Key Points

• SCEIN (Southern California Energy Innovation Network) is a clean energy business incubator program in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial counties.
• Cleantech San Diego celebrated the graduation of 10 local, sustainable energy startups from its Southern California Energy Innovation Network: Chilldyne, Controlled Thermal Resources, Ivy Energy, NeoCharge, Occuspace, South 8 Technologies, Qubitekk, UCAP Power, VLI-EV, and XENDEE.
• Cleantech San Diego had its annual Southern California Energy Innovation Network Showcase event on November 9, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. This free, virtual public event included presentations from nine other SCEIN-accredited renewable energy firms. 

About Cleantech San Diego

Cleantech San Diego launched 14 years ago as a business association to develop clean and renewable energy for the American economy.

SCEIN: A Leading Program that Promotes Entrepreneurship in SoCal

SCEIN is creating technology to assist California in meeting its clean energy targets. Through a coalition of regional partner organizations and private sector enterprises, the initiative provides free commercial services to help entrepreneurs effectively bring their energy inventions to market.

Read More: What is the Southern California Energy Innovation Network, or SCEIN?

Beginning of the SCEIN Program.

After receiving a grant from the California Energy Commission, Cleantech San Diego began the SCEIN initiative in 2016. SCEIN member businesses have developed new solutions speeding market change in transportation electrification, grid and building decarbonization, energy efficiency, and resilience throughout the program’s first six years of operation. 

The California Energy Commission authorized additional money for SCEIN in 2021 to promote energy entrepreneurs through 2026.

SCEIN has assisted 66 firms, with 31 presently participating in the program. Since being admitted into the program, these firms have employed 629 people, received 386 patents, and collected over $300 million in follow-on financing from public and private sources. C-suite diversity is present in 79 percent of SCEIN organizations.

UCR Received a Grant from SCEIN.

We also reported that last year, the University of California Riverside, also called UC Riverside, won a $450,000 grant from the Southern California Energy Innovation Network. UCR used the grant to fund Inland Empire’s (IE) startups in energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, energy storage, smart grid, and clean transportation. 

Read More: UC Riverside gets a grant of $450K from SCEIN.

10 Startups that Graduated from SCEIN Successfully

Ten startups have acquired several clients, created robust sales pipelines, and generated sufficient finance to support the growth of their breakthrough energy businesses since joining SCEIN. 

When it is mutually acknowledged that a startup has used all available resources and references, they graduate from SCEIN. 

The ten graduates are as under:  

1. Chilldyne provides liquid cooling technology that increases Data Center energy efficiency by 20-40% for a faster return on investment while allowing ten-fold greater density computing than typical air-cooled systems.
2. Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) combines geothermal and lithium extraction methods to provide the world’s most sustainable supply of battery-quality lithium to promote transportation electrification and generate low-cost, renewable energy.
3. Ivy Energy created Virtual Grid, the first solar billing software of its sort, to solve the divided incentive issue of transacting solar energy between inhabitants in shared buildings.
4. NeoCharge optimizes residential energy consumption through software and hardware solutions.
5. Occuspace offers a camera-free, unique method for reporting minute-by-minute interior occupancy data, providing building owners with the knowledge they need to cut overall energy usage by 10-20%, optimize space management, and enhance occupant experience.
6. South 8 Technologies, founded in 2016, is working on a revolutionary Liquefied Gas (LiGas®) electrolyte for next-generation Li-ion batteries.
7. Qubitekk produces quantum systems, creates system architectures, and combines quantum technology with traditional infrastructure to address today’s quantum difficulties while planning for the future.
8. UCAP Power creates ultracapacitor-based power solutions for a variety of renewable sectors.
9. VLI-EV is a one-stop shop for sustainable and renewable battery energy storage solutions, including unique control software with high power (5C charge/discharge rates), exceptionally long life, and 25-year guarantees.
10. The award-winning XENDEE platform streamlines the microgrid design process into a single piece of software, allowing users to swiftly evaluate projects of any scale, improve designs, optimize investments, and run microgrids in real time to maximize their potential.

Wrap Up!

Cleantech San Diego has graduated ten local, sustainable energy entrepreneurs from its Southern California Energy Innovation Network (SCEIN). SCEIN is a clean energy company incubator program based in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial counties.