Wells Fargo is funding startups that are developing technologies to benefit the environment and today it announced the first set of companies to receive a check.
Four “clean tech” startups were awarded $250,000 each as part of Wells Fargo’s Innovation Incubator, a $10 million, five-year program that was announced in November. Wells Fargo is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which will provide research and testing support at its research facility in Golden, Colo.
The companies, which are building everything from energy-efficient smart glass to cooling systems for data centers, will also receive mentorship from Wells Fargo’s network of financial and technical experts.
The four startups were picked from a group of 80 and are part of the first of three selection rounds. One of the companies is Energy Storage Systems, a Portland-based startup building efficient battery technology. The 10-person company helps its customers reduce electricity costs and minimize the impact of power outages by using an iron electrolyte with a patented flow cell design. In November, the startup took home a $135,000 first place prize at the Seattle Angel Conference.
Here are the other three teams, with descriptions from Wells Fargo.
- LiquidCool Solutions (Rochester, Minn.) is developing two forms of total immersion electronics cooling technology for large-scale data centers: Liquid Submerged Servers (LSS) and Liquid Submerged Computers (LSC). Initial testing of the LSS system has yielded 40 percent in energy savings for computer use when compared to a traditional air-cooled system.
- SmarterShade (Chicago) delivers on the promise of smart glass – significant energy savings, glare reduction and enhanced privacy impact – all in a seamless user-controlled shading interface that lasts 4-5 times longer than blinds and shades. SmarterShade’s technology costs a fraction of the price of traditional smart glass and requires no electrical power.
- WattStick Systems (San Francisco) is developing peel-and-stick electricity metering technology that can be safely and easily installed by nontechnical staff. By eliminating the need for sophisticated electrical installation, WattStick Systems’ technology will drastically reduce total submetering costs for commercial buildings and open the door for significant long-term energy use reduction.