A just-announced infusion of federal grant dollars is expected to help a Lawrence startup scale its breakthrough technology from pilot validation to a full commercial process — boosting efforts to dramatically reduce the climate impact of refrigerants used in air conditioners, heat pumps and refrigeration systems.
Icorium Engineering Company on Wednesday released details of a $1.2 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant award from the National Science Foundation.
“As our team continues to grow, the NSF Phase II award enables us to accelerate commercialization and keep pushing what’s possible in refrigerant reclaim,” said Kalin Baca, co-founder and CEO of Icorium, noting deep thanks to the NSF, as well as her colleagues at the KU Innovation Park-headquartered startup.
The team is building new datasets on refrigerant-ionic liquid behavior, running advanced simulations, validating continuous separations and conducting economic and lifecycle analyses to measure long-term benefits.
Icorium recently achieved greater than 99.5 weight percent purity (the purity required for refrigerant resale) in its pilot separation tower using the company’s proprietary ionic liquids, the startup reported.
This key technical milestone further demonstrates the platform’s commercial viability and its potential to transform refrigerant recovery at scale, said Abby Harder, head of research and development at Icorium.
“Achieving greater than 99.5 percent purity at pilot scale is a major validation of our ionic liquid separation technology,” she explained. “It also confirms that our process models reliably predict real-world separation behavior, supporting the scale-up of our technology.”
Kalin Baca, founder and CEO of Icorium Engineering Company, pitches her startup to a group of investors, largely from the organized Oread Angel Investors network at KU Innovation Park in late 2024; photo courtesy of KU Innovation Park
This milestone year also includes recognition for both Icorium and its leadership, which were honored in January among Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025.
Icorium was recently recognized as a 2025 Startup on our Radar by Chemical & Engineering News, highlighting promising startups in chemical engineering and sustainable technologies making waves nationally.
Mark Shiflett and Kalin Baca, Icorium Engineering; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
Baca was named the 2025 Enterprising Innovator at the 12th Annual STEMMy Awards, which honor women across the Kansas City region who are breaking barriers in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine. The award celebrates women whose work drives meaningful change locally and globally.
Baca also earned the Under 30 Entrepreneur Merit Award at the 2025 To the Stars Kansas Business Awards by the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Icorium earned additional recognition throughout 2025; including Most Innovative Product or Service at the 2025 Keystone Awards (recognizing companies delivering cutting-edge solutions in technology and engineering); and 2025 Foundation Awards Honoree, hosted by Lawrence Business Magazine (celebrating local businesses that demonstrate excellence in entrepreneurship, community impact, and innovation).
“We are proud of the entire Icorium team,” said Mark Shiflett, co-founder and CSO of Icorium. “These awards recognize not only the innovation behind our technology but also the dedication and collaboration of our team that make our mission possible.”
This story is made possible by eGrowth Ventures.
eGrowth Ventures (EGV) is a business unit of NetWork Kansas supporting innovative, high-growth entrepreneurs in the State of Kansas. NetWork Kansas promotes an entrepreneurial environment by connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with the expertise, education and economic resources they need to succeed.
