Nasdaq-listed energy provider Exelon and its non-profit foundation have selected 10 startups to receive a combined $1m in direct funding to develop new technologies to mitigate and build resiliency to the impacts of climate change.
The application process for year two of the company’s $20m Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i) is now open.
Chris Gould, senior vice-president of corporate strategy and chief innovation and sustainability officer at Exelon, said: “We purposely designed the 2c2i initiative to support early-stage, often-overlooked startups with the potential to make a meaningful, on-the-ground impact on our communities’ climate goals, health and environment.”
The Exelon Foundation will invest $10m in early-stage startups working on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resiliency over a 10 year period. Exelon itself will match that commitment with up to $10m of in-kind services, including mentoring entrepreneurs on accessing capital, structuring business plans and meeting regulatory requirements.
Half of the startups chosen for the first round of funding are minority or women-owned businesses, 60% of the projects are directed at greenhouse gas mitigation and 40% are addressing resiliency and adaptation. All but one participant is based or actively engaged in communities in Exelon’s service area.
The first-round startups that each received $100,000 from the Exelon Foundation were:
- Amidus Resilience, which designs, develops and delivers solar and battery storage systems for affordable housing communities;
- ATP-MD, which uses two patented bio-crops and their resulting biomass and turns them into filler powders to make better-performing plastics, animal bedding and biochars that improve soil productivity;
- BlocPower, the developer of a software platform allows building owners to identify and complete energy efficiency and electrification upgrades in urban communities;
- Dynamhex, the provider of a software platform that assists in carbon-reduction goals;
- Greenprint Partners, which reduces water pollution and flooding by working with water utilities and landowners to design, build, finance and maintain high-impact green stormwater infrastructure;
- GrowFlux, a developer of cultivation technology for indoor farms and automated greenhouses;
- Netenergy, the creator of a thermal energy storage alternative to standard air conditioners;
- New Ecology, which has developed a remote monitoring and optimisation system to bolster the energy performance of buildings with central boilers;
- Propagate Ventures, the provider of an analytics and project development system for the integration of fruit, nut and timber trees with agriculture crops; and
- Radiator Labs, the creator of a low-cost wireless retrofit system that drops on top of steam heat radiators.
