Wells Fargo Incubator to Take On Residential Clean Tech

DENVER–The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is expanding its focus to include clean technologies for residential buildings. The goal is to help ratepayers use energy more efficiently and lower monthly utility bills. The technology incubator and platform is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“IN2 has selected 10 new early-stage technology companies to join the program and to validate promising, early-stage, clean technologies and speed their respective paths to the commercial marketplace,” says Trish Cozart, IN2 program manager at NREL.

According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, no state or metropolitan area in the US has enough affordable rental inventory to meet the existing housing demand for its lowest-income residents. To help address the housing crisis, the Wells Fargo Foundation recently announced a commitment of $1 billion for housing affordability through 2025. The IN2 platform will support this broader Wells Fargo initiative by identifying and advancing promising early-stage clean technologies that will make housing more affordable and decrease energy costs.

“It is important that we research and achieve renewables and energy efficiency solutions for renters and low-income homeowners as we continue the housing affordability dialogue,” says Cozart. “We are helping to get technology companies to feed into housing construction easier, faster and of course, cheaper.”

Cozart further added that it is important that homeowners are able to pay their utility bills.

“Paying the mortgage isn’t always the issue. The lender ensures the homeowner can pay that amount. It is the unexpected energy bills and anything to do with heating and cooling that can negatively affect the homeowner’s ability to pay for maintenance,” says Cozart.

Eight of the companies selected for this invitation-only program will focus on technologies aimed at housing affordability solutions, and two will develop technologies that improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings. Participants will receive $250,000 and hands-on technical assistance to further develop and validate their technologies.

This sixth IN2 cohort includes companies with expertise in advanced manufacturing and construction, materials, community and district-level technologies and design tools, and energy efficiency technologies. They include:

• AeroShield, which manufactures a super-insulating, nanoporous form of glass for energy-efficient windows.
• Blokable, which manufactures a highly energy efficient, pre-fabricated building system that reduces the cost to develop multifamily housing.
• Blue Frontier, which integrates low-cost thermochemical energy storage with a new air conditioning technology for commercial use.
• Cypris Materials, which creates paintable heat-reflective coatings as a roofing retrofit for both residential and commercial buildings to reduce cooling loads.
• EnKoat, which re-engineers traditional paint, plaster and stucco into energy-saving architectural coatings using phase change materials.
• Pre Framing, which offers faster wall framing installation at lower costs.
• Span, which develops products to reduce the cost and complexity of adopting distributed energy systems.
• Shifted Energy, which develops a power controller and software that converts electric water heaters into intelligent, grid-interactive energy storage devices.
• STRATIS IoT, which provides smart access, energy, water and automation management software for multifamily and student housing.
• Techstyle Materials, which develops a multifunctional material that automatically regulates the flows of heat and water vapor.

With the addition of these 10 companies, IN2 brings its total portfolio count to 40 clean tech startups. Since joining the IN2 program, portfolio companies have raised $202 million from external follow-on funding — on average, more than $24 for every $1 awarded by the incubator.