The Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University received $100,000 in funding from the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator program (IN2), which awarded a total of $1 million to seven organizations across the country for cleantech- and startup-related support. The program is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
According to a press release from the Innovation Incubator, the Scott Institute will use the funding to build optimization and simulation models as well as for the study of the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and how this type of infrastructure can impact disaster response performance metrics in low- and high-income communities in various emergency evacuation scenarios.
The funding comes as part of the sixth cycle of the IN2's Channel Partner Strategic Awards. This round's winners received funding amounts between $100,000 and $175,000 for various projects aimed at helping startups that contribute either to the circular economy, net-zero operations, electrification, sustainable agriculture or diversification of the cleantech space.
"The Channel Partner Awards connect startups to a vast, diverse network of resources that can significantly impact a company’s ability to commercialize," Wells Fargo’s Vice President of Climate Aligned Philanthropy John Moon said in a release. "We are committed to supporting ideas and technologies through the IN2 program and awards that can deliver meaningful and equitable progress against the challenges of climate change."
In total, the IN2 Channel Partners network consists of 63 cleantech and agtech business incubators, accelerators, universities and industry experts.
