Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), co-administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Boulder, CO, has announced three new start-ups for its 14^th cohort under the Emerging Tech Track program. Each company will receive $250,000 in non-dilutive funding and access to NREL’s renowned research facilities to advance their market-ready technologies.

The program focuses on solutions that address energy efficiency, emissions reduction, and decarbonization in the built environment—key priorities as urbanization increases and sustainability becomes a global imperative.

The newest cohort is comprised of:

1. Blip Energy (Chicago, IL): Specializing in smart battery platforms, Blip Energy’s technology optimizes the energy use of high-load appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators. Their cost-effective solution bypasses typical permitting and installation hurdles.
2. Evercloak (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada): Using graphene-oxide membrane technology, Evercloak has developed refrigerant-free dehumidification systems that reduce cooling energy use in buildings by up to 50 percent.
3. Transaera (Somerville, MA): Focused on reducing the energy-intensive nature of air conditioning, Transaera’s dehumidification system integrates with standard heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to cut commercial air conditioning energy consumption by 40 percent.

Then Knoxville-based mobius was one of six new ventures focused on agriculture technology solutions that had been invited to join the seventh cohort of the IN² program in 2020.

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