Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator Expedites Funding to Support Cleantech Startups Impacted by COVID-19
May 18 2020 - 9:16AM
Business Wire
Eighteen Channel Partners to receive total of $900,000 to help
startups retain staff, stay on path to commercialization during
pandemic
The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) today announced that
it has accelerated its awards program to provide $900,000 to help
cleantech and sustainable agriculture startups retain staff and
stay on track to bring their potentially game-changing solutions to
market in the face of impacts due to COVID-19.
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According to a recent global survey, 74% of startups have seen
revenues decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
IN2, a technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells
Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the U.S. Department of
Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), expedited the
funding phase from September 2020 in order to provide immediate
support for pre- and post-revenue cleantech startups in markets
across the country through its Channel Partners – a network of
technology incubators, accelerators and university programs that
refers promising startups to IN2.
“We know that small businesses across America are being hit
especially hard right now. Our Channel Partner ecosystem represents
a wide range of experts in cleantech, agtech, and finance who
understand the challenges startups grapple with during a global
economic and health crisis and how they might be mitigated.
Innovation can and will persist — even during times of contraction
— and this expedited funding is designed to support that,” said
Trish Cozart, IN2 program manager at NREL.
The IN2 Channel Partner Awards program – a $5 million total fund
– aims to strengthen sustainable technology initiatives and address
barriers that startups face on the path to commercialization. The
new round of award funds will be allocated toward programming or
operational assistance designed to address the unprecedented
challenges that startups within the partners’ portfolios are
experiencing in the current business environment.
“Startups have a difficult time getting from prototype to market
even under the best of circumstances, and countless promising
technologies focused on solutions to pressing global issues are at
risk of being lost without immediate help,” said Ramsay Huntley,
Sustainable Finance Strategist at Wells Fargo. “Startups need to be
able to adapt quickly to changing realities. IN2 is showing that it
is prepared to do the same by being nimble in our support.”
The winners include: ACRE — New York University, AgLaunch,
AgStart, Austin Technology Incubator — University of Texas, BRITE,
CCIA, Clean Energy Trust, Cleantech Open (West), Daugherty Water
for Food — University of Nebraska, Imagine H2O, Launch Alaska, Los
Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), MaRS DD, NCBiotech, NECEC, New
Energy Nexus, Texas A&M TEES, and VertueLab.
The awards program was established in 2017, with $5 million of
committed funding from Wells Fargo to be distributed over four
years to the nationwide network of 63 cleantech and agtech
stakeholders within the Channel Partner ecosystem. Since inception,
over 200 grants have been allocated toward nationwide cleantech
initiatives in support of research and development, investment
opportunities, pilot projects, and more.
About the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2)
The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is a $30 million
technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo
Foundation. Co-administered by and housed at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, IN2’s mission is to speed
the path to market for early-stage, clean technology entrepreneurs.
Launched in 2014 with an initial focus on supporting scalable
solutions to reduce the energy impact of commercial buildings, IN2
has since expanded its focus to advance technologies that address
the sustainable production of agriculture and housing
affordability. Companies selected for participation in the program
receive up to $250,000 in non-dilutive funding from Wells Fargo,
technical support and validation from experts at NREL and the
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and ongoing connections to
organizations across value chains. For more information, visit
in2ecosystem.com.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified,
community-based financial services company with $1.98 trillion in
assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial
needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and
headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking,
investment, and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer
and commercial finance, through 7,400 locations, more than 13,000
ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com), and mobile banking, and has
offices in 31 countries and territories to support customers who
conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 263,000
team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the
United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on
Fortune’s 2019 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News,
insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at
Wells Fargo Stories.
Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com |
Twitter: @WellsFargo.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005448/en/
Wells Fargo Media E.J. Bernacki, 415-840-4469
ejbernacki@wellsfargo.com
IN2 Media Liz Crumpacker, 646-494-7482
NREL@antennagroup.com
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