Utah inventor wins entry to entrepreneur boot camp

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Small donations from dozens of supporters have helped a team led by Holladay native and inventor Scot Frank to land a spot in a kind of entrepreneurial boot camp hosted by a group called the Unreasonable Institute.

Frank, 25, is the chief executive officer of a nonprofit, One Earth Designs.

"We did it!" announced the One Earth Designs team Friday, after raising the $8,000 necessary to secure a spot at the eight-week camp. "With your help, we are the first organization to raise the funds to attend the Unreasonable Institute."

Frank's group has developed a solar stove that can be used for cooking, heating and electricity. Durable, lightweight, portable, affordable, the stove is also easy to repair,

With the help of 60 world-class investors and entrepreneurs at this summer's institute in Boulder, Colo., Frank hopes to bring the Sol-Source 3-in-1 stove to a mass market. Worldwide, pollution from combustion stoves used indoors sickens and kills more than 1 million every year.

Developed by the West High School and MIT grad with the help of villagers he met in rural western China, the stove could be used someday by as many as 2.5 billion of the world's poorest people.

In an e-mail to donors and supporters who had chipped in between $10 and $500 over the first 22 days of the competition, One Earth said: "We consider you to be integral members of our team."

More than 300 from 60 countries applied and just 45 finalists were selected. Frank will be one of 25 entrepreneurs at this year's camp. —