News Release: NREL Industry Growth Forum Announces 2021 Presenting Start-Ups from Around the World

March 4, 2021 | Contact media relations

Forty companies have been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Industry Growth Forum, which will be held virtually again this year. More than 150 companies applied for the chance to present their cleantech innovations to potential investors and engaged industry experts at the 26th annual event.

Of the chosen companies, a dozen were founded outside the United States.

“We’re facing global pressures to reduce negative climate impacts and ensure clean water, clean air, and sustainable energy and food systems,” said Industry Growth Forum Program Manager Sheila Ebbitt. “We received applications from around the world and across technology sectors. It was a challenge for our investor selection committee to narrow the selection down to the top 40 start-ups.”

This year’s Industry Growth Forum will be held April 20–22 online. Hosted by NREL, the event has grown into the nation's premier clean energy investment forum.

The 2021 NREL Industry Growth Forum presenting companies and their categories are:

Emerging Markets

Azelio AB – Amal, Sweden

Electro-Active Technologies – Knoxville, Tennessee

encoord Inc. – Denver, Colorado

Enerbrain SRL – Turin, Italy

Fibos – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

NovoNutrients – Sunnyvale, California

OnTo Technology LLC – Bend, Oregon

SolarSteam Inc. – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Suncast – Santiago, Metropolitana, Chile

Watts Battery – Palo Alto, California

Early Stage

Andluca Technologies Inc. – Princeton, New Jersey

BlueDot Photonics – Kirkland, Washington

Blue Frontier – Parkland, Florida

Combined Energies – Latham, New York

Ekona Power Inc. – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Jolt Energy Storage Technologies LLC – Holland, Michigan

Mosaic Materials – Alameda, California

Octet Scientific Inc. – Cleveland, Ohio

Power to Hydrogen – Columbus, Ohio

QD Solar – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commercial Stage

EH Group – Renens, Vaud, Switzerland

EnPower Inc. – Phoenix, Arizona

Membrion – Seattle, Washington

Modern Electron – Bothell, Washington

Opus 12 – Berkeley, California

Qubitekk – Vista, California

Quidnet Energy – Houston, Texas

Shower Stream – Austin, Texas

Sierra Energy – Davis, California

Soteria Battery Innovation Group Inc. – Greenville, South Carolina

Growth Stage

Akselos – Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

Checkerspot Inc. – Berkeley, California

Energyworx – Houten, Utrecht, Netherlands

Full Harvest Technologies – San Francisco, California

G2V Optics – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Heila Technologies Inc. – Somerville, Massachusetts

Natural Fiber Welding – Peoria, Illinois

SeekOps Inc. – Austin, Texas

SensorUp – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

WindESCo – Burlington, Massachusetts

For more information, including the agenda, a list of participating companies, a list of sponsors, and registration details, see the NREL Industry Growth Forum website.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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