The Innovators Program is a core LACI (Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator) accelerator program serving early-stage cleantech startups in Southern California. Funded by the California Energy Commission’s Regional Energy Innovation Cluster (REIC), the program aims to support early stage entrepreneurs in launching their venture in California’s growing cleantech innovation ecosystem.

-Monthly opportunity updates and curated resources email
-Check-in’s with LACI expert every other month
-Lunch & Learns: Curriculum development opportunities
-Visibility in LACI’s network and ecosystem
-Discounted access to the La Kretz Innovation Campus (LKIC)

Startups must:
-Have a cleantech solution that addresses one of our three priority areas: Clean Energy, Zero Emissions Transportation and Smart & Sustainable Cities: Circular Economy.
-Be early stage: as early as pre-seed or pre-prototype, with a proof of concept.
-Own or license a novel proprietary technology.
-Operate out of one of the four counties in our Southern California territory.

Third Derivative is a joint venture of the world-renowned energy think-and-do-tank Rocky Mountain Institute and the premier global clean energy startup accelerator network New Energy Nexus. They are a next-generation accelerator with committed venture capital, a curated ecosystem of global corporations, and unparalleled market, regulatory, and policy insights.

By linking together startups, corporates, investors and our own technical experts, they’ll “accelerate the rate of change” (a.k.a. the third derivative) for how the world takes climate tech innovations from the lab to the market. Their vertically-integrated accelerator model will find, hone, fund, and scale promising energy technologies to achieve larger, faster reductions in greenhouse gas emissions globally.

They are looking for startups who are working to drive the energy transition, including those at the earliest stages of commercialization. There are only two criteria for applicants: 1) the startup must intend to be a for-profit entity, and 2) the startup must have at least two full-time employees at time of application.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends (averaging $2.5M over three years).

The SCALEUP FOA builds upon ARPA-E-funded technologies by scaling the most promising. Stranding promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. These scaling energy technology projects will meet ARPA-E’s statutory direction to achieve the above goals by “ accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”.^[2]

• Facilitate networking between members, advisors and their external stakeholders;
• Create new business opportunities for members;
• Share awareness of, and access to, sources of funding;
• Share knowledge and best practices about business and impact
• Create new visibility opportunities for members, locally and internationally.

ARPA-E is interested in receiving Full Applications in support of addressing mining industry challenges. The broad objective of this topic is to identify research that supports a robust supply of certain metals and elements in the U.S. via biological-based/bio-augmented processes across the entire mining supply chain including exploration and sensing, mining (extraction), separation, recovery, refining, and recycling.

Generate is a leading sustainable infrastructure platform delivering affordable, reliable resource solutions to companies, communities, and cities. Founded by some of the renewable energy industry’s leading visionaries, Generate builds, owns, operates and finances sustainable resource infrastructure that adhere to what they call the 4 D’s: Decentralized, Decarbonized, Digitized, Democratized.