Inside the Tour: Cohort 7 Explores Upstate Manufacturing Partners
Welcome to For ClimateTalk – For ClimateTech’s monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming opportunities for climate innovators, thought leaders, and community connectors.
Scale For ClimateTech (S4C) Announces the 19 Companies in Cohort 7
The interest to participate in S4C continues to grow, making cohort selection a tough job. The newest companies to join the For ClimateTech family cover a variety of sectors and are working to solve complex problems ranging from advanced energy storage and marine electrification to carbon capture and sustainable building solutions. By helping these innovators overcome manufacturing barriers, S4C accelerates the development and adoption of critical climate tech solutions at a time when the planet needs it most.
Explore the company profiles through the button below.
Cohort 7 Tours Upstate Manufacturing Partners Facilities
There’s nothing like hitting the ground running. That’s why S4C had Cohort 7 come to Upstate NY to tour several advanced manufacturing and innovation facilities within the Rochester region to explore resources that can help them accelerate commercialization. Startups visited PEKO Precision Products, Windsor Technology, and ArcWorks to learn about capabilities in contract manufacturing, precision assembly, cleanroom operations, packaging, and electronics production. The cohort also toured the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, where they explored research infrastructure and testing facilities that support the development and validation of new sustainable technologies.
Funding Opportunities
The 2026 Urban Future Prize Competition is Now Open
Hosted by the Urban Future Lab in f New York City (NYC), this program is looking for outstanding early-stage climate tech founders with adaptation and mitigation solutions applicable in the NYC market. The Urban Future Prize Competition is a set of two $50K prizes and two $10K prizes, funded by MUFG Bank and The New York Community Trust. The prizes will go to four promising climate tech startups selected by an esteemed group of climate solutions experts.
Details can be found here and applications are due by April 27, 2026.
Last Call: Apply by March 30 to The Clean Fight’s latest Deployment Program for Energy Storage
Deploy Now is focused on increasing the pace of energy storage deployment in New York State over the next 12-18 months. Program benefits include eligibility to apply for up to $100K in grant funding per company to support NY deployments, tailored business development with customer partners and developers, connections to scaling capital, and more.
Learn more and apply here.
Cohort News
Ashlawn Energy Relocates to the Greater Rochester Area
Ashlawn Energy is moving its headquarters to the Xerox campus in Webster, NY, bringing new jobs and efforts to scale the commercialization of its innovative long-duration vanadium flow battery technology to the region. A large influence on the move was cited to Ashlawn’s continued work with the Rochester Institute of Technology Center of Excellence in Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing.
Read more about its move and mission here.
KLAW Industries Named NASA LunaRecycle Finalist
KLAW Industries has been selected as a finalist in NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge. KLAW developed the Pantheon product, a sustainable, carbon-negative partial cement replacement for concrete made from recycled waste glass, and developed the RegoWeaver, which converts mixed mission waste into reinforcing fibers used in regolith-based construction materials. The team is now headed to Alabama this August to demonstrate their solution in a final competition for the grand prize.
Read more about the competition here and the teams in this article.
Soarce Takes Grand Prize at JEC World 2026
Advanced materials startup Soarce has been named the Grand Winner of the JEC Composites Startup Booster, the world’s leading competition for composite innovation. The company’s bio-based nanofiber additives make composites up to eight times stronger than steel while reducing overall weight and manufacturing costs. By improving the durability of carbon fiber and recycled materials, Soarce is paving the way for more sustainable, high-performance industrial applications.
Learn how Soarce is reshaping the future of materials here.
Lukera Energy Wins Big at EPIC Pitch Competition
Lukera Energy Corporation recently secured second place and a $20,000 prize at the U.S. Department of Energy’s EPIC Pitch Competition in Raleigh, NC. The company was recognized for its breakthrough one-step process that produces methanol from waste gas and salt water, offering a low-cost and energy-efficient fuel supply. This recognition highlights Lukera’s potential to enhance domestic energy resilience through innovative chemical engineering.
Discover the story behind Lukera’s award-winning technology here.
COMMUNITY
Join LACI Climate Programs at BATWorks and SecondMuse
March 31, 2026, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Brooklyn Army Terminal, Annex, 80 58th St, Brooklyn, NY
Connect with thought leaders in manufacturing, supply chain, and workforce development, alongside growth-stage startups that have already made the post-pilot leap.
Register here
Ask the Experts: When Should You Start Thinking About Manufacturing?
Manufacturing & Supply Chain News
Retool ’26: Advancing Manufacturing & Energy Innovation
Join us June 9, 2026, at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel for Retool ’26 – Explore, Envision, Empower – Energy Innovation & Industry 4.0 . This one-day event will explore energy storage, AI and robotics for manufacturers, waste stream decarbonization, and New York energy policy. In addition to a stacked day of education and networking, Mike Riedlinger of Scale For ClimateTech will be hosting a panel featuring Charles Murray (Switch Source), Andrew Lee (Innovia GEO), and Alex Kosyakov (Natrion) on advancing climate and manufacturing innovation.
Learn more and register here.
Manufacturer & Supply Chain Partner Spotlight: The Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)
ASRC at the CUNY Graduate Center provides climate tech startups with affordable access to 16 state-of-the-art labs and high-end instrumentation. By leveraging specialized expertise in Nanoscience and Environmental Sciences, entrepreneurs can conduct critical R&D and material validation without prohibitive overhead. This collaborative environment allows founders to work alongside world-class scientists to refine hardware prototypes for the commercial market. Ultimately, ASRC CUNY bridges the gap between lab-scale discovery and the deployment of scalable climate solutions.
Explore their facilities and partnership opportunities here: asrc.gc.cuny.edu
Industrial Artificial Intelligence – Key Considerations
The emphasis on AI and its potential seems to be growing daily. In case you missed it, NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership issued a report in 2025 that offers practical guidance and best practices on AI. The content also addresses some of the most common questions that small- to medium-sized manufacturers have about Industrial Artificial Intelligence). Download the free report here.