For ClimateTech 2021 Wrap Up

For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.
Twenty-Twenty-WON!… in Review
This year’s accomplishments would not have been possible without the time, energy, and support from our climatetech community. From our insightful mentors and speakers to our innovative partners and sponsors, thank you for joining us in supporting and accelerating breakthrough technologies to address our changing planet. It is humbling to be in this work alongside individuals and organizations dedicated to making this world a better place.
A special thanks to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Canadian Consulate, Silicon Valley Bank, Carta, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP) in making For ClimateTech the high-impact, global community that it is today.


- A collective total of $12 million in non-dilutive funding was secured by Cohort 1 graduates from outside sources.
- Baby James Amable arrived!
- 50+ discussions & engagement points with climate investors were coordinated through V4C.
- The inaugural For ClimateTech Summit brought together over 700 people from 48 different countries for two jam-packed days of climate tech talks from speakers like Jigar Shaw, Brad Feld, and David Jilk.
- We received 137 Applicants from 29 different countries competing in the For ClimateTech Global Innovation Challenge resulting in three $10,000 Winners – Alchemr, Clean Ocean Coatings, and Mars Materials.
- We received 661 unique applications for our inaugural program from 64 countries.
- Dynamic Air Cooling won a European Innovation Council (EIC) Grant of €3.25 million.
- Two founders successfully licensed IP’s from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
- New Frontier Aerospace was awarded a $750,000 contract by the Department of Defense’s National Security Innovation Capital.
- Laureen Meroueh is heading to Breakthrough Energy Ventures Fellowship.
- Alchemr received $1.15 million in a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Part II Award and secured a paid pilot demonstration with Repsol.
- A new Plug Power Gigafactory is set to bring 375 jobs to Monroe County, NY as a result of the work of American Fuel Cell. Dan O’Connell and his team at American Fuel Cell participated in the Venture For ClimateTech proof of concept program, Nexus NY.
- Dimensional Energy was awarded $2.7 million for its project, “Silicon-Carbide Receiver/Reactor by Additive Manufacturing for Concentrated Solar Thermocatalysis with Thermal Energy Storage.”
- We Radiate took home $250,000 from the 2021 Grow-NY Competition.
- Rachel Rosen, Co-Founder & CEO of WexEnergy, was named Executive of The Year by the Rochester Business Journal.
- Ault Global Holdings invested $2.25 million in Unique Electric Solutions.
- 30+ people presented IN-PERSON at the Energy Innovation Showcase at Jones Beach.
- CLIP BIKE won the $25,000 2021 Keeling Curve Prize Laureate for Transport & Mobility.
- Twelve raised $57 million in Series A funding.
- CLIP BIKE, Unique Electric Solutions, and Arcworks (which partners with WeRadiate) were awardees of FuzeHub’s Innovation Fund Manufacturing Grants.
- Accelerate Wind was awarded $1 million in Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Funding.
- Electro-Active Technologies and Twelve were selected as top presenters at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Industry Growth Forum out of 150+ applicants.
- Ekostinger, Skyven, and Enertiv each received $500,000 from NYSERDA’s co-investment fund.
- Urban Energy was selected as a $100,000 finalist for the American-Made Solar Prize.
- Switched Source received $8.6 million from Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) Commercial Scaling of Transformational Energy Technology Projects.
- Dimensional Energy was selected as a prize finalist for the $20 million Carbon XPrize.
- Actasys closed a $5 million seed round to commercialize its Automotive Sensor Cleaning System.
Venture For ClimateTech Announces $12 Million Raised by First Cohort and Kicks Off Recruitment for Cohort 2
Venture For ClimateTech is now recruiting for Cohort 2. We are working to identify and accelerate the most promising climate tech innovators from around the world and provide them with up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding, educational programming, and the mentorship needed to get highly impactful solutions to market.
Register for an info session through the link below to see if the program is right for you and apply now. |
Scale For ClimateTech Adds 17 Emerging Startups For Cohort 4
Selected from a total of 84 applicants spanning 17 countries, these growth-stage companies will benefit from Scale For ClimateTech’s comprehensive programming and global network, which speeds and de-risks the production process, bridges market gaps, and helps companies get their products to market faster. To date, Scale For ClimateTech has helped more than 50 climate tech manufacturing businesses raise $174 million in funding collectively, and has generated approximately $26 million in revenue over the last three years.
Check out Cohort 4 Innovators page for a deeper dive into the companies.
Could Your Startup Use $1 Million?
Luminate is looking for startups with optics, photonics, or imaging-enabled technologies (think solar, sensor-based tech, and more) for its fifth cohort. Companies are accepted from all over the world and participation is primarily virtual.
Apply to Luminate here.