Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

Atlas Innovate is an early-stage venture firm that identifies disruptive and transformational solutions to meet industry’s biggest problems–and opportunities. We find the most impactful industrial technologies and provide direct avenues for these change agents to tap into pre-transformation companies and catalyze that transformation. We support entrepreneurs by providing access and targeting high-impact use-cases that can strengthen their ideas. We help guide product launch and accelerate commercialization by providing our CEOs with a network of industry experts. Our sister company, Atlas Holdings, is a multi-billion dollar industrial holding company and a private investment firm with a diversified group of over 20 industrial manufacturing and distribution businesses.

Atlas Innovate

City Light is a venture capital firm that invests early in impactful companies. They partner with experienced teams building category-defining solutions in the areas of education, safety and care, and the environment - where more revenue equals better lives at scale, every time. As one of the earliest and most successful impacts investing firms, City Light has a track record of identifying and scaling impact in ways that build better companies.  The firm was founded in 2004 and is based in New York, New York. Some of its key portfolio investments are 2U (Nasdaq: TWOU), ShotSpotter (Nasdaq: SSTI), Trilogy Education, and Ready Responders.

City Light Capital

Social Impact Capital specializes in investments that can deliver top decile returns. In addition to a positive social impact, the company focuses on the ''essentials of human need energy, water, food, health, environment, education, housing, access to capital, and social justice.

Social Impact Capital

Pure Ventures

Optivolt

Optivolt is a technology company providing resilient, sustainable energy for humans. Pulse, our patented power electronics architecture, enables Optivolt panels to deliver up to 60x more power in shaded and non-ideal conditions compared to industry-leading solar panels, enabling the lowest cost of energy system on the market. Optivolt technology has been battle-tested with Defense customers, reliably powering mission critical systems for the U.S. Air Force, Ukraine Military, and leading military contractors. Optivolt products enable shade-tolerant solar power for residential, commercial buildings, military bases and much more!

Optivolt is a solar technology company that has developed a patented shade-tolerant solar platform called Optivolt Pulse. This innovative system enables solar panels to generate up to 25 times more power in shaded environments compared to conventional solar panels. Optivolt's solution addresses a long-standing issue in the solar industry, where even a small portion of shading on a panel can significantly reduce its power output.

Optivolt Raises $8M to Scale Next-Gen Solar

Solar That Works Better In The Shade

Solar panels that work in the shade

Optivolt Raises $8 Million in Funding

Featured Founder: Optivolt Labs

Solar that works in the shade

Optivolt Raises $8M in Seed Funding

Smart Homes: Energy & Water Solutions

Optivolt is a solar technology company that has developed a patented shade-tolerant solar platform called Optivolt Pulse. This innovative system enables solar panels to generate up to 25 times more power in shaded environments compared to conventional solar panels. Optivolt's solution addresses a long-standing issue in the solar industry, where even a small portion of shading on a panel can significantly reduce its power output.
The Pulse system intelligently redistributes the shaded area across the entire panel, mimicking a slightly dimmer direct sunlight scenario. This allows the panel to continue operating at a higher efficiency, even in partially shaded conditions. Optivolt's technology stack includes the Pulse shade tolerance system and the Optivolt Glide MPPT controller, which together form the company's Thin Mint series of solar panels.
Optivolt's shade-tolerant panels are designed to power a wide range of applications, including IoT devices, 5G infrastructure, military equipment, robotics, and electric vehicles (EVs). By enabling reliable off-grid energy generation, the company aims to accelerate the adoption of solar power in environments where traditional solar panels have historically underperformed.
In May 2022, Optivolt closed an USD 8.2 million seed funding round led by Atlas Innovate, bringing the company's total funding to USD 10.1 million. The company has garnered attention from industry veterans, including Bobby Ram, a former SunPower executive who oversaw the company's global manufacturing operations.

Swell Energy is a provider of virtual power plant (VPP) programs that aggregate and optimize distributed energy resources (DERs) such as rooftop solar and battery storage systems. The company's GridAmp software platform utilizes AI and machine learning to coordinate these DERs across the grid, intelligently meeting fluctuating energy demand. This helps utilities deliver cleaner and more reliable energy to customers while reducing dependence on fossil fuel peaker plants.
Swell partners with utilities, customers, and third-party service providers to create VPPs. Through these programs, customers receive bill savings, compensation (GridRevenue), and enhanced energy security. In return, their solar-powered batteries are integrated into a network that supports grid reliability, stability, and potential cost reductions for utilities.
As of November 2022, Swell had contracted 600 MWh of VPPs across 26,000 energy storage systems in homes and businesses throughout the US. These VPPs provide grid services in utility territories like Hawaii, California, and New York. In Hawaii, Swell's 80 MW VPP helps the utility maximize wind energy utilization by storing excess wind power in customer batteries.
In December 2022, Swell partnered with Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to launch a residential VPP program aiming for 20 MWh and 10 MW of renewable capacity initially, with potential to scale up to 54 MWh and 27 MW.
In February 2024, Swell acquired residential and commercial solar installer Renu Energy Solutions, expanding its footprint across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic markets. The combined company aims to drive innovation and provide tailored clean energy solutions through Renu's project development capabilities and Swell's financing and VPP technology.

Swell Energy

ZOLA Electric is a leading emerging market energy technology company that aims to eradicate energy inequality globally. The company's roots trace back to Tanzania, where its founders observed communities lacking access to reliable and affordable energy sources, relying instead on dirty, expensive, and difficult-to-manage forms of energy like diesel, kerosene, and lead-acid batteries.Over a decade ago, ZOLA began by installing smart, connected lithium-ion batteries and solar systems to power basic energy needs such as lighting for rural communities. This approach of deploying networked, connected devices has driven the energy transition in emerging markets. Today, ZOLA has developed the world's first enterprise technology platform, purpose-built for energy access markets, combining a family of products controlled by a single operating system, ZOLA Vision.ZOLA's technology platform enables community-level electrification by facilitating localized solar energy production and providing smart technology with remote management tools. The platform is designed to deliver reliable, affordable, and clean power to the 3 billion people and hundreds of millions of businesses globally that lack access to it.Since its inception in Tanzania, ZOLA has expanded its operations to 10 countries across four continents, delivering affordable, reliable, and clean energy to over 2 million people, along with numerous schools, clinics, and businesses. In December 2022, the company launched its platform in Haiti, partnering with local renewable energy pioneer Haiti Green Solutions to address the country's energy crisis. This marked ZOLA's first market entry into North America.In November 2022, ZOLA commissioned a 120 kWp distributed solar mini-grid system in the Nyagatare district of Rwanda, providing power to over 1,000 homes, businesses, and institutions in the villages of Gakagati I and II. The project, developed using ZOLA's modular INFINITY technology, received support from organizations like Facebook (now Meta), the Shell Foundation, USID, and Endev.

Zola Electric

1KOMMA5° is a carbon-neutral energy systems provider based in Hamburg, Germany. The company offers proprietary energy IoT systems, including "Heartbeat," an intelligent energy management solution that optimizes home energy usage in response to fluctuations in energy prices. This technology allows users to achieve significant cost savings by automatically utilizing renewable energy sources like solar power when electricity prices are lowest.
1KOMMA5° operates a virtual power plant that networks and pools customers' photovoltaic systems, electricity storage, heat pumps, and charging columns, enhancing the profitability and efficiency of these interconnected systems. The company's business model involves investing in electrical sector companies focused on photovoltaic systems, charging infrastructure, and heat pumps, providing them with software solutions, centralized services, bundled purchasing, growth capital, and equity stakes in 1KOMMA5° Holding.
In June 2023, the company acquired the Danish solar company Viasol A/S. As of October 2023, 1KOMMA5° had the capacity to convert 500,000 buildings per year to climate-neutral power generation, heat, and mobility solutions. It operated over 65 sites with around 1,500 employees across Germany, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Denmark, Spain, and Australia.
1KOMMA5° offers a dynamic electricity tariff called "Dynamic Pulse," which guarantees customers the lowest and cleanest electricity at a maximum of 15 cents/kWh for two years. The company's solar modules, produced sustainably in Germany, generate electricity at approximately five cents/kWh, ensuring cost savings and inflation-free energy for over 30 years.

1Komma5°

Bboxx is a UK-founded data-driven platform that provides African consumers with access to innovative products and services, including plug-and-play solar home systems (SHS), solar-powered water pumps, clean cooking solutions, smartphones, and e-mobility solutions. The company utilizes its proprietary fully integrated operating system, Bboxx Pulse, combined with an extensive on-the-ground network to connect customers with these life-changing offerings.Bboxx's core products are solar-powered battery boxes designed for households, enabling users to power small appliances like lights, mobile phones, refrigerators, and computers. The company follows a pay-as-you-go business model, allowing customers to pay for what they use through mobile money, making it affordable for low-income individuals. As of 2020, Bboxx had positively impacted over 3.6 million lives across Africa by providing access to clean energy and other essential products.In September 2022, Bboxx acquired solar home system provider PEG Africa, consolidating its leading position in the market and expanding its geographical footprint to Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Mali, bringing its total operating markets to 10 countries. As of 2023, Bboxx's products were actively used by over 643,000 people, resulting in better lighting, improved connectivity, and the mitigation of more than 65,000 tCO2e emissions through the replacement of kerosene lanterns and other fuels.In March 2022, Bboxx launched the Flexx product line, consisting of a portable solar lantern and a multi-light system with charging ports, aimed at serving rural customers at the bottom of the energy pyramid in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bboxx

Aquion Energy was a Pennsylvania-Washington D.C. based company that manufactured proprietary Aqueous Hybrid Ion (AHI) batteries and energy storage systems. These saltwater batteries used sodium ions and employed widely available materials like carbon, cotton, saltwater, and manganese oxide as the primary inputs. Aquion's technology was optimized for stationary and long-duration daily cycling applications such as off-grid systems, microgrids, energy management, and grid-scale energy storage. The non-toxic and safe nature of the batteries, combined with their ability to be fully discharged without harm, made them suitable for renewable energy integration and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Aquion aimed to provide low-cost and sustainable energy storage solutions.
In March 2017, after facing financial difficulties, Aquion Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and ceased operations, sales, and manufacturing. The company was subsequently acquired by a Chinese-affiliated entity, Juline-Titans LLC, for USD 9 million in June 2017. Following the acquisition, Aquion closed its Pennsylvania plant in September 2017 and reportedly moved operations to China with the new owners intending to scale up by targeting larger commercial clients.

Aquion Energy

Companies that develop advanced energy generation technologies for houses (mostly solar).

Companies that develop battery storage solutions for home use.

Companies that develop real-time energy usage and efficiency monitoring solutions and generate energy reports. Includes companies that offer demand management solutions to monetize excess capacity.

Companies that offer water leak detection sensor systems and smart sprinkler systems.

Companies that assist home improvements (related to energy optimization) by bearing the upfront cost and charging users monthly fees based on energy usage.

Uses AI/ML to monitor and provide recommendations on energy and water usage

Focuses on achieving sustainability through renewable energy, saving and storing excess energy, etc.

Optivolt

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