The Joules Accelerator has been introducing its latest cohort of clean-tech startups to the business communities of Charlotte and Raleigh in pitch events.
Each of the nine companies participating in Cohort 11 gave brief investment pitches to audiences last week. The first of two events was the Innovation Showcase at Honeywell International Inc.’s (NYSE: HON) headquarters at Legacy Union in uptown Charlotte on March 1. The second was the Cleantech Entrepreneur Energizer event held at American Underground startup hub in Durham on March 2.
The Charlotte event included an introductory panel, moderated by Lori Collins, interim director of E4 Carolinas, and featuring Ashley Coleman of Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), Greg Fields of BP Pulse and Rob Hartway of Honeywell.
Success of previous cohort member celebrated
Coleman, who works at Duke’s Emerging Technology Center in Mount Holly, and Hartway, senior director of digital solutions at Honeywell Smart Energy, discussed their own companies’ efforts to find and develop partnerships with startups.
Fields shared similar information, but he also covered the success story of 2019 cohort member Amply Power, which developed a successful electric vehicle-charging-as-a-service model. In 2021, Amply was bought by energy giant BP and last year was rebranded as BP Pulse.
Bob Irvin, who runs the startup accelerator in Charlotte, says the program's 10 previous cohorts have provided mentoring and other services to 85 companies that have raised more than $750 million in venture funding.
Startups approach sustainability from many angles
The startups in Cohort 11 are an international group representing technologies ranging from EV charging and clean hydrogen production to digitizing utility, environmental and geotechnical data for the construction industry. None of the companies in this cohort is from Charlotte or the Carolinas.
They are:
- IEMS Ltd. of Markham, Ontario, which provides artificial intelligence-based energy management software featuring predictive analytics, renewable energy optimization and blockchain-enabled energy trading for smart grids
- Electric Era of Seattle, which engineers what it calls the world’s most advanced storage systems for fast-charging stations for EVs
- Civil Grid of San Francisco, which has developed a construction intelligence platform combining layers of utility, environmental and geotechnical site data needed to make critical planning and project implementation decisions
- Granular Energy of Paris, which develops software tools for electric utilities that provide portfolio management and trading platforms to help them take advantage of carbon-free energy markets
- Dsider of Houston, which helps companies reach net-zero emission goals by providing low-code platforms to model, measure and manage carbon reductions
- IONATE of London, which is building a technology backbone for flexible, decentralized and decarbonized power grids
- itselectric of Brooklyn, New York, which deploys EV charging for millions of drivers who park their cars on city streets and lack access to home charging systems
- Kanin Energy of Houston, which promotes decarbonization by helping heavy industry monetize waste heat and decarbonize operations
- Power to Hydrogen of Columbus, Ohio, which aims to make clean hydrogen cost competitive against fossil fuels. Its advanced electrolysis technology that separates hydrogen and oxygen from water using electrochemical reactions employing renewable energy.
Several participants presented their pitches remotely, though most were at the two events to make live presentations.
The Durham event also featured a panel of clean-tech experts made up of Joey Barrick, associate with SJF Ventures; Will Bernholz, vice president of marketing, 8 Rivers; Nicole Coughlin, chief information officer for the town of Cary; Rob Creighton, founder and CEO, Windlift; and Ken Dulaney, director of industry and innovation, FREEDM Systems Center at N.C. State University.
