Seeking solutions and entrepreneurs to accelerate climate action in California, and around the world.

Applications are now closed.

We received a large number of impressive applications for this year’s competition and we’re reviewing those submissions now. We will announce our Semi-finalists the week of June 3rd. Stay tuned!
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“Winning the first ever California Climate Cup was a great experience because it gave me unparalleled visibility with corporates, funders and state agencies. California has created an amazing innovation ecosystem and it is a thrill for me that Solstice’s IoT software is one of the game-changing climate solutions building the inclusive green economy.”

— 2018 California Climate Cup Winner
Ugwem I. Eneyo, Co-founder & CEO, Solstice Energy Solutions

June 25
LOS ANGELES

June 26
SAN FRANCISCO

June 27
SACRAMENTO

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Announcing the Second Annual California Climate Cup

presented by

The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) and New Energy Nexus

In recent years, policy makers have set market signals to unleash innovation from entrepreneurs. The California Climate Cup will showcase inspiring ideas from around the globe resulting from bold policy action in the face of climate change. Finalists will pitch to corporate partners and venture capitalists in San Francisco and then to California political leaders in Sacramento.

June 25 – Los Angeles  |  La Kretz Innovation Campus
Nine semi-finalists (three per category) will pitch their ideas to a panel of distinguished judges at La Kretz Innovation Campus in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

June 26 – San Francisco  |  Volvo Group Hub335
Semi-finalists will network with and pitch to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and VCs.

June 27 – Sacramento  |  California State Capitol Building

Semi-finalists will pitch to policy makers at California’s State Capitol in Capital Room 447, where category and overall winners will be announced to an audience of policy makers and agency officials such as California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board.

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Categories

Clean & Smart Grid

  • Renewable energy
  • Energy storage
  • Digital and physical (wildfire) grid security
  • Grid load optimization & efficient technology bundling
  • Transactive energy

Energy/Transportation Nexus

  • EV charging and energy storage infrastructure
  • Charging solutions for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and fleets
  • Demand response, smart charging, charge management (V2G, V2H)

Zero Emissions Transportation

  • Goods movement and urban logistics
  • People movement, urban mobility and access
  • First and last mile

In addition to significant exposure to public and private sector decision makers, the two category winners receive a $5,000 USD prize and the grand prize winner receives a $25,000 USD prize.

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2018 Winners

“As the fifth largest economy in the world, California has visionary leaders who have put policies in place to shift markets and unleash innovation from entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs who compete for the California Climate Cup are putting the Green New Deal into action and serving as an example to other regions”

 – Matt Petersen, President and CEO, LACI

Ugwem I. Eneyo, founder of Solstice Energy Solutions, won the Digital Solutions for Sustainable Cities category. Solstice Energy Solutions develops IoT and software to intelligently manage distributed energy resources.

Jean-Pierre Adéchi, founder of Wheeli prevailed in the Zero Emission Mobility and Goods Movement category, sponsored by Itron Idea Labs. Wheeli is the carpooling app for college students, like an Airbnb for empty car seats on the road.

Heather Hochrein, founder of EVmatch, won the Energy-Transportation Nexus category, sponsored by Edison International. EVmatch is a peer-to-peer network for electric vehicle (EV) charging that harnesses the power of sharing to immediately create more reliable charging options.

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2019 Judges

Kojo Ako-Asare

Director, Investments
Emerson Elemental
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Vaughn Blake

Strategic Partner
Blue Bear Capital
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Michael Campos

ARPA-E Fellow
Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy
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Jenny Elfsberg

Director Innovation Lab Hub US
Volvo Group
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Ugwem I. Eneyo

Co-founder and CEO
Solstice Energy Solutions
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Michael Campos

ARPA-E Fellow
Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy

Dr. Campos is an energy technology expert with 9 years of experience in R&D and funding. He has been a Fellow at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) since 2017. In this capacity, he is responsible for identifying high-risk, high-reward technical challenges that are too early-stage for traditional sources of capital, developing funding programs to advance promising ideas toward commercial readiness, and evaluating the technical and commercial potential of proposals received. In this capacity, he has reviewed approximately $300M in funding proposals across geothermal energy, energy storage, extreme environment communications technologies, buildings, PV, and manufacturing. He holds a Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. in Chemistry from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Chemistry from Northwestern University. While at Columbia, some of his research was published in Science, leading to a collaboration with LED startup Pacific Light Technologies (now OSRAM Opto Semiconductors) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to integrate fluorescent quantum dots into commercial LED lighting.

Ugwem I. Eneyo

Co-founder and CEO
Solstice Energy Solutions

Ugwem I. Eneyo is the co-founder and CEO of Solstice Energy Solutions, a start-up company specializing in IoT and software to connect and intelligently manage distributed energy resources in emerging markets. Eneyo’s Nigerian heritage created a strong passion for addressing the challenges and opportunities across the African continent. As a Masters and admitted Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, she focused on the nexus of energy, environment, and sustainable development of emerging markets. Her previous research includes working in rural Tanzania with faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Nelson Mandela Institute of Science and Technology in Arusha, developing techniques for rural water treatment. Eneyo also spent time in industry working as an environmental and regulatory advisor at ExxonMobil, supporting projects in Chad, Nigeria, and Southeast Asia.

Jenny Elfsberg

Director Innovation Lab Hub US
Volvo Group

Jenny Elfsberg recently moved to California with the mission to establish a mobility-focused Innovation Community hosted by Volvo Group Connected Solutions Innovation Lab. Jenny began her 20+ year career at Volvo Powertrain as an Application Engineer and Leader. Most recently, she was Director of Emerging Technologies within the Volvo Construction Equipment organization.

Together with her team in Innovation Lab Hub US and local partner Dan Tram, Investment Director in the Corporate Venture arm of Volvo Group, Jenny is building the innovation community with co-located hub335 members in Mountain View. Along with colleagues in Gothenburg, Sweden and Greensboro, North Carolina, the Innovation Lab team focuses on discovering, incubating, and accelerating new solutions to for users, customers, and society, with a strong focus on sustainability, partnership, collaboration, and co-creation.

Jenny is a Swedish national, with a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Linköping Technical University in Sweden and a Licentiate of Engineering degree in Innovation Engineering from Blekinge Technical University in Sweden.

Vaughn Blake

Strategic Partner
Blue Bear Capital
Vaughn Blake is a Strategic Partner at Blue Bear Capital, where he focuses on where the catalysts of technology and policy interconnect. Prior to Blue Bear, he managed a portfolio of Venture Capital and Hedge Fund investments for a Southern California Family Office. He is the founder and Managing Director of Autochrome Ventures, a frontier technology-focused early stage venture fund. He holds a BA from Colorado College.

Kojo Ako-Asare

Director, Investments
Emerson Elemental

Kojo is a Director on Emerson Elemental’s investment team. Kojo brings a wealth of experience across a spectrum of finance disciplines including: impact investing, capital raising, corporate, structured and project finance. During his time at Google, Kojo was the Head of Corporate Finance, where he led innovative investments of over $1 billion in large scale renewable energy & affordable housing projects. Kojo also spent a few years at Google[x], leading the Finance and Operations efforts for Makani, a Google startup focused on delivering low-cost energy from flying wind turbines. Kojo is also a Marine veteran who has served our country with distinction. In 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province as part of NATO’s troop surge. While in Afghanistan, he led a combined team of US Marines and Afghan troops in Helmand’s Khan Neshin district. Prior to Afghanistan, Kojo was a Vice President within Citigroup’s Investment Bank, where he advised Fortune 500 clients on mergers, acquisitions and capital raising matters. Kojo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He also holds Master’s degrees in Business Administration and International Affairs, both from Columbia University.

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The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is a private non-profit organization creating an inclusive green economy by unlocking innovation (working with startups to accelerate the commercialization of clean technologies), transforming markets (through partnerships in transportation, energy and sustainable cities) and enhancing communities (through workforce development, pilots and programs).

Founded as an economic development initiative by the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Water & Power (LADWP), LACI is recognized as one of the most innovative business incubators in the world by UBI. In the past six years, LACI has helped 73 portfolio companies raise $184M in funding, $220M in revenue, create 1,700 jobs, and deliver more than $379M in long term economic value.

Learn more at laci.org

New Energy Nexus (NEX) is a global organization that supports the next wave of entrepreneurs with funds, programs, and connections that reflect emerging trends in the clean energy economy. Since 2004, New Energy Nexus (formerly known as the California Clean Energy Fund) has leveraged $1.5 billion in investment, invested in more than 100 clean energy enterprises, and launched industry leading centers for collaboration. Our network includes more than 100 incubators and accelerators, founders and development organizations from 29 countries around the world. We have offices in California, Shanghai, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. Learn more at www.newenergynexus.com
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Sponsors

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