DENVER – March. 5, 2019 — The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) today announced it has awarded $1 million in grants to support 13 projects that address gaps in the development and commercialization of clean energy (cleantech) and agriculture technology (agtech).
DENVER — The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), a technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), today announced the conclusion of a joint project with J2 Innovations, a leading software framework provider for building automation and IoT.
Greentech Media: Even as consumers and companies alike recognize the increasing importance of sustainability, venture capital (VC) investment in cleantech is down. So, where can startups go for financing? From utilities and corporations to billionaires and foundations, this Greentech Media offers a few interesting options and specifically mentions IN2.
Technical.ly DC: With the help provided by IN2 and the opportunities to work with both Wells Fargo and NREL, portfolio company Ladybug Tools aims to make environmental design tools freely accessible to every person, project and design process. The company’s software connects computer-aided design (CAD) interfaces to simulation engines that support environmental building design.
Statesman: In this profile piece, the Austin American-Statesman takes a look at IN2 portfolio company Yotta Solar. The company’s vision is to see its solar energy storage technology on every rooftop, helping to balance the energy grid by integrating and colocating solar generation and storage.
Renewable Energy Magazine: With the goal of expediting the path to market for innovative and promising new energy technologies, the IN2 program, following a rigorous selection process, added five new startups focused on cleantech innovation, giving them the opportunity to create immediate impact.
Albuquerque Journal: Participation in the unique IN2 program means portfolio company Ubiquitous Quantum Dots (also known as UbiQD) could soon be testing its innovative clean energy technology at some Wells Fargo buildings. The company’s low-cost quantum-dot coating on windows captures sunlight and channels the photons to solar cells attached to window frames to generate electricity.
Energy Digital: Through the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), experts from Wells Fargo and NREL collaborate to get cleantech startups through the financial ‘valley of death’ and bring their clean energy ideas to market. This Energy Digital piece delves into how the incubator program offers so much more than just funding.
Wells Fargo: The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), a technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has selected the fourth round of clean-tech and energy efficiency startup companies to join the program.
Wells Fargo: IN2 is expanding the focus of its program to advance technologies that address the interconnection of food, water and energy. To identify and validate solutions that address agriculture’s impact on the environment, IN2 has partnered with the Danforth Plant Science Center.
Greentech Media: The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is testing a novel technology that could prevent electric-vehicle charging from crashing the grid. The technology, from Californian startup PowerFlex Systems, is aimed at building owners looking to provide EV charging points, for example in parking lots.
GreenBiz: From the significant financial contributions from Wells Fargo to our partnership with the National Renewable Energy Lab, the program offers participants a rare and valuable opportunity to take advantage of Wells Fargo’s real estate footprint and NREL’s world-class equipment, knowledge and staff.
insideHPC:As data centers worldwide consume an estimated 70 billion kWh per year, an innovative energy-saving solution is needed. Enter portfolio company LiquidCool Solutions. Recent testing confirmed the company’s liquid-submerged server (LSS) technology not only maintains target temperatures under heavy computational load, but that the hot liquid could be used to heat buildings more efficiently than NREL’s current solution.
Thomson Reuters: Thomson Reuters examines the IN2 program, its history, Wells Fargo’s role in the program, NREL’s involvement, how innovations are tested and what the future holds for our program.
BizWest: The IN2 Channel Partner Awards Program is designed to foster the development of a robust cleantech ecosystem by funding innovative accelerators, incubators and universities. One recipient of the Channel Partner Awards funding, Innosphere’s Scaleup Colorado incubator, aims to address what’s holding back Colorado’s science and technology ecosystem.
Wells Fargo: In an effort to further advance the innovation of clean technologies and offer additional support to the IN2 program, in January 2018, Wells Fargo awarded more than $1 million in support of eight projects and 19 organizations by way of a Channel Partner Awards Program.
Construction Property Executive: Kate Moore, deputy director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, discusses how keeping up with industry trends is crucial to any company’s growth. She details the commercial real estate industry and highlights how the industry has been affected by the impact of increased energy demand.
Greentech Media: This profile takes a look at IN2 portfolio company Energy Storage Systems’ (ESS) $13 million Series B funding round. ESS’ all-iron redox flow battery has the potential for safe and cost-effective energy storage at 30 percent of current costs. With this fundraise, the company aims to expand its annual iron flow battery production to 900 megawatt-hours.
Energy.gov: In late 2017, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry authorized national laboratory contractors to use Agreements for Commercializing Technology (ACT) to facilitate new strategic partnerships with the national labs. Without this type of contractual agreement, many projects, including the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) Program, would not be possible.
NREL: Oftentimes, physical products are validated by way of what’s called “hardware-in-the-loop” (HIL), but one IN2 portfolio company is drawing on NREL’s building simulation competency to test its controllers virtually.
Proud Green Building: In the wake of two devastating hurricanes during the 2017 season, designers, planners and architects are increasingly focusing on sustainable, energy-smart buildings that can withstand extreme weather events. This article discusses cleantech solutions that have the potential to become more beneficial for building owners and managers when it comes to sustainability and resiliency.
Meeting of the Minds: In Fall 2017, Meeting of the Minds hosted a live webinar featuring Ashley Grosh of Wells Fargo and IN2’s program management team, David Roe of IN2 portfolio company LiquidCool Solutions and Eric Kozubal of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The webinar focused on how a financial institution and a national laboratory partner to support breakthrough technology innovations to solve the energy and climate crisis in the building space and the conditions necessary to make success possible.
Tech.Co. With numerous business sectors under constant pressure to innovate, corporations are turning to accelerators and incubators to stay competitive in their industries. This article offers a rundown of the top eight corporate incubators dedicated to the cleantech industry, highlighting the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) as one of the eight.
ColoradoBiz: Richard Adams, the director of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center at NREL, offers businesses three tips to improve their energy conservation in this piece of contributed content. From metering technology to lighting and cooling perimeter spaces, there are numerous ways to increase energy conservation and improve sustainability to better protect future generations.
Post-Bulletin: The Rochester, Minnesota Post-Bulletin examines local technology firm and IN2 portfolio company LiquidCool Solutions and their innovative total immersion electronics cooling technology in this profile piece. The company’s servers were recently found to reduce data center power usage by 40 percent compared to using traditional fans and air conditioning.
AltEnergyMag: This informative Q&A with Ashley Grosh and Richard Adams, members of our program management team, highlights the IN2 program, how it works, who can apply, Wells Fargo and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s involvement in the program as well as our expanding focus on new technology areas, such as sustainable mobility, agriculture, residential buildings, food and micro grids.
Greentech Media: Large corporations have witnessed the success of disruptive startup companies altering entire industries. Now, these massive companies want access to new technology and new ideas, and in recent years, the focus has centered on clean technologies and sustainability.
Denver Business Journal: The 2014 partnership between Wells Fargo and NREL has been so successful that the bank reinvested in the program to continue to help promising cleantech startups get on their feet. With an additional $20 million, we’re able to provide companies a grant of up to $250,000 to help improve their technology.
Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today announced a $20 million expansion of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), a program that advances emerging clean technologies and startup companies.
BizWest: The Wells Fargo Foundation is adding a $20 million investment to the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Innovation Incubator, a partnership between NREL and Wells Fargo to grow sustainability startups.
Energy.gov: The Energy Department’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) Emerging Technologies program supports innovative, early-stage research and development (R&D) projects that de-risk the critical technical issues for next-generation energy efficiency technologies.
NREL: When researchers at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) helped install a peel-and-stick energy-metering system in a Wells Fargo branch bank, they weren’t sure exactly what they would learn.
NREL: Companies will receive up to $250,000 from Wells Fargo and technical support from NREL to accelerate innovative commercial building technologies
Wells Fargo: Program helps advance energy efficiency for commercial buildings by providing startups with cash grants and in-kind resources to accelerate innovative clean technologies
