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September 20 2023

Climate Tech Wins to Kick-off Fall

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

The Innovation Showcase Success at NYC Climate Week

Team photo

The Venture For ClimateTech teams came together for the Innovation Showcase at Indie Bio in New York where they pitched their innovations to over 75 VCs and investors. The keynote speaker, Assembly Member Emily Gallagher for New York’s 50th District, continued to show her support for initiatives that are leading to emission reductions and environmental justice by opening up the floor to the startups. Phase II of the Venture For ClimateTech program culminated with the Showcase, and now the teams are moving on to Phase III where they’ll focus on fundraising and pitching to additional investor groups to reach their ultimate goal of scaling their climate solutions and businesses.

Find Funding

The Manufacture of Advanced Key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (MAKE IT) Prize, through the American-Made Challenges, will offer approximately $30 million in total funding through two tracks: the Strategies Track and the Facilities Track.

The Strategies Track seeks to promote interest and engagement in clean energy technology manufacturing, particularly within disadvantaged communities.

The Facilities Track aims to accelerate the development of manufacturing plants by moving manufacturing facilities from planning to shovel-ready.

The phase 1 deadline for applications is on October 18. Learn more and apply here

Last call to apply for funding from NYSERDA’s NextGen Buildings Innovation Challenges program, PON 3519!

For Round 7 of this solicitation, up to $18 million may be available for projects that target the following topics of interest:

Building Envelope Systems and Components – Solutions for single-family and multifamily buildings that will substantially reduce heating and cooling costs, increase comfort, and modernize facades by introducing new materials and construction techniques.
Ground Source Heat Pump Cost Compression – Solutions for residential and commercial buildings that reduce the system installation cost by 20% or greater through new heat pump equipment, ground loop technologies, and hybrid systems.
Intelligent Buildings – Solutions for residential and commercial buildings that enable electrification without electric service upgrades, connect legacy and siloed energy systems, and maintain residents’ desired comfort, while minimizing the building’s peak electricity demand, emissions, and impact on the grid.
Thermal Storage – Solutions for residential and commercial buildings that integrate thermal storage with HVAC equipment to provide space conditioning as a single functional system and to reduce overall heating peak loads.

Applications are due on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 3:00 PM EDT. Learn more and get started here.

Cohort News

Cascade Biocatalysts Secures $2.6M in Pre-Seed Round to Scale Enzymes for Biomanufacturing

Cascade Biocatalysts, a biomanufacturing company catalyzing green chemistry, raised an oversubscribed $2.6M pre-seed round led by Ten VC, with participation from Amplify.LA, Boost VC, Range Ventures, Spacecadet, and the Cool Climate Collective. Cascade aims to use the raised funds to scale its impact from the lab bench to pilot scale, and to support its initial wave of customers.

Read the full press release here.

FLUIX Inc. Accepted into Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Labs

From over 7900 applicants, FLUIX Inc. was 1 of 23 startups selected to join the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Venture Labs accelerator from across North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Companies in the cohort receive $250,000 investment from Morgan Stanley in addition to participation in the five-month accelerator for underrepresented founders of technology startups.

Read the full announcement here.

Holocene Secures First-Ever Carbon Removal Purchase Agreement Via Frontier Climate, a Group Spearheaded by Stripe, Shopify, and H&M.

Holocene is one of 12 companies that Frontier Climate facilitated $7M of carbon removal purchases on behalf of Stripe, Shopify, and H&M Group. Holocene participated in Cohort 2 of Venture For ClimateTech and captures CO2 from air using organic molecules that can be produced at low cost. Frontier is a public benefit company that advances market commitments to accelerate carbon removal through yearly cohorts. The companies Frontier selected were from a pool of 132 applications that detailed carbon removal projects for this fall’s annual purchase cycle.

Read more about the agreement on CNBC, Bloomberg, or Frontier Climate’s Release.

Pvilion Becomes Eligible for Sole-Source Phase III Contracts from Any Federal Agency

Pvilion has become eligible for Sole-Source Phase III contracts alongside the work it has been conducting across government agencies in support of recent disaster relief and efforts in Ukraine. They’ve provided demonstrations at Joint Base Elmednorf-Richardson and at Cooperación IX Perú, a multinational Air Force exercise, on behalf of the US Air Force, where airmen used Pvilion Solar Power Integrated Structures.

Read more about Pvilion’s defense work here.

Acuicy Featured in Entrevestor for Using AI to Help Reduce Organizational GHG Emissions

Acuicy, Cohort 3 member of Venture For ClimateTech and designer of the AI business intelligence tool to generate tailored carbon reduction solutions, was featured in Entrevestor’s latest writeup. The story covers the team’s work in demonstrating its technology and next steps for the company.

Read the full story here.

WeRadiate LLC Introduces Dual Temperature Sensor™ for Composting Operations

WeRadiate has released its latest innovation, the Dual Temperature Sensor™, a unique digitally-controlled remote monitoring system to track compost health. The dual temperature sensor harnesses technology and data analytics remotely to assist operators to make real-time decisions. The solution empowers composting operations, improves profitability, and ensures regulatory compliance–a growing need to use or sell the compost for soil amendment.

Read the full announcement here.

Founder Feature

Jeff Prosserman | Founder and CEO of Voltpost

What’s your elevator pitch?

Cascade catalyzes greener chemical manufacturing by making enzymes more affordable in industrial settings. Currently, the chemicals industry produces three gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions, which we can lower by leveraging nature’s catalysts. My co-founder invented our patent-pending Body Armor for Enzymes™ which improves performance and lowers costs across industry verticals, from breaking down plastics to wastewater treatment to capturing carbon (which enzymes have been doing for billions of years).

What’s your motivation for your company?

Thanks to advances in biotechnology, we have an improved understanding of how nature manufactures the molecules all around us, creating what we see, smell, and taste from renewable resources. But billions of dollars have gone into unsuccessful companies trying to engineer biology including Zymergen, where I was at for four years before Cascade. I leveraged my learnings from there to build Cascade around a more scalable technology and a more diversified product portfolio.

What are your top 3 go-to places to learn what’s happening in the climate tech space?

CTVC: Well organized data and coverage of climate startups

Keep Cool: Insightful deep dives into various parts of the climate world

SynBioBeta: More climate biotech oriented and super helpful for this emerging space

Outside of work, what do you do for fun?

I live in Brooklyn and can be found playing beach volleyball at Domino Park, mixing mezcal into new cocktails, and playing board games like Terraforming Mars. I always enjoy exploring more of the world, whether in person (I’m excited for an upcoming trip to Oaxaca) or even virtually through Geoguessr.

Do you have any advice for other founders on how to keep up with the mental stamina and demands of being a founder?

My favorite advice is to not take any advice. Everyone will have thoughts on what you should be doing, and the best advice I have gotten is to do none of it, just listen and understand where it comes from. Only you have the full picture of your business and vision. So build the company you believe should be built.

Program Update

Governor Hochul Announces Continuation of Scale For ClimateTech

SecondMuse was selected to be the next administrator of the Scale For ClimateTech program (formerly referred to as M-Corps), working with partner NextCorps. The contract was awarded after a competitive bid process. Scale For ClimateTech will continue to help entrepreneurs and startups by connecting them with resources, supply chain partners, and manufacturers. The program will be open to local and global companies with services available to all areas of New York State with an emphasis on prioritizing connections and opportunities in disadvantaged communities.

Read the full release here.

Community

93rd NY Hardware Meetup @ Makelab | Climate Week Panel
Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 6:30 PM ET

Attend the next hardware meetup during ClimateWeek NYC for a panel discussion on best practices in sustainable and alternative models in hardware development and manufacturing. Sponsored by Scale For ClimateTech, this panel will be moderated by Shelby Thompson, Program Director, For ClimateTech.

RSVP here.

Opportunistic Sisterhood: Behind the Scenes and Beyond the Show
Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 6 – 9pm ET

Join the Women Who Hardware crew at Newlab as they welcome Netflix’s “Hack my Home” trailblazing stars Jessica Banks and Ati Williams. Jess and Ati are two of the four cohosts who dream up space-maximizing solutions and ingenious engineering ideas to transform families’ homes in inventive ways.

Learn more and register here.

Register to Watch Innovation Ignited at the Luminate Finals 2023
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

See emerging technologies, including climate tech, coming out of the world’s largest accelerator for startups working on technology enabled by optics, photonics, and imaging. Find out which companies take home more than $2 million in follow-on funding, and vote live for your favorite startup to help them take home $10K. The free event offers virtual or in-person attendance at The Theatre at Innovation Square from Rochester, NY.

Learn more and register here.

Battery & Energy Storage Supply Chain Webinar
Thursday, October 5, 2023 | 1:00-2:00 PM ET

On behalf of New Energy New York (NENY), NY-BEST, and Scale For ClimateTech Finger Lakes region manufacturers are invited to learn about opportunities to become involved with or expand in the Battery / Energy Storage Supply Chain.

Topics will include

What is the scale of the growth opportunity for battery and energy storage manufacturing in the region?
What types of companies / products are part of the supply chain?
How can companies engage with the NENY Supply Chain team and capitalize on these opportunities?
What resources are available to support companies and organizations around this opportunity?

Who should attend

Finger Lakes region Manufacturers who are currently part of the Battery / Energy Storage Supply Chain
Finger Lakes region Manufacturers who are interested in becoming part of the Battery / Energy Storage Supply Chain

This webinar will be recorded and attendees will receive a copy of the recording and slides following the event.

Learn more and register here.

August 22 2023

6 Good Wins for Cohort Companies and the Planet

chriscarpenter Newsletter

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

For ClimateTech Gets Ready for NYC Climate Week

Innovation Showcase

The For ClimateTech teams will be converging on New York to join thousands of climate innovators and leaders in collaborating on the best ideas and solutions to move climate initiatives forward. The Venture For ClimateTech cohort companies will make their final program pitches to a closed group of investors at this year’s Innovation Showcase. Although this is a private event, you can still find the For ClimateTech team at several events across the city, including Newlab’s New Climate Futures, Climate Week NYC, and more!

Find Funding

Apply for the newest round of funding available from NYSERDA’s NextGen Buildings Innovation Challenges program, PON 3519!

For Round 7 of this solicitation, up to $18 million may be available for projects that target the following topics of interest:

Building Envelope Systems and Components – Solutions for single-family and multifamily buildings that will substantially reduce heating and cooling costs, increase comfort, and modernize facades by introducing new materials and construction techniques.
Ground Source Heat Pump Cost Compression – Solutions for residential and commercial buildings that reduce the system installation cost by 20% or greater through new heat pump equipment, ground loop technologies, and hybrid systems.
Intelligent Buildings – Solutions for residential and commercial buildings that enable electrification without electric service upgrades, connect legacy and siloed energy systems, and maintain residents’ desired comfort while minimizing the building’s peak electricity demand, emissions, and impact on the grid.
Thermal Storage – Solutions for residential and commercial buildings that integrate thermal storage with HVAC equipment to provide space conditioning as a single functional system and reduce overall heating peak loads.

NYSERDA is hosting a webinar on this round on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EDT. You can register for the webinar here. Applications are due on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 3:00 PM EDT. Learn more and get started here.

Cohort News

Voltpost Closes $3.6M Seed Round For Electric Vehicle Curbside Charging Platform

Voltpost, a climate tech company democratizing access to electric vehicle (EV) charging by retrofitting lampposts with modular and upgradable EV charging solutions successfully closed its seed funding round at $3.6M. The round was led by RWE Energy Transition Investments, an investment vehicle of global renewable energy company RWE. Twynam Funds Management, Exelon Foundation, Good News Ventures, Climate Capital, and other mission aligned investors also participated in the round.

You can read the full exclusive story on TechCrunch+ and the full press release here.

Ecolectro Receives $1.08M in Demonstration Project from NYSERDA

Ecolectro, developer of membrane technology that enables cost-competitive green hydrogen, received an award to scale its chemistry and materials that reduce the cost of producing hydrogen through electrolysis and create a drop-in replacement for its current design. This project entails scaling laboratory-proven technologies with engineering and validation prototypes to build and test 10-kilowatt (kW) electrolysis units. The electrolyzer unit will be deployed in a pilot demonstration in partnership with Liberty Utilities in Massena, New York.

Read the fill announcement here.

Ateios Systems Receives a $400K Grant from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and Next Level Manufacturing Institute LLC (NLMI).

The grant will be used to accelerate development of Ateios’ advanced materials and manufacturing process and further strengthen its domestic supply chains. The end goal is to help deploy a manufacturing process that can be further scaled at an even lower cost. Read the full announcement here.

Mars Materials and Ammobia Are Selected for Funding from CalTech’s Rocket Fund

Two Venture For ClimateTech companies, Mars Materials and Ammobia, received grant funding in Caltech’s Rocket Fund’s most recent list of awardees.

Mars Materials is commercializing NREL-developed nitrilation to produce acrylonitrile (AN) from captured CO2 and biomass. The award will enable the purchase, installation, and calibration of analytical equipment for product quality assurance in samples sent to AMD and CF manufacturers for commercial validation.

Ammobia leverages advances in materials science and catalysis to produce green ammonia at low cost. It will leverage the Rocket Fund to purchase essential parts and equipment to accelerate its technology towards an integrated tech demonstrator. Read the full list of awardees here.

Climatize Hits Million-Dollar Milestone of Renewable Energy Projects Invested Through its Platform

Climatize, a member of Cohort 1 of Venture For ClimateTech, offers an easy way to invest in renewable energy projects with as little as five dollars. Earlier this month, they passed a key milestone of $1,000,000 invested in renewable energy projects through its platform–just three short months since its launch.

The accomplishment speaks to the quickly growing community of empowered users taking part in the energy transition. Santa Cruz Works nicely summarizes the occasion, which you can find here.

If you want to learn more about Climatize and download the app, check out www.climatize.earth.

Amogy Hosts Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgadao in Headquarters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgadao made a stop at Amogy’s headquarters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard where they presented their ammonia powered drone, tractor, and semi truck. The Amogy team and the Lieutenant Governor further discussed the role of ammonia in the energy transition.

See photos from the visit and more here.

Founder Feature

Jeff Prosserman | Founder and CEO of Voltpost

What’s your elevator pitch?
The Voltpost mission is to decarbonize mobility by democratizing charging access. We reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by rapidly deploying chargers that accelerate the electric mobility transition. Our goal is to empower people and communities to take climate action. Voltpost retrofits lampposts into a modular electric vehicle charging platform. This provides people with convenient and affordable charging access, while reducing the cost, timing, and footprint of chargers. Voltpost is a vision for the future of sustainable communities. Born in America. Built coast to coast.

What’s your motivation for your company?

The last decade was the hottest ever. People globally are enduring climate disasters. Our individual actions matter, and, together, we can turn the tide. However, we are running out of time. Current charging options are not good enough. This is why we are making charging scalable, convenient, and equitable.

Voltpost aims to be a transformative force in the climate movement by making charging as common as lampposts. Our platform enables a sustainable and equitable future for people and our planet. Our team is driven to leave this world better than when we started.

What are your top 3 go-to places to learn what’s happening in the climate tech space?

The For ClimateTech community has provided the Voltpost team incredible support as we scale the business. Three additional venues that are building important climate tech networks include CTVC, Climate Tech Cities, and Newlab.

Outside of VoltPost, what do you do for fun?
At this stage of my life, my center of gravity is my family. I love being a father to my two kids and small dog. I also run a couple times a week in the morning as a way to decompress or prepare for the day or week.

Do you have any advice for other founders on how to keep up with the mental stamina and demands of being a founder?

Genuinely don’t give up. Being an entrepreneur is hard. If you’re able to find purpose in building something that can truly make the world better with some vision on how it’ll work, you just can’t give up on that goal. You have to surround yourself with people who believe in the mission you believe in, like For ClimateTech. It can feel intimidating worrying that we’re not going to get to where we need to be, but it’s important to choose hope over fear.

Community

Register to Watch Innovation Ignited at the Luminate Finals 2023
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

See emerging technologies, including climate tech, coming out of the world’s largest accelerator for startups working on technology enabled by optics, photonics, and imaging. Find out which companies take home more than $2 million in follow-on funding, and vote live for your favorite startup and help them take home $10K. The free event offers virtual or in-person attendance at The Theatre at Innovation Square from Rochester, NY.

Learn more and register here.

Powering the Future Together: Join Stony Brook University in Advancing New York’s Energy Innovation Ecosystem

Stony Brook University (SBU) is thrilled to announce an exciting initiative aimed at accelerating partnerships with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in New York State, particularly within the energy sector. The strategic outreach efforts are designed to foster innovation, drive commercial success for our partners, and contribute to the overall economic development of New York State and the region.

As a designated flagship research institution, SBU is developing world-leading climate solutions at Governors Island, known as the New York Climate Exchange. The university serves as the region’s hub for innovation and industry partnerships, collaborating with over 900 researchers, including its unique partnership with Brookhaven National Laboratory.

SBU encourages discovery calls with its Center Directors, providing an opportunity to delve into how a partnership with Stony Brook University can revolutionize your business operations within the ever-evolving market dynamics.

To learn more, reach out to david.hamilton@stonybrook.edu.

Program Update

See How Good Your Pitch is According to Venture For ClimateTech

Pitch Your business pitch sets a tone and directly communicates the potential you offer to an investor. That’s why a key phase of the Venture For ClimateTech curriculum focuses on helping each company develop an effective pitch. We

compiled our staff’s top 5 do’s and don’ts of crafting a pitch! Get all the pitching advice here.

August 2 2023

The Top 5 Do’s and Don’ts of Making a Pitch

chriscarpenter Blog cleantech, climate tech, elevator pitch, investment, investors, pitch, pitch deck, startup

By Chris Carpenter

A pitch is often a company’s first impression and the path to help raise money and awareness. It sets a tone and directly communicates the potential a company offers to an investor. A good pitch covers the nuts and bolts of your company, and helps you sell your audience on your solution.

Because of this importance, a key phase of the Venture For ClimateTech (V4C) curriculum focuses on helping each team develop and pitch their company’s market opportunity to V4C’s board and key stakeholders. The lessons our V4C staff shares with our cohorts can be valuable to all startups that are working to secure funding and commercialize their ideas.

Here are our top 5 do’s and don’ts to help you effectively pitch your company.

1. DO know your audience.

Research the group you’re pitching to BEFORE the meeting. This will enable you to adapt your narrative to what’s most important to your audience to clearly convey why they should care about you. This will help differentiate your company, engage the audience more deeply in your story, and make you memorable. There are several ways to find info on investors. Start by checking out the portfolio page on the firm’s website to find what they previously invested in. If they’ve invested in similar companies, make sure you highlight how you offer something different or better, or how your solution can benefit or augment their existing investments. Also search the individuals you’ll be meeting with on LinkedIn or Google to see if you have mutual connections, participate in the same organizations and associations, or support similar causes. Another great tool to use is CTVC’s Running List of Climate VCs, which is a directory of funds that put climate first. You can search funds or plug in specific criteria to find VCs that best match the investment your company is looking for.

2. DO start with a strong script.

Create an outline of the core messages you want to communicate and draft a script. Your script should match your natural voice and cover key points supporting your primary message. Once drafted, walk away for a couple of hours and return to edit it with fresh eyes. If you can, have a friend edit the script to make sure it’s concise and to the point. Once the script is finalized, rehearse it by yourself and then with anyone who will listen. Ask listeners what questions they have. This will help you prepare answers to questions or situations that might come up during the meeting. Never assume you’ll have the full time allotted to pitch. Having a shorter and longer version of your script ready to go will help you adapt at a moment’s notice.

3. DO have your company foundation ready.

A pitch is a reflection on the foundational work of a company and the indicators that communicate interest and traction. Do you have a road map or a plan for fundraising? Has the company conducted any market studies or validated the product’s potential with any customers? Have you established a data room—a shareable but secure repository of due diligence documents like your financials, company documents, board of director materials, and marketing materials to easily share with investors? These documents will inform the slides you put together for the pitch, and will help you point to the more detailed information investors might need to make decisions on whether to fund your business.

4. DO tell a story.

This is where you can let your passion for your idea shine. Your company is solving a pressing problem, so present the evidence as to why you are the authority or in the best position to alleviate the pain (and be a hero in the industry or world). Your own personal story can be tied into the problems as well, if it aligns. Most important, communicate why are you are passionate about working on the problem. The individuals you’re presenting to are humans-beings, too, so appeal to the business case AND their hearts. Narratives can, and should, elicit the emotional aspects surrounding your innovation and the industry you’re in. This is where brand loyalty starts.

5. DO know your numbers.

Investors lean on data to piece together their own picture of your products potential and assess risks. Make it easy for them to see your company’s value by sharing stats on the total addressable market and your target market, the size and impact of the problem you’re solving, estimated pricing and margins, results of initial customer pilots, research that substantiates your viewpoint, and any other metrics that back up your story. Many questions that come up during pitches relate to data, so be ready to discuss how your team got to those figures. Otherwise your pitch can be dismantled, along with your credibility, through a single figure and question.

Now that you know where to start, here are the Venture For ClimateTech team’s top 5 DON’Ts for preparing a pitch.

1. DON’T slack on the design element.

If you’re going to be pitching an innovation of the future, it better look like it. Everyone has the ability to make some slides but not everyone has the ability to develop them into a comprehensive story. Attention spans are shorter than ever but good visuals can grab someone’s attention and actually buy you more time! So, invest in a designer or someone who can give your pitch deck a professional look. Doing so shows you care about the details. Many of our startups lean on Canva – it’s a free and easy-to-use tool to make graphics. There are many platforms, like Upwork and Fiverr to find freelance designers, or check your network for recommendations on a good, local designer.

2. DON’T wing it.

Winging a pitch is more obvious than you think, especially to individuals who watch pitches for a living. Winging a presentation is a ‘kiss-of-death’ to many investors and a fast way to disengage an audience. Every word counts when you’re talking to investors about your solution, so don’t waste it with stammering or “ums” and “ahs” that come up when you’re unrehearsed. Effective preparation can also help you handle the questions you might get to smoothly make it through the presentation.

3. DON’T write too much on your slides.

Far too often, founders use a lot of language on their slides to provide context that ultimately distracts the audience. With a lot of text, many individuals will tune out your pitch and start looking for the information they want to see. The truth is, you should have multiple pitch decks for multiple situations. At the very least, have a primary deck with less words and just the key facts and figures on it for when you are presenting. Then, have a pitch deck that has all of the written context in the slides. This can be emailed to investors later on so that they can read it on their own time. You can also add more detailed slides as an addendum at the back of your concise, primary deck to go to if an investor asks for more detail during the presentation. That way, you are ready for all scenarios.

4. DON’T have mistakes and typos.

One of the easiest ways to lose an investor or even an audience is to have a sloppy pitch deck riddled with distracting typos and errors. This gives the audience an easy opportunity to poke holes in the credibility and confidence of your startup. This situation is super avoidable by simply having a friend or colleague review your slide deck and point out errors. Even the best editors don’t see their own mistakes, so get a second set of eyes on your content!

5. DON’T read from your script or slides.

Reading from your script instantly takes the emotion and passion out of your pitch. It can also make you move too quickly through important detail. We know you’re nervous—most people are when giving a presentation. But if you don’t know your own business well enough to talk about it comfortably, people won’t trust that you can execute on it. Use and memorize bullet points and rehearse your script in front of colleagues or friends and family. This will help you ease your anxiety to let your natural voice, inflection, and delivery, shine through.

Each of these rules plays into the larger picture of being prepared to tell your story in a compelling way. Focus on your foundation, and like the many Venture For ClimateTech companies, you’ll find yourself on the better side of your next pitch.

July 18 2023

For ClimateTech Forest Grows; Cool Cohort Wins to Beat the Heat

chriscarpenter Newsletter

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

flowering crabapple

This past winter, Scale For ClimateTech recognized Bob Bechtold for his leadership in sustainable cleantech contract manufacturing and implementation. The tree that came with the recognition was recently planted in St. Joseph’s Park in Rochester, NY near NextCorps’ office this past month.

The Scale For ClimateTech team extends our gratitude to Bob, again, for starting Harbec down the path to net-zero GHG manufacturing over 20 years ago, and sharing his lessons learned with our team and many more!

Funding

Accelerate at VERGE 23 is Now Open

If you are a climate tech startup working in energy, carbon, food, transport or buildings, you have until August 6 for a chance to pitch your startup at VERGE this October in San Jose, California. The winner of the pitch competition will receive $20,000, with second and third runner-ups receiving $10,000.

Click here for more info and to apply.

FuzeHub’s Commercialization Competition Application Now Open

If your NYS-based company is pre-revenue and has an existing tangible prototype, apply for your chance at a $50,000 grant. Several are available, and one company has the chance to win an additional $100,000 for a grand award of $150,000. Finalists will pitch live during the NYS Innovation Summit at the Saratoga City Center on October 16 and 17, 2023.

Get your application in here by August 9, 2023.

Cohort News

New Frontier Aerospace was announced as one of NASA’s SBIR/STTR awardees for the development of its high-performance “Orbital Transfer Stage” designed on its Mjölnir engine. The awards are focused on technologies that protect the health of astronauts and decrease the risk of collision damage to spacecraft that can support future missions. Read NASA’s full release here.

Ateios announced the successful validation of its fabless manufacturing model with the help of the $75K Manufacturing Expert-In-Residence (MEIR) award from Scale For ClimateTech. Ateios Systems is working to enable its innovative electrode manufacturing techniques. The project demonstrated a 20% increase in energy density through a cell build for a significant battery original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In addition, it also eliminated 231,000 metric tons of CO2 for a single production line. That’s the equivalent emissions of 50,000 gas-emitting cars.

Learn more about Ateios here.

The American Concrete Institute awarded KLAW Industries and the City of Binghamton with an Award of Merit for making cost-effective, sustainable infrastructure a reality. Leading up to the award, KLAW Industries partnered with the city of Binghamton to provide $1.7 million worth of sidewalk and curb concrete work that uses post-consumer glass as a partial cement replacement.

Read more about the award covered by Fox 40 in Binghamton.

Uuvipak, Cohort 3 member of Venture For ClimateTech, was announced as one of the 12 startups to join Techstars Farm to Fork class of 2023. Uuvipak has a patent-pending, home compostable natural packaging created from upcycled food waste, which is designed to eradicate single-use plastic utensils and packaging. Read more about Techstars new Farm to Fork class here.

Power to Hydrogen won the 9th edition of Startup Basecamp’s “The Future of Climate Tech Global Online pitch competition. They competed against over 65 different companies from around the world and across every sector in climate. You can read more about the competition here.

Active Surfaces won the Robert P. Goldberg Grand Prize of $100K and the Danny Lewin Audience Choice Award of $10K, hosted by theThe Future of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA): Insights from Tinia Pina MIT Entrepreneurship Competition. Active Surfaces is commercializing an ultra thin-film solar technology based on decades of MIT research. You can read more about Activate Surfaces in a feature story by Greentown labs here.

Re-Nuble and its Founder and CEO, Tinia Pina, was featured in Indoor Vertical Farming Newsletter®’s article The Future of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA): Insights from Tinia Pina, Founder of Re-Nuble. Tinia offers insights on the growing medium products they offer how they are navigating the complexities of organic farming certifications. Read the full story here.

Program Update

Cohort 3 of Venture For ClimateTech is heading into week 10 of programming. Each company has been working with staff and our NYSERDA Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) to navigate the foundations of their business model, troubleshoot, assess market fit, and create a narrative for investors. A key phase for the current teams is developing and pitching their market opportunity fit to the Venture For ClimateTech board and key stakeholders.This involves fundraising and fine-tuning their storytelling. From there, 10 of the 20 teams will be awarded $25,000 each as they all enter phase II of the program.

Community

Meet the Venture For ClimateTech Apprentice

Jacqueline Erica Karen Hinneh is spending this summer as Venture For ClimateTech’s Apprentice, thanks to the ClimateWorks Foundation and NYSERDA. As a part of the apprentice role, she will explore a new business idea while going through the Venture For ClimateTech curriculum alongside Cohort 3.

Jacqueline graduated from the University of Liberia with a Bachelors of Science in Geology and a Masters of Science from the University of Rochester in Technical Entrepreneurship and management with a concentration in energy and environment.

Jacqueline first became involved with entrepreneurship at a Liberian startup called AgriWATTs, where she helped with operational

assistance and conducting market research on the feasibility of the organization’s business plan in harnessing solar energy in Liberia. After her time at AgriWATTS Jacqueline transitioned to a more forward looking approach to some of the world’s most significant challenges to create a long lasting positive impact.

Presently, Jacqueline is exploring problems that solve the climate crisis in the Rochester metro area.

Connect with Jacqueline here.

June 16 2023

20 New Ways to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

chriscarpenter Newsletter

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

Venture For ClimateTech Launches Its Third Cohort with 20 Companies

On June 13, Venture For ClimateTech announced the innovative companies that were selected to participate in its third cohort. This year, the program is doubling the size of its cohort from an average of 10 companies to 20! Like previous cohorts, the companies were selected based on their solution’s potential to help reduce carbon emissions and the impacts of climate change, and for their ability to bring their innovations to scale.

Check out these 20 innovators and their remarkable technologies under development. Read the full story here.

S4C Impact Report

The Scale For ClimateTech 2023 Impact Report is now available. Read about the results of the program, including company stories from Cohorts 1 – 4. View the interactive PDF.

Meet Jack Baron

Jack Baron

Jack Baron is the new managing director of Venture For ClimateTech.

As a successful entrepreneur, Jack brings unique experience to Venture For ClimateTech, along with a global network of contacts from his more than 17 years in the energy and climate tech industry.

Prior to this role, he was Co-Founder and President of Sweetwater Energy, a cellulosic ethanol/sugars company that, in its early years, was part of a NYSERDA clean energy incubator. Under his leadership, the company went on to raise $57M and prove its full-scale production capabilities in Europe. Prior to starting Sweetwater, he co-founded PAETEC, serving as president and chief marketing officer, helping to take the telecommunications company from launch to $2B in revenues, and through its exit and sale to Windstream.

Jack is an Endeavor Entrepreneur, a prestigious designation that provides access to the global Endeavor network of mentors, partners, and funders. He was part of MIT’s Startup Exchange / STX25 incubator/accelerator program, acted as the former Chairman of the Rochester Angel Network, and was the former President of ETI Technical College. He sits on a number of boards in Rochester — including the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, The Harley School, and OneStream Networks — and has been involved in helping his wife’s organization, Greentopia, become the first designated EcoDistrict in New York State.

In his spare time, Jack plays the guitar and sings in his rock/party band, Don’t Know Jack. He even has one original rock album out so far! He loves outdoor sports, including boating, kayaking, hiking, camping, golf, and skiing.

Cohort News

Cohort companies from Venture For ClimateTech and Scale For ClimateTech continue to make significant progress. Here’s just a few of the highlights.

Optimus Technologies, closed a $17.8M Series A round led by Mitsui & Co. to decarbonize the transportation industry. Read the full announcement here.

Swedish battery startup Enerpoly and Austrian smart photovoltaic startup EET (Efficient Energy Technology) received €870K in grant funding under the Eurostars-3 program. The collaborative project, titled ZincMate, will drive the development and commercialization of an energy storage device that can be adopted by all households in Europe. See the story in Fintech Finance News.

Exelon invested in Voltpost. The Exelon 2c2i (Climate Change Investment Initiative), a joint effort of the Exelon Foundation and Exelon Corporation, invested because Voltpost’s charging platform is focused on fighting climate change and improving the quality of life for residents across the regions served by Exelon.

Unique Electric Solutions (UES) was awarded a $3M grant from NYSERDA to accelerate its existing pilot-stage battery production into volume manufacturing. By bringing this in house, UES positions itself for scalable growth, lower costs, improved quality, and Buy America compliance. UES was also awarded an Executive Order from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its uniqueFCEV® Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Powertrain for new Class 4 to 7 vehicles. Read the full announcement.

Amogy and LSB Industries announced a collaboration agreement to develop an end-to-end supply chain of low carbon ammonia as transportation fuel. Get the full details.

Congratulations to SXD for being named a H&M Foundation Global Change Award Winner! See who else made this prestigious list in 2023.

CLIP.BIKE won the Best Startup award in the Bike category, as well as the Grand Prize Overall among the 60 startups that pitched at Micromobility Europe in Amsterdam.

e-Zinc has appointed three clean tech leaders as C-level executives to spearhead the company’s the next phase of growth. Read who they are.

Watch Steve Ferrero, CEO of 3E Nano, have an exciting conversation with Tom Raftery, the host of the Climate Confident podcast, where he shares 3E Nano’s vision for decarbonizing buildings with advanced materials for glazing and fenestration. See it here.

Take a look at Made of Air’s CEO update. The company had a research breakthrough, moved its office, and worked with customers to better understand how they plan to mitigate their Scope 3 emissions in their supply chains instead of buying offsets. Watch here.

Companies in the Media

Popular Mechanics covered the Pentagon’s new obsession, the NFA hypersonic aircraft, a revolutionary 3D printed aircraft with a mission to deliver cargo and passengers anywhere on Earth in two hours or less. New Frontier Aerospace is a part of the mission’s sustainable sourcing. Read the full article.

Global Design News highlighted a better way to power community gardens using Pvilion’s solar pavilions.

Enviro Power was featured in Habitat Magazine. Read how a Bronx Co-Op board used their new boiler technology to avoid fines.=

Zinc8 Energy Solutions was featured in PowerMag for how its technology can help our carbon-neutral future needs.

Read key learnings from Community Energy Labs’ most recent resiliency workshop with partners.

April 18 2023

More than Enough Green to Go Around This Spring

chriscarpenter Newsletter

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

Venture For ClimateTech Closes Cohort 3 Applications with 298 Applicants

Venture For ClimateTech wrapped up its recruitment period with a delayed extension to accommodate climate tech startups impacted by the SVB Bank and Signature Bank collapse.

Despite the ever-changing financial world and climate, Venture for ClimateTech received 298 applications for Cohort 3. This increase from Cohort 2’s 220 applications, combined with the fact there are more programs each year providing similar services and support as Venture For Climate, leads our team to believe that there is still an unmet demand for support and funding at the early-stage of climate tech company development.

The team is now hard at work on technology and application reviews to identify the top 20 teams that will makeup Cohort 3 of Venture For ClimateTech. Stay tuned for Cohort 3’s announcement this May!

Find Funding

The One Million Black Women: Black in Business Program is Accepting Applications for Its Fall 2023 Cohort. The program is dedicated to reaching Black women entrepreneurs with the tools necessary to turn their business potential into business growth.

The program will provide: Free 10-week business education program with online and in-person programming; $2,000 program stipend; all-expense paid trips to Goldman Sachs in NY; business advisors and mentors to guide growth path; and a powerful network of Black women entrepreneurs.

Visit the website to submit an application and learn more. Applications for the Fall 2023 Cohort will be accepted until April 21, 2023.

The Verizon Climate Resilience Prize is offering four $125K in prizes and organizational development support to companies with a game-changing climate tech solution. In collaboration with GreenBiz and Resilient Cities Network, the competition is calling for scalable solutions to accelerate an equitable, climate-resilient future. The Prize empowers early-stage companies with funding, ongoing support, and networks to scale its solutions for climate resilience. Applications will be accepted through April 23, 2023. Learn more and apply here.

Cohort News

Amogy has raised $139M in Series B-1 funding led by SK Innovation and joined by other global investors, including Temasek, Korea Zinc, Aramco Ventures, AP Ventures, MOL PLUS, Yanmar Ventures, Zeon Ventures and DCVC. This funding will enable Amogy to continue its organizational development to support commercialization, begin manufacturing of its innovative ammonia-to-power technology, and bring its first product to market in 2024.

3E Nano closed a US $4M series in seed funding and received an additional CAD $5M in follow-on funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to commercialize its affordable solar control technology for windows. The raise was led by Energy Foundry and includes major investors MUUS Climate Partners, ACT Venture Partners, Creative Ventures, and New Climate Ventures. Read the full announcement here.

Atrevida Science Inc. has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant for $256,000 to conduct research and development (R&D) to create a software model that uses highly accurate algorithms to mimic actual blade and wind conditions. This advanced model supports the design and control of a 21st century wind turbine blade configuration for offshore wind systems. Read the full blog post here.

Climatize Earth has been granted approval to move forward on funding portal membership with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA is a government-authorized not-for-profit organization that oversees U.S. broker-dealers to protect investors and ensure the market’s integrity. Being approved by FINRA is an extensive and arduous process, for good reason. Check out Climatetize and subscribe here to its newsletter for more updates and news.

Founder Feature

Tinia Pina | CEO and Founder of Re-Nuble

What’s your elevator pitch?
Re-Nuble takes unrecoverable food waste from food distribution and processing and we turn it into a platform of sustainable technologies for indoor growers. We ultimately provide a positive financial and climate effect on these operations, as well as to indoor gardeners.

What’s your motivation for your company?
Our motivation is to help commercial farms– these are growers that operate greenhouses, vertical farms, any cover crop production–reduce their input costs and source alternatives that are regenerative or “closed loop” in terms of how these products are made. The reason why that’s important is because a lot of these farms and indoor garden systems are using synthetic mineral salts. And the greenhouse gas emissions that are generated globally from this is anywhere between 3 to 5 percent as it currently stands, which is significant. Not only does it create a toll to manufacture these synthetic mineral salts, but to distribute them across the world to various agricultural ecosystems.

What are your top 3 go-to places to learn what’s happening in the climate tech space?

Outside of Re-Nuble, what do you do for fun?
Uh pickleball. It’s so good. Like, that’s become my latest hobby – playing pickleball. It’s far less intimidating than tennis. I don’t even really know how to play tennis. And, I love photography. So, I love just kind of walking around and taking still images of things. And just kind of getting out of the city and hiking.

Do you have any advice for other founders on how to keep up with the mental stamina and demands of being a founder?
I think for me it would be, people have to–as soon as they start–really talk and be comfortable with talking about what they’re doing. Not only does this develop your brand, it really helps you practice how you’re going to talk to people. And, to tailor those conversations based on where their interests are, because the people can be a potential advisor or connect you to someone that could serve on your team or connect you to money. At the end of the day, people are not going to be as passionate about what you’re doing and really aren’t going to execute on it, so you’ve got to remove yourself from that hope. Just become a magnet for your brand and for your vision. I can’t stress that enough. The second thing would be, especially for companies that are a bit early on, to understand that funding will be harder to come by because it’s more risky at this stage. There is a platform called F6S. When I started, I took my own savings – I literally wiped out my 401K and hustled my tail off to business plan and pitch competitions. And it was that platform that helped me find those opportunities. So that would be the second piece of advice for the funding side.

Community

Join the For ClimateTech Team at the Climate Solutions Accelerator Summit: Building a Regenerative Local Economy

CSA Summit 2023 This two day event will focus on organizations and citizens in action who are transitioning from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region.

Day 2 will be focused on meeting and hearing from organizational leaders in the community with our own Chris Carpenter speaking on the Regenerative Finance panel and sharing how climate tech companies can find early-stage funding to get your ideas to market.The event will conclude with a Regenerative Economy Career & Opportunities Fair open to the public on Saturday, April 22 from 2:30 – 4:00 PM. Come find the For ClimateTech team there!

Learn more and register here.

In Case You Missed It! The Scale For ClimateTech team was at the 2023 Earth Day Festival in Union Square NYC this past weekend.

The team was joined by alumni cohort companies and MEIR grant recipients Clip.Bike, We Are the New Farmers, and WildGrid.

MRL Infographic

Teams focused on taking an idea and making it into a manufactured product are faced with never ending decisions about how to best move forward with their product while simultaneously calculating the risks they are taking along the way. The Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) is a tool specifically designed to help manufacturers keep track of their risks and to make sure that they are allocating resources to the most important tasks needed to have a successful product.

The MRL methodology is central to Scale For ClimateTech’s curriculum but it is a complicated and extensive process. Last year’s summer intern, Mikayla Bader, made this infographic to help explain it.

Get started here.

Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV) is hiring a Program Manager for its “Entrepreneursh” program. The role will support a variety of climate programs and administration work between the “Entreprenuer”-in-Residence (NEIR) Program, the Climate Justice Fellows Support Program (NCJFS) Program, and other related programs. See the full job description and apply here!

The Climate Tech Current

The Climate Tech Current is a space where our team members share what we think are some of the month’s top three impactful climate tech related ideas, news, multimedia content, or happenings worth your screen-time. If you have any interesting stories that you think are worth sharing, don’t hesitate to drop us a note here.

Top News to know… Silicon Valley Bank’s Abrupt Closure Leaves Venture Capitalists And Founders Scrambling by Forbes’ staff writer, Alex Konrad.

President Biden issued his first veto by POLITICO’s Eleanor Mueller. The veto was on the repeal of a Labor Department rule that permitted retirement investing tied to environmental and social goals.

A Climate Update… ‘Scary’ new data on the last ice age raises concerns about future sea levels by the Washington Post’s Kasha Patel and Chris Mooney. The article covers the latest study, Rapid, buoyancy-driven ice-sheet retreat of hundreds of metres per day, published by Nature at the beginning of April.

To ground yourself for the long game… How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community by Mia Birdsong explores how the “good life”—the well-paying job, the nuclear family, upward mobility—can sometimes still leave us feeling isolated and unhappy. Birdsong illuminates how we’ve forgotten the key element that helped humanity make progress in the first place: community.

Birdsong demonstrates how showing up—literally and figuratively—points us toward the promise of our collective vitality and leads us to the liberated wellbeing we all want.

March 7 2023

Climate Tech’s March Madness of Opportunities, Funding, and Cohort Wins

chriscarpenter Newsletter

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

Last call to apply for Cohort 3 of Venture For ClimateTech

Applications to join Cohort 3 of Venture For ClimateTech closes this Friday, March 10, 2023 at 6:00pm EST.

Each company accepted into the cohort will receive up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding at the six-month virtual accelerator, in addition to one-on-one mentorship and supportive programming. PLUS, this year we are launching our diverse fellows initiative which provides an additional $10,000 for two Black and Latina/Latino founders who are accepted into the accelerator. Ideal candidates for Venture For ClimateTech are developing a solution to decarbonize the following key sectors: Buildings, transportation, grid, and industry.

Learn more and apply here.

Find Funding

Rev: Ithaca Startup Works is recruiting for its Summer ClimateTech Prototyping Hardware Accelerator!

The no-cost program, funded by NYSERDA and in partnership with Cornell Engineering, guides product teams through a process to determine if their ideas are commercially desirable, technologically feasible, and economically viable. In addition to mentorship, prototype support, and introductions to vetted contract manufacturers, climate tech innovators are eligible for a non-dilutive $8,000 stipend to support prototype development. This accelerator offers two other tracks as well – Open and AgTech. Learn more and apply here.

Apply to Pitch at the GreenBiz Accelerate at Circularity 23 Competition for $40,000 in Prizes

Accelerate at Circularity 23 is a fast-pitch competition featuring entrepreneurs with innovative technologies, products, and services advancing a circular economy. Selected finalists will pitch in person from the Circularity main stage in Seattle on June 5-7 to an audience of investors, business, government, and thought leaders.

Applications are due by March 24. Learn more and apply here.

Climate Tech Workshops and Micro-Grants Available through the New Energy New York Charge-Up Program

New Energy New York (NENY) and the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator Clean Energy Program launched the New Energy New York Charge-Up Program to support climate tech innovators and startups in key gap areas. Educational sessions, along with micro-grant funding, will be provided.

SBIR/STTR Workshop: Application Process & Funding Options for Startups. Wednesday, March 9, 11AM to 12PM EST | Micro-grant eligible expenses ($2,000 maximum) include SBIR/STTR grant writer and consultant fees. Learn more and apply here.

Cohort News

Three For ClimateTech Alumni Companies Announced to Present at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 2023 Industry Growth Forum (IGF)

Mars Materials – Early Stage Presenting Track
Dimensional Energy – Commercial Stage Presenting Track
Ecolectro – Commercial Stage Presenting Track

These companies are three of the 40 teams selected to present, chosen out of a pool of 189 companies across the globe. You can read more about the teams selected and the 2023 NREL Industry Growth Forum here.

The Department of Defense’s Security Innovation Capital awarded $1.5M to New Frontier Aerospace (NFA) to expand on its hypersonic engine development. The development of the Mjölnir rocket engine serves as the initial stage of NFA’s overall plan to build a hypersonic aircraft for delivering passengers and cargo safely to any airport or vertiport on Earth in less than two hours. See the full announcement here.

Watch Shelley Xu of Shelley Xu Designs (SXD) showcase her zero-waste designs on the City of New York’s Twitter. SXD is about maximizing beauty using minimalism through design-tech software that turns leftover and wasted textiles into beautiful zero-waste clothing with about 55% lower cost. Watch the full video here.

Enerpoly received an €870K grant from the Eurostars-3 program with Efficient Energy Technology (EET) to deliver renewable energy to households in Europe. The collaborative project, titled ZincMate, will drive the development and commercialization of an energy storage device that can be adopted by all households in Europe. Read the full release here.

Read about Community Energy Labs (CEL) field pilot at Sonora Elementary School in South Los Angeles and the benefits from its modern building control solutions that are making smart energy management and decarbonization accessible and affordable for community buildings. See the full post and white paper here.

WeRadiate is partnering with the Rochester Institute of Technology to study process efficiency improvements that might be realized by implementing WeRadiate’s compost monitoring system. As part of a research project funded by the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) and New York State’s Environmental Protection fund, the effort will help New York State meet its food and waste diversion goals by providing crucial metrics and insight into the benefits of compost monitoring systems like those developed by WeRadiate.

Climatize was selected to join the US Department of Energy’s Community Power Accelerator Program that offers a series of funding to organizations working to identify and expand equitable access to community solar across the U.S. and create new capital sources. Read about the full announcement here by the Santa Cruz Works Accelerates program.

Founder Feature

Sashti Balasundaram | CEO and Founder of WeRadiate

What’s your elevator pitch?
WeRadiate improves soil health. We do that through data technology, community engagement, and advocacy.

What’s your motivation for your company?
So I was living in Pondicherry, India, and I was exposed to a facility that collected food scraps from a cafeteria and then processed them on a farm. I thought it was very magical to see food scraps turn into really healthy soil. They also had this 70-foot long worm bin. It was just incredible and fascinating to me that people just throw out their food waste, which is very valuable. So, when I moved back to the States, I wanted to figure out how I could do this here locally in the US or New York.

What are your top 3 go-to places to learn what’s happening in the climate tech space?

United States Compost Council conference (USCC)
Google groups: The NYC Community Composting Google Groups and the Community Composter Coalition
BioCycle Magazine

Outside of WeRadiate, what do you do for fun?
I love to actually garden. Last year, I had a backyard and there were a whole bunch of trees. I added to this by planting berry bushes and garlic . I also love to just bike and maybe this is a good spot to share that we’re having a compost bike tour in Brooklyn on June 4. If it rains, we will hold the tour on June 11. Check out our instagram and newsletter for more on that.

Do you have any advice for other founders on how to keep up with the mental stamina and demands of being a founder?
One thing that comes to mind is, if you could just do 1% better a day–just a little bit more each day throughout the year–then cumulatively over time, this can really be significant for you and your company.

Community Asks

Get Free Support and Find Funding for Product Manufacturing — Apply Now

If you have a new technology, NextCorps’ Manufacturing Accelerator can help you avoid costly mistakes and navigate the manufacturing landscape to successfully move your concept or prototype into mass production. The free program is designed for early- to growth-stage hardware companies that are at a Technology Readiness Level of (TRL) 2 or higher.

Applications are now being accepted through March 27. Register for an upcoming virtual info session on March 15 to see if this program is right for you.

Apply now or visit NextCorps.org/Manufacturing-Accelerator to find out more about this nine-week program.

The Carbon to Value (C2V) Initiative is now welcoming applications for its third cohort! Selected startups will get exclusive access to (1) the world’s first and only accelerator dedicated to carbontech; (2) collaboration opportunities with leading corporates, non-profits, and government; and, (3) C2V’s rich network and resources. Applications are open until March 31.

Entrepreneurs addressing key challenges during the development phase of US offshore wind are encouraged to apply to the new Offshore Wind Innovation Hub Accelerator. This is a unique opportunity to be integrated into the New York offshore wind ecosystem through engagement with Equinor, which is developing the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects. Applications are due March 27.

Check out our For ClimateTech’s latest blog post, Funding that Fits Your Product Stage, by Scale For ClimateTech program manager, Peter Hogya. Not all funding is the right funding for your company and each funding source comes with its own unique requirements and milestones that may not be in your team’s best interest. Peter walks you through the nuances of understanding where your startup is actually at and what sources of funding can help you best. Read the full blog here.

Peter Hogya

Startup Manufacturing Coordinator at NextCorps

The Climate Tech Current

Chris Carpenter

Marketing & Communtiy Relations Specialist

As the Editor of the For ClimateTech newsletter, I come across a lot of stories regarding the climate tech and startup ecosystem. The Climate Tech Current is a new section where I will share what I think are some of the month’s top three impactful climate tech related ideas, news, multimedia content, or happenings worth your screen-time. If you have any interesting stories that you think are worth sharing, don’t hesitate to drop me a note here.

A rare find… Ryan McIntosh launched a hardware climate tech startup, RoadPower, that ultimately didn’t work out. Ryan did a write up in his substack titled, Lessons Learned Building My First Hardware Startup in the Sustainability Space, that captures many of the struggles we’ve seen other startups fall into. It’s easy to find well-written success stories but this is the first failure story that I’ve come across specific to hardware and climate tech.

News to know… Tesla workers at South Buffalo’s plant launched a union campaign at the beginning of the month under Tesla Workers United. Tesla Workers United is the first major domestic labor litmus test for the climate tech industry and, if successful, it would become Tesla’s first unionized plant. Follow the story with the Buffalo News and others.

More important news to know… Ideally I like to balance this out with a book recommendation but the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio at the beginning of February very nearly displaced my in-laws in Western, PA not too far away and was a sobering reminder of some of the risks associated with industry and manufacturing. And now almost exactly a month later, the Northfolk Southern train line had a second derailment in Springfield, OH. Thankfully there was no toxic cargo on the second train.

February 7 2023

Ammonia-Powered Semis, Literal Moonshots, V4C Recruitment, & More!

chriscarpenter Newsletter

Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.

A Note From The Editor

Chris Nature HeadShot My name is Chris Carpenter and I’ve been on the For ClimateTech team since the brand launched at the end of 2020. I worked in the documentary/broadcast journalism world on and around Capitol Hill and the local news scene in Rochester, NY before making the jump to writing about For ClimateTech cohort companies and the startup climate tech world.

In an effort to keep this newsletter dynamic – I try to test a new section or idea a year (like “What’s the Consensus”). This year we’ll be integrating some new contributors from the For ClimateTech crew, adding a new section, The Climate Tech Current, where I’ll share some of the month’s top 3 impactful climate tech related ideas, news, multimedia content, or happenings worth your time. In addition, a Founder Feature section where we’ll be introducing you to the incredible founders we have the privilege of working with and who we think you should get to know too.

Thanks for sticking along for the ride and don’t hesitate to shoot our team a note at info@forclimatetech.org. Now back to your scheduled programming!

Venture For ClimateTech is Now Recruiting for Cohort 3

Each company accepted into the cohort will receive up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding throughout the six-month virtual accelerator in addition to one-on-one mentorship and supportive programming. PLUS this year we are launching our diverse fellows initiative and have an additional $10,000 for two Black and Latina/Latino founders accepted into the accelerator. Ideal candidates are developing a solution to decarbonize the following key sectors: Buildings, transportation, grid, industry.

Venture For ClimateTech Alumni’s Experience and What to Expect
TODAY from 6:00 to 7:00 PM EST. Register here.
Introducing the Venture For ClimateTech Apprenticeship and Fellowship
February 21, 2023 from 8:00 to 9:00 PM EST. Register here
Open Q&A and Overview of Venture For ClimateTech
March 2, 2023 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM EST. Register here

Find Funding

Governor Hochul announces the launch of a $30M pre-seed and seed matching fund program that will invest up to $250,000 in early-stage startup companies with matching funds from the private sector as a part of New York’s $500 million federal funding allocation to support small businesses – particularly in traditionally underserved communities. Learn more here.

Two weeks left to apply for Round 1 of the 2023 FuzeHub Manufacturing Grants. The Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund Manufacturing Grants are designed to encourage collaboration between not-for-profit organizations and small to medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York State. The grants serve as a resource to help companies achieve success from early stage, proof of concept through maturity. Application period closes February 15 at 4pm EST. Find more here.

The Liveability Challenge is offering $2M in prizes to companies enabling solutions that remove carbon emissions at scale, including: carbon capture, utilization and storage solutions, energy, urban infrastructure, transport, and logistics systems. Learn more here.

Cohort News

Olokun Minerals announces its Pre-Seed Capital raise of $1.1M led by Propeller with participation by Textbook VC as well as strategic angels. Olokun will use the round to further its solution that diverts harmful saline drainage water away from ocean life and marine ecosystems, while also providing critical minerals and metals for various supply chains. Keep reading here.

New Frontier Aerospace is heading to the Moon! Literally… Qosmosys of Singapore and New Frontier Aerospace announced a cooperative technology agreement related to the ZeusX spacecraft – a multifunction vehicle focused on cislunar and lunar surface lunar operations for civil and government customers. Keep reading…

Amogy presented the world’s first ammonia-powered, zero-emission semi truck. The historic showcase presented a retrofitted 2018 Freightliner Cascadia powered by Amogy’s ammonia-to-power system.You might have seen them on CNBC or The Catalyst with Shayle Kahn. Keep reading…

You can now find WeRadiate’s composting tech in the Queens Botanical Garden thanks to the Food Waste Reduction and Diversion Reimbursement Program managed by the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Keep reading…

Atrevida Science is making headlines for its revolutionary blade design. Keep reading…

Founder Feature

Lacey Reddix | CEO and Founder of Olokun Minerals

What’s your elevator pitch?
Olokun minerals is focused on securing clean water by diverting harmful waste streams from our ecosystems while simultaneously extracting vital metals and minerals necessary for the energy transition. Specifically, we’re focused on brine waste streams and recovering lithium and battery metals to solve two problems at once – access to clean drinking water and strengthening the supply chain for the energy transition.

What’s your motivation for your company?
So I’m originally from Jackson, Mississippi – if you’re familiar with what’s going on in Jackson [if not, start here], there’s been a lot of water scarcity and a serious lack of clean drinking water for that community. It was really important for me, even at an early age, to understand how we can solve these kinds of problems. Growing up in Mississippi has made me hypersensitive to the lack of access to clean water that a lot of communities face. So when I thought about, ‘what is the problem that I want to solve within climate?’ Water was a really clear focus area for me.

What are your top 3 go-to places to learn what’s happening in the climate tech space?
1.) The My Climate Journey Podcast
2.) ClimateTech VC
3.) Greenbiz

Outside of Olokun Minerals, what do you do for fun?
So my New Year’s resolution was to focus on one hobby a month, for 12 months. For January, my hobby has been cooking. So I took a cooking class. For February, I will be sewing and starting a side project. But outside of those particular hobbies, I like to spend time golfing and hanging out with friends.

Do you have any advice for other founders on how to keep up with the mental stamina and demands of being a founder?
I literally talked to another founder friend about this, earlier. I really feel like this whole entrepreneurship journey is so spiritual. It’s not even about you achieving a goal, It’s you just growing as a person and achieving a goal along the way. I think it is helpful to meditate and do gratitude practice, which is literally just writing down like five things I’m grateful for. It helps to keep it all in perspective with new things I’m reaching for – that there’s so many things I’ve already achieved that I didn’t even think were possible. It’s hard to be super stressed and grateful at the same time. So being able to shift into a mindset of gratitude has been really helpful for me.

Community Asks

Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc. is hiring for a Director of Manufacturing position as a part of its New York expansion plan. Check out the posting and apply here.

The Manufacturing and Technology Resource Center, MTRC, and Scale for ClimateTech would like to invite you to participate in our 5-minute Working with Startups questionnaire!

By completing this questionnaire, you will be eligible to:

Join a special directory of manufacturers for new potential customers to find you
Benefit from our match-making services between you and new potential customers

Broadly, a startup can be defined as a company that is prototyping, pilot testing, or still building their customer base. Working with companies at this stage provides a special set of both challenges and opportunities, often requiring specific processes to ensure the goals of both the manufacturer and the startup are aligned.

The deadline to complete this questionnaire is TODAY 5pm EST. We look forward to hearing from you!

Should you have any questions, please reach out to MTRC@stonybrook.edu.

The Climate Tech Current

As mentioned above, the Climate Tech Current is a new section where we will share some of the month’s top three impactful climate tech related ideas, news, multimedia content, or happenings worth your time and why.

For your feed… Climate Creators to Watch 2023 – A collaboration by Pique Action & The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that recognizes a list of creators and storytellers shaping today’s narrative around climate and climate solutions.

For your bookshelf… The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Eagan – If you have talked to me for more than 10-minutes, I’ve likely recommended this book to you. Dan Eagan captures the interconnectedness of one of North America’s defining natural wonders and the history and direction of this incredible ecosystem. A must read for any lake-kids out there.

To impress your friends… “Software” Climate VCs And “Hardtech” Climate VCs Are Both Wrong by Rob Day dives into the dissonance of how “software VCs” and “deeptech VCs” have become accustomed to operating and the unique reality that successful solutions in the climate tech space demand a healthy mix of innovative software and hardware.

January 25 2023

Venture For ClimateTech Partners With ClimateWorks Foundation to Expand Funding Access for Black and Latina/Latino Founders

chriscarpenter News, Press

Accelerator Program Doubling Cohort Size and Introducing a Fellowship and Apprenticeship

January 24, 2023 – Rochester, NY – Venture For ClimateTech announced today that its third cohort is open for applications from interested companies or entrepreneurs. On the heels of the success of its second cohort, the venture studio and accelerator program for early-stage climate tech concepts and startups is further expanding its reach and benefits. That includes doubling the size of its cohort class to accept 20 participants annually. Additionally, with support from ClimateWorks Foundation – a global platform for philanthropy to innovate and accelerate climate solutions that scale – Venture For ClimateTech is now offering an additional $10,000 Fellowship to two Black and/or Latinx founders accepted into the accelerator, as well as a paid part-time apprenticeship for a climate tech founder who hasn’t yet launched a company.

Each company in Venture For ClimateTech’s cohort will receive up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding throughout the six-month, part-time virtual accelerator in addition to one-on-one mentorship and supportive programming. Innovators and founders who have an idea or technology that has the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions are encouraged to apply by March 3, 2023. Applicants can be located anywhere in the world but must have plans for how their solution can help New York State reach its climate goals as stated in the Climate Leadership and Protection Act. The third cohort will focus on decarbonizing four key sectors: Buildings, Transportation, Grid, and Industry. Companies with solutions that positively help communities impacted by climate change are strongly encouraged to apply.

The 11 graduating companies from Cohort 2 of Venture For ClimateTech have secured more than $8.8 million in outside funding and generated more than $3 million in revenue. On average, team sizes for Cohort 2 doubled from two employees to four employees during the six-month program.

Highlights of the second cohort included Gencores and Holocene joining Breakthrough Energy, Rockfix receiving an explorer grant from Breakthrough Energy and joining the Innovation Crossroads Fellowship, and Community Energy Labs receiving several grants, including a Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research Phase II award.

“When we originally launched this program two years ago, we knew our goal of supporting traditionally underrepresented founders in climate tech was a key solution to realizing significant impacts,” said Venture For ClimateTech Managing Director Jacqueline Ros Amable. “Thanks to our continued support from New York State, and now from ClimateWorks Foundation, we are able to be the ‘family and friend’ investment round that many early founders traditionally rely on but is statistically less available for diverse and LGBTQ+ founders.”

Venture For ClimateTech launched in 2021 to accelerate New York State’s equitable energy transition by advancing climate tech solutions on their path to commercialization. The program provides founders with the hands-on support needed to approach first customers, launch pilots, and secure investment. It is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and administered by NextCorps and SecondMuse.

Katie MacDonald, NYSERDA’s Director of Technology to Market, said, “The growth of the Venture For ClimateTech program in its third year will enable more founders to launch transformative climate technologies. By focusing on critical greenhouse gas-emitting sectors, the program will go farther to lower emissions and increase clean energy benefits to New York State.”

“As a global platform for philanthropy, ClimateWorks understands the significance of funding innovative climate solutions and is proud to support emerging leaders in climate action,” said Leo Park, Director a.i. of ClimateWorks Foundation’s Finance Program. “Our ongoing support to Venture For ClimateTech is an important effort to bolster climate change mitigation and expand equitable access to capital. We look forward to welcoming the third cohort of diverse founders that will impact emissions in New York and on a global scale, as climate change knows no borders.”

“As a founder, you face a lot of difficult decisions, mostly on your own, and it’s really easy to doubt yourself or feel isolated in these situations,” said Sanza Kazadi, President & Founding CEO Kazadi Enterprises Ltd. and Cohort 2 participant. “Being a part of Venture For ClimateTech provided me with a sounding board, including people who have been in my situation and other world-class founders, which for me was really inspiring and validating. This combination of perspectives helps innovators step back and realize that something that might have felt like a setback was really the right move in the long run. For that reason alone, I’d recommend this program to any entrepreneur trying to grow their company in a meaningful way.”

Those interested in applying are encouraged to attend informational webinars to find out more about the program to assess if it is right for them. For more information and to register for an info session here.

Information sessions will be hosted virtually on the following dates. Please register here:

An Introduction and Overview of Venture For ClimateTech
January 26, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST
Venture For ClimateTech’s Alumni Spotlight and Q&A
February 7, 2023 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST
Introducing the Venture For ClimateTech Apprenticeship and Fellowship
February 21, 2023 from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM EST
Open Q&A and Overview of Venture ClimateTech
March 2, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM EST

Selected applicants will be invited to participate in a boot camp that will result in the final selection of 20 companies for Cohort 3, which will be announced in May.

Apply to Cohort 3 of Venture For ClimateTech here.

Media Contacts:
For more information, media, or digital content, please reach out to our Media Relations Support below.

Shannon Wojcik
585-831-6267
shannon@rkgcomms.com

January 20 2023

Cassie Schuttrumpf

chriscarpenter Bio, Venture - Staff

Cassie-Schuttrumpf

Cassie Schuttrumpf
Program Manager

Cassie has worked with SecondMuse, an adminstrator of Venture For ClimateTech in partnership with NextCorps, across various projects, carrying out program management level work. Her work involves both the research and development, fundraising, and relationship building efforts for go-to-market strategies and market entry projects with frame up stage founders at Venture For ClimateTech. Her educational background entails a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies, and a Masters degree from Vermont Law School in Environmental Law and Policy. She’s worked in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors of sustainability and is passionate about discovering the most impactful ways to progress both environmental and social justice efforts.

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1. DO know your audience.

2. DO start with a strong script.

3. DO have your company foundation ready.

4. DO tell a story.

5. DO know your numbers.

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1. DON’T slack on the design element.

2. DON’T wing it.

3. DON’T write too much on your slides.

4. DON’T have mistakes and typos.

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