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Accelerate Your ClimateTech Manufacturing

67

Cohort Companies Supported

$414M+

Funds Raised by Companies

$33.5M+

Revenue Earned by Companies

35k+

Units Manufactured

Scale for ClimateTech

We provide technical support throughout the manufacturing process so that founders have confidence in their path to market, make fewer mistakes, and are able to scale up production to meet demand. From early design for manufacturing (DFM) and prototype refinement, to negotiating partner and supplier agreements and managing logistics, Scale For ClimateTech is dedicated to helping you navigate time-sensitive, critical decisions throughout the full manufacturing process.

Why Scale For ClimateTech?

Each company receives access to dedicated mentors, entry into the New York State hardware ecosystem, Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) assessments from industry experts, a deeper understanding of GHG metrics and impact in your target market, customized roadmap development, and introductions to strategic partnerships, investors, and founder-friendly contract manufacturers to commercialize technology in New York State and beyond.

Scale For ClimateTech is run by organizations with years of collective experience working with growth-stage ClimateTech hardware innovators — NextCorps in Rochester, New York and SecondMuse in NYC.

Support from Prototype to Mass Production

Finalize your next product iteration into a stable, reproducible design that’s ready for manufacturing.

Refine Your Design

Finalize your next product iteration into a stable, reproducible design that’s ready for manufacturing.
Build a roadmap that will help you achieve the necessary milestones to de-risk and move to the next Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL).

Improve Your Manufacturing Plan

Build a roadmap that will help you achieve the necessary milestones to de-risk and move to the next Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL).
Work alongside peers and a dedicated support team — including mentors, investors, and experts in the field — who can help you overcome obstacles in scaling your business.

Resolve Challenges

Work alongside peers and a dedicated support team — including mentors, investors, and experts in the field — who can help you overcome obstacles in scaling your business.
Select from vetted designers, manufacturers, contractors, and material suppliers that are committed to working with ClimateTech innovators.

Find the Right Partners

Select from vetted designers, manufacturers, contractors, and material suppliers that are committed to working with ClimateTech innovators.
Prepare your inventory, distribution, quality assurance, logistics, and fulfillment plans to deliver high-quality products, on time.

Deliver to Happy Customers

Prepare your inventory, distribution, quality assurance, logistics, and fulfillment plans to deliver high-quality products, on time.
Develop short- and long-term plans to sustain the quality, reliability, and financial growth of your company.

Scale Up Production

Develop short- and long-term plans to sustain the quality, reliability, and financial growth of your company.

Program Structure

Prior to cohort kick-off, applicants will attend virtual instructional workshops that give them a preview of the program before they commit to participating.

During the program, participating innovators will:

Develop a roadmap for creating manufacturing capabilities, based on the Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRL) standard.

Attend educational sessions to help strengthen all aspects of business.

Work with dedicated mentors to review plans and design files, identify potential risks to manufacturing, and get advice on next steps.

Check in with an Accountability Board to ensure you’re on the right track.

Connect with potential strategic partners and investors to make commercializing your technology a reality.

Develop Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) metrics to understand how your product will contribute to climate action.

Receive support from other entrepreneurs and founders in the cohort to grow your own expertise.

Key Program Dates

Cohort 4

July 12, 2021 AT 9:00 a.m. EST
Application period opens

September 13, 2021 at 12:00 PM
Application period closes, cohort selection and notification begins.

November, 2021
Program begins

Sign up for our newsletter, For ClimateTalk, for the latest programming news and updates.

Scale For ClimateTech Team

Board of Advisors (Upstate)

Frank-Gayle
Frank is the Deputy Director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),

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Michael Lightman
Mike has played the role of entrepreneur, investor, incubator director, and startup program developer. He has worked with companies that

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James LoGerfo
Jim has been working with energy and environmental technology companies for nearly two decades as an investor, advisor, board member,

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Theresa-Mazzullo
Theresa is the CEO of Excell Partners. In her role as CEO, her duties include governance, compliance, reporting, community integration,

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Dan O'Connell
Daniel is Site Manager of Rochester operations for Plug power. He oversees Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Daniel was previously the

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Dan Radomski
Dan is currently the Director of the Lawrence Technological University Collaboratory, a program that helps accelerate and scale small manufacturers

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Jason Salfi
Jason is CEO of solar fuel company Dimensional Energy, a startup focused on building photothermal reactors that convert waste carbon

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James-Senall
Jim is President of NextCorps, where he leads the organization in creating entrepreneurship and innovation-based regional growth. During his tenure

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Daniel Vaughn
Dan is the Manager of External Technology Collaborations and Intellectual Assets at Corning. Prior to working for Corning, Dan worked

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Board of Advisors (Downstate)

Scott Baxter
Scott Baxter has spent his engineering career at PEKO since 2008. Since meeting the For ClimateTech team, his attention has

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Annette-Brenner
Annette is Client Development Manager at NextCorps, where she identifies and develops new clients and projects and promotes NextCorps’ manufacturing

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Miquela Craytor
Miquela is executive director of the Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Council at New York City’s SBS. Previously, she was the

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Noel Goddard
Noel is a principal at Accelerate NY Seed Fund. She was previously the Chief Technology Officer for the biotech company

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Jessie Lam
Jessie brings over 14 years of experience in financial operations and risk management, with a focus on institutional and private

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Kathy Larchian
Kathy is a founder of Pensa, an award-winning industrial design and invention firm based in DUMBO. She has been managing

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Marnie Lavigne
Marnie is the Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Launch NY, a nonprofit venture development organization and NYSERDA-designated cleantech incubator, dedicated

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Roland Mokuolu
Roland is the Co-Founder and COO at Partsimony. Roland holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech and spent

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Suma Reddy
Suma is an entrepreneur and educator keenly interested in the intersection of entrepreneurship,  innovation, and progress.  She is CEO of

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Peter Russo
Peter is President of Blackburn Energy, a clean energy startup featuring a kinetic energy capturing system for trucking. Previously, Peter

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Nico Vansnick
Nicolas “Nico” has been working for the last five years on making hardware less hard — at least to manufacture.

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Will Watts
Will is an operations engineer for Block Renovation. He formerly managed Tesla’s electric-vehicle infrastructure program across the New York tri-state

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Carroll Thomas
Ms. Carroll A. Thomas is the former Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

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Operating Team

Annette-Brenner
Annette is Client Development Manager at NextCorps, where she identifies and develops new clients and projects and promotes NextCorps’ manufacturing

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Mike-Riedlinger
Managing Director Mike is the Managing Director of Scale For ClimateTech and the Executive Director of Technology Commercialization at NextCorps.

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Brian-Hilton
Brian is the senior research engineer for Sustainable Design at Rochester Institute of Technology, Golisano Institute for Sustainability. He has

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Ken-Rother
Ken is the Director of Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, as well as its Hardware Entrepreneurship program. He is the Managing

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Shelby-Thompson
Shelby is the Senior Community Manager for New York City programs including Scale For ClimateTech. Shelby supports startups with short

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Steve Supron
Steve has more than 30 years of experience in the mechanical design, development, and global manufacturing of complex, electro-mechanical products.

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Chris Carpenter
Chris handles all marketing, community outreach, and editorial content for the Venture For ClimateTech and Scale For ClimateTech programs, including

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Kris Licciardello Headshot
Kris is the Program Manager for Scale for ClimateTech based in NYC. In this role, Kris provides execution and strategy

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Mike is the Startup Manufacturing Program Coordinator at NextCorps. In this position, he helps Manufacturing Startup companies scale their products from

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Peter Hogya
Peter is the Scale For ClimateTech Program Coordinator at NextCorps. In this position, he helps ClimateTech companies scale their products

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Kathleen Martin is the Scale For ClimateTech MEIR Program Coordinator at NextCorps. In this position, she helps fund projects for

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Jackie Amigone
Jackie serves as Operations Manager and IT supervisor for NextCorps. She has worked supporting the entrepreneurs at NextCorps in several

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Frequently Asked Questions

Scale For ClimateTech provides immersive training on manufacturing and business planning, along with a team dedicated to making manufacturing easier — from mentors and experts in the field and product and packaging designers, to manufacturers, suppliers, and investors. Companies are coached by their peers, a community of technical experts, customized accountability teams, and a network of partners. There is no cost to participate or stake in equity involved.

Scale For ClimateTech is funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and administered by two organizations — NextCorps in Rochester, New York, and SecondMuse in NYC.

NYSERDA

NYSERDA, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, offers objective information and analysis, innovative programs, technical expertise, and support to help New Yorkers increase energy efficiency, save money, use renewable energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. A public benefit corporation, NYSERDA has been advancing energy solutions and working to protect the environment since 1975.

SecondMuse

SecondMuse is an impact and innovation company that builds resilient economies by supporting entrepreneurs and the ecosystems around them. They do this by designing, developing, and implementing a mix of innovation programming and investing capital. Over the last decade, they’ve designed and implemented programs on seven continents with 600+ organizations such as NASA, The World Bank, and Nike.

NextCorps

NextCorps provides a suite of services, including technology commercialization support for very early-stage opportunities, business incubation for high-growth potential startups, and growth services for manufacturing companies seeking to improve their top- and bottom-line performance.

ClimateTech is a rapidly emerging industry in which data-driven products are developed to enable communities, companies, and governments to understand their risk and exposure to the effects of climate change and take action to adapt and become resilient.

The Scale For ClimateTech program makes it easier for innovators to bring ClimateTech products to market. ClimateTech describes any process, product, or service that reduces harmful environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy, energy storage, transportation, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities including integrating smart technology into homes, buildings, cities, and grids.

Examples of ClimateTech include (but are not limited to) sustainable energy sources, such as renewable, solar, geothermal, and biomass energy; battery fuel cells; wind and hydro power. It also includes technologies that improve conventional energy production processes to reduce or optimize the use of natural resources, such as greenhouse gas emission control, and innovations in financing, insurance, the use of natural systems to sequester carbon, or other related technologies and business models that reduce carbon and other pollutants.

Scale For ClimateTech is a competitive, cohort-based program that involves a mix of virtual learning and self-paced instruction. Up to 10 teams are selected for each cohort.

To qualify, you must have:

  • A willingness to learn and share, honor time commitments, and be a part of the cohort
  • A team in place with a dedicated member to commit to regular programming, with your technical lead involved with CEO buy-in
  • A works-like and/or looks-like ClimateTech* prototype that has a hardware component (see next question for information on viable prototypes)
  • Operations based in New York State or, if not based in NY, the ability to help achieve the State’s clean energy and emissions-reduction goals
  • Meaningful impact on reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions in New York State
  • Funding in place to contribute to manufacturing your product

Applications for 2021 are currently closed. Please sign up for our mailing list for program notifications and opportunities.

*Climate technology is defined as innovation that supports decarbonization of the economy through hardware, hardware-enabled software, technology-enabled services, hardware-enabled data analytics, or processes that broadly reduce energy consumption, increase resource efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and/or enable the transition to a sustainable and decarbonized economy.

The prototype for your ClimateTech hardware must be based on customer discovery, meaning that there’s evidence that there is market need/opportunity, and the offering can be profitable. The prototype needs to “work-like/look-like” the envisioned product, and be at Technology Readiness Level 3 or above.

To assess the TRL level of your offering, use NYSERDA’s TRL Calculator.

You must have financial resources sufficient to sustain your company and begin the process for manufacturing readiness. For many ClimateTech companies, this may be $100,000 or more in accessible funds.

No. While Scale For ClimateTech hopes to increase local manufacturing, we know that supply chains are spread across the country and beyond. There are no production requirements to join the program. However, participating companies must demonstrate a benefit to New York State. Examples of what this could include are listed below; however, NYSERDA will make the final determination on whether or not a non-New York company meets this “demonstrated benefit in New York State” requirement:

  • Working with NYSERDA-supported Technology to Market assets and resources, such as Clean Energy Incubators, Proof-of-Concept Centers, Cleantech Accelerators, Manufacturing Corps, Entrepreneurs-In-Residence Program, 76West, Co-Investment Fund, etc.
  • Contributing to some aspect of clean energy projects in New York State, such as financing, installation, monitoring, servicing, etc.
  • Having some portion of a company’s workforce, such as research and development, manufacturing, and/or sales, based in New York State
  • Sourcing supply chain partners, vendors, investors, and/or service providers in New York State
  • Demonstrating clear alignment with the State’s nation-leading climate policy roadmap and technology deployment priorities

Scale For ClimateTech helps growth-stage ClimateTech innovators develop a faster and less expensive path to market than they will experience on their own. As a selected business, you will receive one-on-one attention to help you navigate and make critical decisions throughout the manufacturing process.

Scale For ClimateTech’s support includes but is not limited to:

  • Access to a robust team of technical experts, tools, and materials to guide you
  • Access to vetted suppliers and manufacturers
  • Coaching to make meaningful connections with potential partners
  • Access to the NYSERDA network of programs and resources, along with other available programming
  • Opportunities to showcase what you are doing to interested investors and potential corporate partners
  • Subsidies to support development of your product and contributions toward manufacturing runs on an as-needed basis

Applications are currently closed. Please sign up for our mailing list for program notifications and opportunities.

Interested ClimateTech innovators must complete a program application. The Scale For ClimateTech program team will review applications and schedule a brief call to learn more about your team and the technology to assess if there is an optimal fit for participation.

Applications are currently closed. Please sign up for our mailing list for program notifications and opportunities.

During the program, participants will receive immersive training on manufacturing and business planning to gain an understanding of the overall manufacturing process, and the stages that will lead to manufacturing maturity for your ClimateTech solution.

You’ll follow a process for creating a manufacturing capability for your hardware, using a Manufacturing Management Standard called Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRLs). Developed by the Department of Defense, MRLs are patterned after Technology Readiness Levels, a methodology for estimating the maturity of technology elements. You’ll use this approach to thoroughly assess, manage, and mitigate risks in nine levels to anticipate and resolve issues. These areas include: Technology & the Industrial Base, Design, Materials, Cost & Funding, Process Capability & Control, Quality Management, Manufacturing Personnel, Facilities, and Manufacturing Planning.

In moving through these topics, our mentors will work with you to ensure you’ve answered critical questions to achieve a higher MRL. These include:

Is the design ready?Is it stable? Reproducible? Have key design characteristics been identified?
Are materials ready?Are materials available? Have they been characterized? Are there any special handling issues?
Are resources ready?Are production costs understood? Have design-to-cost goals been established? Is funding in place to cover production maturation?
Are processes ready?Are production costs understood? Have design-to-cost goals been established? Is funding in place to cover production maturation?
Are processes ready?Have critical processes been identified and demonstrated? Are those processes stable and in control?
Are manufacturing personnel ready?Are there any special skills required? Are personnel trained and/or certified? Is the workforce stable?
Are manufacturing facilities ready?Are the facilities in place? Can they support the production rate? Will the facilities layout support lean production?
Is the Manufacturing Plan ready?Has a Manufacturing Plan been completed? Is the supply chain integrated into the plan? Have long-lead items been identified?

After years of working with hardware innovators and hundreds upon hundreds of conversations with founders, it’s clear: manufacturing is confusing, difficult, expensive, time consuming, painful, and sometimes even a fatal endeavor for businesses. Miscalculations, faulty designs, and bad decisions can put a company under and prevent innovation from getting to market. Our program is designed to provide the founder-centered programming and support needed to accelerate market breakthrough technologies. Companies discover what they don’t know in order to prepare and navigate manufacturing to speed the commercialization of products, and their impact on solving climate issues.

Join Us

We match all program participants with a dedicated mentor who can expertly address each company’s specific needs.
Contact us if you’d like to get involved.