that is how the toughest challenge can be overcome with the highest conviction.”

What’s been the most important validation milestone for Blaze Energy Technologies so far, and what’s the next big step in scaling?

There have been a few across the last year, from getting top talent to join our team, to having an amazing group of early-stage investors, and seeing our technology work wonders. But, the biggest one was getting confirmation from industry leaders that what we have can transform the way they operate! Hearing the words “when you build it, we will buy it” is the greatest validation for a founder in the hard-tech industry.

Blaze Energy is now building the first fully integrated Flex-Fuel Power System and showcasing its operation before opening a seed round in Fall 2025. Our plan is to be fully operational on the first marine vessel in the next three years and work together with our industry partners to scale the technology for large-scale commercial deployment before the end of the decade.

Blaze Energy Technologies demonstration of their Flex-Fuel Power System during Activate’s 2024 Demo Day in Boston

How did you utilize the local ecosystem in Colorado and how have you seen that community growing?

Blaze was the second Activate Fellow company from Colorado, after Impact Cooling (David Hobby and Zach Gilvey, Cohort 2022). Having local support and seeing the evidence that building a hard-tech startup from the ground up can work in Colorado has been a great motivator, and validation that we can stay in our beautiful state and build the company here. Of course, this would have been much more difficult without Activate.

Since we started in 2023, the ecosystem in Colorado has grown tremendously. We are now up to four Activate Fellows in three years of the Activate Anywhere Community, and I expect more to join in the upcoming years. The Colorado hard-tech space is expanding and we have great support from the state government, university incubators, and organizations like Colorado CleanTech Industries Association who are connecting stakeholders across all levels. Perhaps it might even be time for Activate Colorado in the upcoming years?!

Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future—both for your company and the broader innovation ecosystem Activate is helping to build?

For Blaze, starting to make a difference in maritime shipping. The industry has so much momentum behind the adoption of alternative fuels, and we are building a new pathway for how a transition can be achieved with the lowest risk and the highest financial payback for the shipowners. We cannot wait to sail on the first ship powered by Blaze Energy Flex-Fuel Power System.

On the Activate side, I am excited about everything! The ecosystem that this organization is building creates so many opportunities for founders and for doing good in the world. I am a huge believer that the Activate Anywhere Community “experiment” has shown results beyond its wildest expectations, and I cannot wait to see Activate Anywhere expand further. Taking the support structure from the entrepreneurial centers of Berkeley, Boston, and New York across the entire United States—this is how innovation is created!