Juneau-based startup company selected as finalist for global competition

Juneau-based startup company selected as finalist for global competition

Published 6:30 am Saturday, September 12, 2026

A Juneau climate technology company working to eliminate methane from manure storages has been named a finalist in a global food and agriculture competition.

Empire State Development (ESD) and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) announced Frost Methane Labs as one of 20 innovative startups selected to complete in the eighth round of Grow-NY, a New York State-supported international food, beverage and agriculture business competition. The Juneau-based company was also a finalist in last year’s competition.

The top prize investment of $1 million will be awarded to the winner following the Grow-NY Summit held in Rochester on Nov. 12 and 13, with two other startups receiving $500,000 and four more taking home $250,000 investments.

The Juneau company works with farmers in order to reduce milking emissions, have additional revenue, and increase the fertilizer value of their manure. Frost Methane Labs CEO Olya Irzak says that the competition is very meaningful for the company in expanding in the state of New York.

“[Grow-NY] helps you get connected with a lot of the local industries,” she said. “As a result, we did end up with a couple of extra projects in the state of New York just from participating last year, and we’re hoping for something similar this year as well.”

The company was a participant in Grow-NY’s sibling program Rev: Ithaca Startup Works — a CREA business incubator space run that offers mentorship, workspace, and startup resources.

Grow-NY program director Jenn Smith said that the competition is thrilled to have Frost Methane back again, as they are a terrific team looking to build off of last year.

“They are a really promising company in terms of their traction, not just generally but specifically in New York State,” Smith said.

“As a climate tech company, they have an automated low-cost flaring system that helps to neutralize waste methane, so it’s a climate smart approach to the dairy industry, which is important to New York, and we’re excited about them and the potential that they have to help.

Smith added that Frost Methane is staying at the “bleeding edge” of this technology and continues to be exciting and relevant with significant partnerships and strategies that have “long legs.”

The 20 finalists will now receive tailored mentorship from industry experts over the next 10 weeks as they enter the next phase of the competition. Guidance will help the startups refine their regional growth plans and introduce them to potential partners and investors.

The companies will then implement their ideas and scout out potential business locations where they can help the farms, food businesses, and communities throughout the Grow-NY region.

Irzak said that the company remains committed to working with farmers throughout the nation, and winning one of the prizes would allow Frost Methane to expand its capacity and tackle a lot more projects.

Laughlin Barker, Frost Methane’s senior embedded systems engineer, said that he is part of a three-person team that works out of a small workspace in an old charter classroom.

“We’re got a workshop in here with copper tools and laser cutters and 3D printers, and we use that as our development home base,” he said. “Our little shop is good at making one or two highly unique things, and once we get it all figured out and it’s been tested on a farm, we kick it down south where supply chains are a little more robust and we’re not quite as hamstrung by the cost of shipping.”

Eight states are represented in this year’s group of finalists, with Alaska being the farthest. Juneau is the second-farthest place represented overall, as a team from the Netherlands is in the group of finalists.

Finalists were selected by a panel of more than 40 expert judges with backgrounds in agribusiness, economic development, equitable access to capital, food systems and entrepreneurship. More than 330 applications from 49 countries and 32 states were reviewed during the selection process.

ESD president, CEO and commissioner Hope Knight said that the competition has once again attracted exceptional startups and entrepreneurial talent from around the world.