Show Me the Money—How to Find It

Show Me the Money—How to Find It

There is a Green Tidal Wave of money coming for clean tech innovators, but the question is how to get it.  One has to read over 1000 pages of “summary guidance” to figure this out.  It takes a lot of work, but at our MeetUp on the evening of January 26th, we presented what we had found in our own review of all the paperwork.  We focused on what the opportunities are for innovators to tap the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act for contract and grant money.  Over $250 billion is earmarked to fund more than 100 line items in each of the federal laws.  In addition, $50-100 billion is available from the state, through a dozen agencies, with the CEC and CARB being the most relevant.  (See in particular our recent blog on the CARB Scoping Plan.)   And many tax incentives have been created in addition that add to the total amount innovators could tap, and add hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies to projects.  

The biggest take-away is that the details of how to apply for the money are very sparse right now.  That means the best thing to do is to begin to get on mail lists for future funding opportunity notices and to develop relationships with the state and local agencies most likely to be the ones that will administer the money.  Networking can be very effective to get you a better place in line when the money begins to flow.

One of the newest innovations in these laws is the idea of the “Direct Pay” of tax incentives to project developers, even if they have no current tax liability.  This is a huge change from trying to sell tax incentives to an organization with huge tax liabilities, for 60 cents on the dollar.  The impact would be 100 cents on the dollar and paid up-front.  It is like a zero-interest loan.  But like with everything else the details are absent.  How is the up-front payment to be reconciled with actual outcomes?  From whom will the direct payments come?  

A venture investor in the audience agreed that small startups should go after this kind of funding, since it is not a sale of shares and therefore, is non-dilutive.  Moreover, this funding can provide the means to demonstrate and develop a technology that would never be paid for by investors at an early stage.

We also had a discussion as to what the process for actually doling out the dollars would be and whether the politics of the current Congress will get in the way.

To learn more, watch the video below. It contains live links to several other source documents to aid your exploration of how this funding may help you.  We undoubtedly will be returning to this topic as more information is revealed.

Destination Decarbonization: Student Contest with Real Prizes

Destination Decarbonization: Student Contest with Real Prizes

Are you an undergraduate college student and want a shot at several thousand dollars in prize money? Consider entering the 90-day Destination Decarbonization Challenge! Sam Fairbanks at the Water and Energy Technology (WET) Center at Fresno State provided a quick overview of what the challenge is and how to apply. The main point is that the window is now open through January 31. If you want to give it a shot, better move fast. A video of Sam’s presentation is available on our YouTube Channel.

The idea of the challenge is for small teams of 2-4 students to propose ways to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions either from a brand new idea or from an idea on how to improve something that is already happening. Teams can look at anything that broadly will reduce emissions or capture carbon dioxide for beneficial. The teams will work with mentors and other resources the WET Center can help arrange. The payoff comes on April 21 when the teams pitch their ideas to a panel of expert judges.

The top prize is $6,000, with $4,000 for second and $2,000 for third. There is a webinar that provides details on how to apply on January 19 at 5:30 pm. More information is available on the Challenge website.

Check it out!

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, River City Bank

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, California Mobility Center

CalNEXT: A New Resource for Innovation

CalNEXT: A New Resource for Innovation

Looking for help to crystallize your cleantech idea into a commercial product that finds a ready market? In July, the utilities in the state launched a new initiative called CalNEXT to speed the pursuit of promising emerging technologies. “CalNEXT is a statewide initiative to identify, test, grow electric technologies and delivery methods to support California’s decarbonized future.” They will fund projects in the range of $20-400K to assess innovations and help shape them to fit product needs that have already been identified.

CalNEXT

CalNEXT

CalNEXT is run by Energy Solutions in Oakland, a 25-year old analytics firm that provides insights on markets, designs for programs to incentivize adoption of innovations, and assessments of the potential of clean technologies. Program Manager Casidee Kido and her colleague Erin Fitzgerald explained how CalNEXT works in our Perspectives session on December 15.

Cassidee Kido

Cassidee Kido

CalNEXT is funded by the ratepayers of the investor-owned utilities in the state (PG&E, SoCal Edison, SoCal Gas and San Diego G&E) and is intended to focus the efforts of energy-efficiency innovators to work on things that can have the most impact on reaching a decarbonized future and the most effective ways to market them. It is an outgrowth of the work of the Emerging Technologies Coordinating Council created by the CEC with participation of all the investor-owned utilities plus SMUD and LADWP a dozen years ago. The idea of the ETCC was to encourage collaboration on RD&D among the utilities and to assure alignment of priorities with the CEC programs as well. As the innovation process evolved into one that involved a much broader set of entities, the ETCC added roles in increasing the visibility of ET resources and opportunities for engagement with ETCC members, along with strengthening the knowledge and capabilities of the ET community by sharing project results, methodologies, and collaboration opportunities. CalNEXT is the new way to achieve these goals and it comes at a great time with more money than ever being committed to clean tech deployment.

Erin Fitzgerald

Erin Fitzgerald

CalNEXT works through “Technology Priority Maps.” These are wish lists of innovations and market information the ETCC would like to see developed. They cover 6 technology groups and 46 families of innovations. The six are HVAC, lighting, plug loads/appliances, water heating, process loads, and whole -buildings. You can look at these here, and then dive into the details of the half-dozen or so technology families in each. Click on those and you get to specific innovations or market support projects the ETCC would like to see. You can then propose projects to address these needs each year. The current round will be open until February 23. The TPMs will be updated and probably adopted late in 2023, with applications then open in Q1 of 2024. Even if you are rejected, you can apply as many times as you like, and on multiple wish list items. To date CalNEXT has funded 35 projects totaling $14 million. At the end of each project, CalNEXT will provide help to connect companies to those in the utilities and elsewhere that can help on moving to demos and commercialization opportunities.

“CalNEXT will track and vet the efficacy and claims of these technologies, products, and solutions to assess and confirm their potential energy savings and operational performance, help estimate long-term cost-effectiveness, prioritize technologies with significant energy savings opportunities, and identify potential barriers to market adoption. CalNEXT is a great opportunity for programs to see their full potential, to get the evaluation and implementation support they need, and for good ideas to come to life and make major impacts to support California’s decarbonized future.”

This looks like a very helpful gateway to the kinds of connections and follow-on funding that innovators need. It is worth exploring even if you have been rebuffed on other programs. The vetting and evaluation process will be helpful in generating investor interest. The whole session is recorded and available.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, River City Bank

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, California Mobility Center

The Story and the Pitch: Straight Talk From Josh David Miller

The Story and the Pitch: Straight Talk From Josh David Miller

In coaching clean tech startups, the most frequent question we get is “What should I say in my pitch?” We have our standard guidelines and examples, but nobody explains it better than our friend Josh David Miller. Josh has reviewed over 500 pitches of small early stage companies and has a reputation of asking some pretty blunt questions. Josh and Thomas sat down recently to discuss what makes a good pitch and it was quite insightful. The whole session is recorded [see below]. If you are getting ready to make your first or your hundred and first pitch, you should hear what Josh has to say. Here are some highlights:     

1. The best way to get information to stick in someone’s head, to get an audience engaged, is to tell a story. The worst way to begin is by talking about your technology.
2. The story has to describe through examples the problem you are trying to solve and why people should care about your solution.
3. A business is all about solving a problem for someone for a fee. So, talk about not only the problem but who that “someone” is and why. Be incredibly specific.
4. The most important thing to communicate is that you understand your customers and know where they are.
5. Don’t say anything remotely like, “If we could get only a 1% share of the current market, our revenues would be such and such.” It is a flashing neon sign that you have not done your homework and know almost nothing about your customer.
6. The objective of a pitch is to get someone to do something. That “something” is probably to agree to a second meeting. Rarely if ever does someone commit to writing a check based on the first pitch.
7. Research your target audience and what motivates them. If that audience is an investor or a fund, find out what their “sweet spot” is and tailor your pitch to that. Find out what other businesses they have funded. Research any talks they have given where they reveal their investment “thesis”.
8. The first time you make a pitch, it is always a “hot mess.” Don’t let that deter you.

Josh has a lot more to offer and he is willing to meet with you. Check out his bio and his website for his company, Rightbox. And, yes, he is well known as a wearer of bright shoes. Easy to spot in a crowd. The bright red hair helps, too.

 

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, California Mobility Center

MatterCup Wins Big Bang! Sustainability Award

MatterCup Wins Big Bang! Sustainability Award

At the final Big Bang! event on May 26, cup recycler MatterCup walked away with $11,000 from the SMUD Energy and Sustainability Award and one of the Little Bang awards. MatterCup was also a finalist in the UC Berkeley Big Ideas competition.  Congratulations to Chantal Deslauriers and Lorenz Lehmann!  Their innovation is a system that uses a heavy-duty polypropylene cup that users can bring back to any participating store and get a $1 refund on their original deposit.  The cup is dishwasher-safe and can be used multiple times.  A smartphone app will show where the participating locations are, making the program attractive to the stores that use MatterCups because of the increased traffic.  The target customer for the MatterCup system is an independent coffee shop or juice shop that wants to demonstrate a commitment to cutting waste from the 120 billion single-use cups that are thrown away each year.  The store would be charged a subscription fee to use the system.  

The idea was inspired by a system Chantal saw in Germany during the year she was staying there during the height of the pandemic.  At Christmas Fairs there, hot chocolate was served in reusable mugs, and it sparked the question whether something similar but customized for the US market might do well.  As more and more people have heard about MatterCup now, Chantal says she is hearing from more and more people that they can’t wait to try it out.  A good sign.

MatterCup will be using their winnings to fund a test of their product at the UCDavis Coffee House this summer.  The team believes their system will be more acceptable to customers than the more expensive travel mugs that users must wash or the compostable cups.  With what they learn, they hope to be able to refine the offering and get 50 stores signed up in the first year.

We will be keeping track of the progress of MatterCup and will invite them to a future Perspectives event to hear how the demo on campus worked out, as well as their future plans. 

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStart’s Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | TobinBlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss AdamsPowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig