Our Stories
The successes of our portfolio companies are our successes. We are driven to deliver clean technologies to market for impact, firmly believing we can change the world. We are working together toward a low carbon future and celebrate each time one of our IN² startups takes the market by storm.
April 2, 2024—In 2024, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) celebrates its 10th anniversary under the management of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. As part of the 10-year celebration, NREL is looking back at IN2’s inaugural cohort to see how the companies have progressed over the Read More
February 20, 2024—For its 10th cohort, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) formed an all-demonstration group where each participant would scope and perform a demonstration of their technologies as part of the program. The IN2 startups will complete their demonstrations over the next year or two, helping them in their goal Read More
February 6, 2024—For its 10th cohort, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) formed an all-demonstration group where each participant would scope and perform a demonstration of its technologies as part of the program. The IN2 startups will complete their demonstrations over the next year or two, helping them in their goal Read More
January 9, 2024—Thomas Edison focused on more than lightbulbs. He also spent time investigating alternative supplies to natural rubber for his friend Henry Ford. This came as Ford tried to establish rubber tree plantations in South America but failed for a variety of reasons, including due to disease. Eventually, disease Read More
December 18, 2023—The smell of freshly cut grass is a scent many people enjoy, but from the grass, it is a warning. That smell is something grass emits in response to an attack. Another expression plants give to an attack are peptides, which are strings of amino acids. Peptyde Bio Read More
December 5, 2023—When startups join the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) program, they get assigned a principal investigator (PI) to help guide them through the process. This person is the startup’s go-to contact regarding technical questions and research advancement at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) or the Donald Danforth Read More
November 29, 2023—Money is often the obstacle that keeps both building owners and occupiers from embracing clean energy upgrades. Tallarna hopes to change that through its “Decarbonization-as-a-Service” offering, which guarantees the performance of clean energy technologies and uses a shared savings model to raise private finance to fund the works. Read More
October 16, 2023—A scientist co-discovered phages, viruses that only target bacteria, in 1915 and used them to treat cholera during a 1927 epidemic. The emergence of broad-spectrum antibiotics in the 1940s put the research and use of phages on the backburner. However, the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is changing that Read More
September 21, 2023—What WattIQ was doing when it joined the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) program is fairly different from what it does now. The lessons from IN2 helped them discover they needed to make a pivot that has since put it on a path to success. While starting as Read More
September 12, 2023—In early 2022, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) chose seven winners for its sixth Channel Partner Strategic Awards cycle. This funding addresses gaps in the cleantech ecosystem and aims to eliminate barriers startups face on the road to commercialization. Many awardees focused on improving diversity, equity, and Read More
August 29, 2023—When Turntide Technologies joined the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) in 2017, they had a small group and an untested product. Since then, they’ve scaled to more than 500 employees, and its motors now help cool and heat hundreds of commercial buildings and dairy barns worldwide for a Read More
July 24, 2023—In early 2022, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) chose seven winners for its sixth Channel Partner Strategic Awards cycle. This funding addresses gaps in the cleantech ecosystem and aims to eliminate barriers startups face on the road to commercialization. Many awardees focused on improving diversity, equity, and Read More
July 5, 2023—The idea of dimming your living room windows from an app may seem futuristic, but it has roots in the late 1980s. Electronically dimmable glass was invented over 30 years ago and has since gone into millions of car rear and side-view mirrors and thousands of Boeing and Read More
June 15, 2023—Nationwide, it is increasingly difficult for families to find affordable housing opportunities. Once considered an issue isolated to major cities such as New York and San Francisco, the problem has become widespread, with Freddie Mac estimating that the nation is short 3.8 million housing units, a deficit that Read More
June 7, 2023—In early 2022, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) chose seven winners for its sixth cycle of the Channel Partner Strategic Awards. This funding addresses gaps in the cleantech ecosystem and aims to eliminate barriers startups face on the road to commercialization. Many awardees focused on improving diversity, Read More
May 25, 2023—In the process of creating photovoltaic smart glass, or window coatings that also absorb light and turn it into electricity, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc. COO Brenton Taylor laments that it would be easier but unfortunately, that is not the case. “The thing about Read More
May 11, 2023—The way Co-Founder and CEO of Shifted Energy Forest Frizzell explains it, the family Shifted Energy helped thought something was wrong. Shifted Energy installed a new grid connected heat pump water heater system in the home. When the family got the energy bill, they called Hawaiian Electric because Read More
April 28, 2023—Ladybug Tools software aids in building design and helps architects and engineers make smarter decisions. Co-founder Christopher Mackey explains why what his company’s software does is important with a simple example of triple-pane windows. These windows offer more insulation, keeping heating and cooling from escaping a building, ultimately Read More
April 20, 2023—When most people consider purchasing an electric vehicle (EV), they have to account for the cost of an electrician making upgrades (panel, plug, etc.) to accommodate it, and that can cost up to $5,000 in some markets. This additional cost has become a barrier for EV adoption, and Read More
April 10, 2023—In 2021, combining experts from both the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) launched a cohort of five startups focused on indoor agriculture. Working toward breakthroughs in lighting, water Read More
March 29, 2023—Toxic refrigerants, excessive energy usage, uncomfortable humidity—problems with air conditioning are only getting worse. According to Blue Frontier CEO Daniel Betts, given present trends, by 2050, the electricity consumption of global air conditioning will equal to the entire consumption of electricity of both India and China today. “Air Read More
March 24, 2023—Cultivating a resilient cleantech ecosystem is critical to combating climate change and realizing a zero-carbon future. If we’ve learned anything from the natural world, it’s that resilience stems from diversity. Fortunately, there is increasing recognition of the value diversity can bring to the space, and the unique contributions Read More
March 14, 2023—When multifamily structures and commercial building owners are considering energy efficiency measures, geothermal heating and cooling is often discarded because it requires too large of a footprint outside the building for the ground loop. Darcy Solutions looks to change that. “We make geothermal heating and cooling practical for Read More
February 28, 2023—2022 was the year of demonstrating solutions. Not only did our portfolio companies demonstrate solutions for potential customers and investors—IN2 demonstrated itself, yet again, as a solution for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. IN2 welcomed nine new companies into its portfolio in 2022, representing building, mobility, Read More
February 16, 2023—In plant biology, one cell becoming two is a common and rapid occurrence, but one plant biology company becoming two is typically a rare and slow occurrence. However, a catalyst provided by the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) in 2022 enabled Plastomics, an IN2 cohort company, to divide Read More
February 8, 2023—In January 2023, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) founded and convened the inaugural Channel Partner Advisory Board (CAB) to guide the strategy of Channel Partner Network program over the next few years. The seven board members, who will serve for at least a year, are representative of Read More
February 2, 2023—CoverCress Inc. (CCI) developed a new oil seed branded CoverCress™, derived from field pennycress. The grain is now used as a novel rotational cash crop that fits into existing corn and soybean rotation, allowing farmers to grow three crops in two seasons. This innovative crop delivers benefits for Read More
January 29, 2023—In 2019, IN2 invited its portfolio companies to participate in the VERGE conference to highlight their energy related technologies. During that event 75F and J2 Innovations met for the first time. J2 Innovations’ VP of Customer Experience Scott Muench said, “As an alumnus of the IN2 program and Read More
January 20, 2023—For its 10th cohort, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) formed an all-demonstration group where each participant would scope and perform a demonstration of their technologies as part of the program. The IN2 startups will complete their demonstrations over the next year or two, helping them in their Read More
November 18, 2022—For its 10th cohort, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) formed an all-demonstration group where each participant would scope and perform a demonstration of their technologies as part of the program. The IN² startups will complete their demonstrations over the next year or two, helping them in their Read More
November 9, 2022—For its latest National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)-based cohort, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) formed an all-demonstration group, where each participant would create a demonstration of their technologies as part of the program. The IN2 startups will complete their demonstrations over the next several years, helping them in Read More
July 29, 2022—When CEO and Founder of Innovation Corridor Investments Eric Drummond began his legal career more than 25 years ago, he was often the only minority in the room. He would think to himself: this is what happens when you’re breaking new ground and we have progress to make. Read More
May 21, 2022—According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture accounted for 10% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Mitigating those emissions requires sustainable agricultural processes that work for farmers’ business models as well as the environment. Companies are working the problem, sequestering carbon and avoiding emissions with Read More
May 21, 2022—The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) identifies, validates, and scales promising cleantech startups, with the goal of commercializing high-impact, low-carbon solutions for the built environment and agriculture sectors. One of the most important factors our board and industry experts consider when selecting which startups are accepted into the Read More
March 17, 2022—In order to transition to the energy system of the future and decarbonize our economy, we need to scale innovative new technologies. But did you know that an estimated 90% to 95% of startups fail due to a lack of proper financial and technical resources? This is especially Read More
September 24, 2021—The External Advisory Boards play a significant role in the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) program, with each representatives’ insights helping to determine the companies selected for the program. The housing and commercial buildings board consists of industry and academic experts in the built environment space. With the Read More
January 26, 2021—“We tried that already and it didn’t work.” Those were the words that AeroShield CEO Elise Strobach heard from the glass industry when she described her new material for windows. AeroShield Moves Forward on a (Crystal) Clear Path to Market Few could believe Strobach had found a way Read More
January 15, 2021—Cover crops have long offered huge promise for sustainability: They reduce soil erosion, prevent runoff, improve soil health, and sequester carbon. But for farmers running a business, cover crops often don’t pencil out. There is a cost to buy seeds, plant them, and in many cases terminate them. Read More
January 1, 2021—Significant energy efficiency gains can be found right under our noses, within the systems that are so ingrained in our modern lives that we take them for granted. For instance, electric motors account for more than half of the world’s electricity consumption, yet have seen very few technological Read More
January 30, 2020—Technology innovation can impact markets in big ways. But often, those impacts are only obvious to industry insiders who are focused on important, but incremental change. Not so with IN² portfolio company Blokable. In 2020, this housing developer and creator of building systems provided actual, tangible affordable housing Read More
October 24, 2019—The number of electric vehicles (EVs) around the world is projected to reach 35 million by 2022. Beyond the challenge of designing and manufacturing the vehicles themselves, all those EVs need a robust, smart charging infrastructure. Enter PowerFlex, a Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) cleantech start up that Read More