Dartmouth-based Aurea Technologies has won a 2025 HardTech Award for its portable Shine Turbine. The recognition comes from Vancouver-based MistyWest, a product development firm focused on sustainability.

Aurea, which has just celebrated eight years in operation, was nominated by crowdfunding site KickStarter after pre-selling $407,000 of revised product in September last year. Aurea raised over 13 times its goal two weeks after opening its Kickstarter campaign for the next generation of its portable wind turbines.  The campaign to fund production of Shine 2.0 originally had a target of $30,000, but Aurea received $407,000 worth of pre-orders for more than 600 units.

“We saw a really great reaction to the original product, but what we were continuously hearing from our first round of customers was how they wanted certain upgrades and changes made to the product,” Adalay told Entrevestor at the time.

Co-founders Adalay and Rachel Carr launched the original Shine Turbine on Kickstarter in 2021. The device is small and light enough for easy transport, at three pounds. It is capable of functioning in a wide range of weather conditions, anywhere from 0 to 40 degrees Celsius and with wind speeds of between 8 and 28 miles per hour. It incorporates a 12,000 mAh internal battery, which can be charged ahead of time.

The changes incorporated with Shine 2.0 include a USB-C charging port to comply with new European Union regulations, an app that can display real-time telemetry from the turbine via a Bluetooth connection, such as its battery state and the estimated wind speed, and an increase in the power output to 50 watts from 40. The revised charging port can also transfer power about five times faster than the original Shine port.

“People also wanted different options for mounting (the turbine),” said Adalay. “The biggest one being they wanted to set it up taller from the ground, so it can overcome wind disruptions such as brush and mounds. So, we’ve developed a mount accessory that will enable a turbine to be put higher above the ground.”

Shine 2.0 will initially launch in Canada, the United States and Europe, as did the original Shine Turbine.

To date, Aurea has raised $5 million in funding, not counting crowdfunding pre-sales.

The HardTech Awards celebrated a total of 20 engineers and designers involved in commercialized hardware innovation. 

Adalay credited Aurea’s team with the award.

“This milestone isn’t just about the hardware - it’s about the brilliant, passionate people behind it who have worked tirelessly to turn the Shine Turbine into a product that empowers people with portable, renewable energy,” she said.
 

Disclosure: Cat Adalay is the daughter of the founders and owners of Entrevestor.