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September 29, 2022
One of the most effective and actionable ways to slow climate change is largely untapped: decarbonizing the built environment. As U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently stated, 125 million homes, businesses, schools account for about 40% of the nation's energy use, and a whopping 75% of electricity use– a third of carbon emissions. Through investing and commercializing emerging new technologies, we can transform the built environment into energy-efficient, low carbon, healthy systems. To take effective action on climate change, it is imperative to nurture and grow new climate technologies that will revitalize the built environment, especially as they prepare to go to market– that is where IMPEL comes in.
IMPEL is the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office’s premier incubation engine. The year-long program focuses exclusively on emerging technologies designed to achieve net zero built environments that promote wellness and resilience for all. To its cohort of small businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs, grad students, researchers, and scientists, IMPEL provides a series of pitch workshops, business seminars, carbon tools training, mentoring connections with industry leaders, and real-world pitching opportunities through IMPEL’s partnerships. In essence, IMPEL provides resources that new innovators need to bring their climate technologies to market. As the program closes its third year, it’s remarkable to look back on the achievements of the program and its Innovators in such a short period of time.
2022 Highlights
Between pitch coaching, networking, and tirelessly working to hone products and pitches, IMPEL’s 2022 Innovator cohort found many ways to inspire others and crush new milestones in the building technology space. This year, IMPEL took in 44 early-stage Innovators, 10 of whom now have patents pending or issued for their technology. IMPEL partnered with over 20 collaborating organizations to help Innovators run 3 pilots, 6 technology demonstrations, and help develop 9 partnerships with industry players (via IMPEL Innovator Alumni Survey, July 2022).
However, numbers alone do not convey the true scope of Innovator successes this cohort achieved. In the past few months, many IMPEL Innovators have made significant tangible steps towards bringing their technologies to market. Top 10 Innovator highlights for 2022 include:
Satpal Kaur - Unboxed: awarded NYSERDA Climate Justice fellowship
Hao Li - Multipliciti: accepted into new AEC Accelerator FormworkLabs, backed by Brick and Mortar Ventures
Richard Fennelly - CoilPod: awarded the Most Innovative HVAC Cleaning Technology for the BUILD’s Facilities Management Awards 2022
Grant Gunnison - Zero: piloted technology in partnership with MassCEC, accepted into the DOE-NRELWest Gate LEEP program
Davoud Zamani - ALD Technical Solutions: received funding from California Energy Commission
Jacob Kumpon - KLAW Industries: selected as a semi-finalist for Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s Bonus Focus
Joshua English - okom wrks labs: raised seed funding, signed MOU with the DOE’s ABC Collaborative
Balaji Renukumar - Sensfix: received a $2.5M non-dilutive grant from the European Union in January 2022, and $400k in committed private angel funds
Jose La Salle - florrent: raised 970k in funds from Maroon Venture Partner Fund, Gaintech Capital, and the AngelList syndicate
Priya Thomas - Shower Stream: piloted their technology with Extended Stay America
2022 Private Sector Pitch Events
During the 2022 season, IMPEL had the honor of partnering with Greentown Labs (GTL) and the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) to bring exciting mentorship and competitive pitch opportunities to Innovators. IMPEL also collaborated with CleanTech Future for a pitch event to close out the year.
The five Innovators who pitched at ATI’s EarthX E-Capital Summit all made it into the Climate Tech Pitch Prize semi-final or final rounds, in addition to going through 6 weeks of ATI’s FLASH accelerator. The five Innovators included:
Angela Cabrera - Alegna: Building sensor integration and monitoring software platform
Revi Sagee - eampact: Residential resilience products marketplace
Satpal Kaur - Unboxed: Modular, 3D printed accessible dwelling units
Xuezheng Wang - WellStat: Indoor building health control system
Grant Gunnison - Zero: Residential building data extraction for customized decarbonization planning
The accelerator culminated in ATI’s Decision Day event this past June, where Innovators got to pitch their climate technologies to ATI’s broad ecosystem of mentors and investors. “I appreciated [receiving] a practical and tangible perspective on things. ATI’s programming was a true success both for Innovators looking to learn as they go, and IMPEL’s partnership as a whole” shared Grant Gunnison, 2022 IMPEL Innovator.
At Greentown Labs’ -IMPEL Building Tech Pitch Day in June, Innovators trekked to Boston, MA to pitch to corporate ventures and investors.Both organizers and attendees found themselves impressed with the polished pitches delivered and organic connections formed. From the “pitch practice [with IMPEL] to connections with strategic players... I found it very valuable” noted Innovator Priya Thomas, who participated in the event. “I really enjoyed getting out and pitching in front of a live audience and getting direct feedback from the judges,” Innovator Peter Willette divulged. The eight IMPEL Innovator companies being represented that day included:
Peter Willette - facil.ai: scalable AI-based optimization software solutions
Hao Li - Multipliciti: one-stop-shop for green building products
Christian Hager - Fend Inc.: communication diodes for cybersecurity across devices
Priya Thomas - Shower Stream: automatic shower technology for real-time data and management
Joshua English - okom wrks labs: regenerative SIP wall
Richard Fennelly - CoilPod: HVAC coil cleaning technology
Balaji Renukumar - Sensfix: digitalization of buildings and AI automated facility management
Through its partnership with GTL, IMPEL has been able to strengthen its Innovators’ market positioning and connection-making that results in investments, partnerships, customers, pilot deployments, and more.
IMPEL’s final pitch event in August came through a new collaboration with CleanTech Futures. Six Innovators were selected to pitch at the Building Innovation: CleanTech Future and IMPEL Investment Showcase, an invite-only Virtual Investor Forum and Pitch Competition. Participating Innovators included:
Eduardo Sastre - AirStat: indoor air quality platform
Jose La Salle - florrent: bio-based ultracapacitors for electric grid stability
Derek Cowburn - LumenCache: open hardware platform for cross device communication and power
Balaji Renukumar - Sensfix: digitalization of buildings and AI automated facility management
Blake Dressel - SOURCE Inc.: AI-driven digital platform for building and energy project development
Michael Gibson - Tec Caribe: resilient structural panels for net zero energy and water modular structures
The showcase kicked off with presentations from investors focused on building a more equitable and sustainable future, including Jean-Noel Poirier of E8 Angels, Kareem Dabbagh of Volo Earth Ventures, and Eli Velasquez of Investors of Color Network. IMPEL program director Reshma Singh and the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office's Nicholas Ryan discussed avenues for collaboration between the public and private sectors and how Labs can support reviewing and vetting new technologies. The showcase concluded with engaging pitches from Innovators, with Sensfix and florrent winning audience choice and judge’s choice awards, respectively.
IMPEL’s mission and unique positioning at a National Lab enables it to advance so many cutting-edge building tech innovations. “By helping us to focus on our messaging, we were able to finally land a paying customer that was able to see our clear business case,” shared Joshua English, founder of okom works labs, “we had been working with the customer for over a year; but it wasn't until IMPEL that we were able to articulate the value we could provide them. As well, our work with IMPEL helped to land us a spot in a 100k sq. ft. R&D facility that is geared toward technologies like ours”.
Another 2022 Innovator, Angela Cabrera, found IMPEL to be valuable to growing her technology and moving towards commercialization, “The IMPEL program has helped me clarify and organize the business model, pitch and customer approach to successfully grow Alegna Technologies. Priceless experience with the IMPEL Program…!” The inspiration and innovation IMPEL’s 2022 cohort has brought to both the IMPEL program and the building tech space itself is a valuable and refreshing reminder that building technology will continue to emerge as a leader in the global movement to address climate change.
Launching the Next Year of IMPEL
As a successful 2022 season comes to a close, IMPEL looks forward to welcoming a fresh cohort for its 2023 season. In addition to its tried and true programming of workshops, business seminars, and partner events, IMPEL will be expanding its offerings with new collaborations, more networking opportunities for Innovators, and an even keener focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of the program.
Eligibility information and a link to the IMPEL application can be found at impel.lbl.gov. The priority deadline is November 15 and the application window will be open until all available Innovator positions are filled. If you’re interested in learning more about the IMPEL program, its team and its roster of expert coaches, mentor panel, advisors at DOE and Berkeley Lab, and new activities planned for FY23, view the recording of IMPEL’s 2023 Kickoff Webinar on our website impel.lbl.gov.
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