#Greentown10 is a celebration of the startups, partners, ecosystem collaborators, and other climate champions who have worked together over Greentown’s first decade. This month, we’re spotlighting our Greentown Launch startup-corporate partnerships accelerator, which fosters the collaborations necessary to deploy and scale climatetech solutions.
Partnerships for Climate Action
Both startups and corporates have enormous roles to play in tackling the climate crisis, and their impact is most significant when they work together. Corporates unlock key opportunities for climatetech deployment at scale, due to their capital, purchasing power, and market access—especially given that climatetech is a largely B2B industry with high capital requirements. Meanwhile, climatetech startups can nimbly innovate on the cutting edge of solutions to decarbonize the global economy and build resilient communities. Startup-corporate partnerships are a critically effective, efficient, and reliable way to power climatetech solutions into the marketplace.
That’s where Greentown Launch, Greentown Labs’ flagship startup-corporate partnerships accelerator, comes in. Working across the largest greenhouse-gas emitting sectors—agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation—Greentown Launch’s mission is to forge partnerships between climatetech startups that are developing crucial climate solutions and the corporates that can get those technologies to market—all in the name of accelerating climate action.
There’s something both startups and corporates know all too well: these types of partnerships are challenging to form. It can sometimes feel like the two groups speak different languages due to their disparate timelines, communication styles, and work cultures. But startups, corporates, and the planet have so much to gain from these collaborations. Startups benefit from a corporate’s customer base, industry knowledge, and resources, while corporates can leverage startups to remain on the cutting edge of their industries’ innovation.
Greentown Launch draws on a proven roadmap rooted in coaching startups and corporates toward mutually beneficial partnerships. During months of frequent touch points, program participants work toward mutually agreed upon goals in collaboration with the corporate, with the end goal of validating the potential for a long-term partnership. This activity creates urgency and accountability while allowing each party a unique window into the inner workings of the other. The process is punctuated by a series of program workshops and access to industry mentorship opportunities, which help cohort startups learn from the entrepreneurial experiences of other founders and increase their industry savvy.
Greentown Launch has a demonstrated track record: the accelerator’s nine completed programs have led to 24 signed contracts. These collaborations have taken the form of pilots, licensing agreements, investments, joint development agreements, and more. As a globally recognized leader in startup support and community-building, Greentown Labs attracts world-class startups to its Launch programs, and while Greentown does not negotiate partnership outcomes directly, it acts as a trusted intermediary between both parties.
Check out case studies of an investment from the Bold Ideas Challenge and a pilot project from the InNOVAte 2019 Challenge and end-of-program reflections from startups in the Offshore Wind Challenge and Bold Ideas 2020!
How can you get involved?
- Startups: apply to a future Launch program—sign up here to hear about upcoming programs. Greentown Launch programs are open to all startups, anywhere in the world, regardless of whether the startups are Greentown Labs members. Launch participants receive Greentown membership for the duration of the program.
- Corporates: partner with Launch. The focus of our entire partnerships program is to help corporates collaborate with our startup community. For corporates, Greentown Launch is a super-charged version of our partnerships program, a way for them to meaningfully deepen their engagement with climatetech startups.
- Startup coaches and former founders: become a Launch mentor.
- Other climate champions: attend a Launch program Kickoff or Final Showcase and sign up for Launch updates.
2015
Sep 01
PROPEL (2015)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/propelheader-1.png]
- Sector: Manufacturing
- Topic: Industrial IoT + sensors
- Partners: Shell; supported by Analog Devices, Clean Energy Venture Group, EnerNOC, GE Ventures, Freescale Semiconductor, and Saint-Gobain
- Collaborator: Fraunhofer TechBridge, an expert in technical validation, was a key collaborator on the first three Launch programs.
- Participating startups: Tagup, MultiSensor Scientific (now Kuva Systems), Gridorder, Gusali Labs
2016
Sep 01
SunRISE I (2016)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Sunrise-1-1024x683.jpg]
- Sector: Electricity
- Partner: During the SunRISE programs, we worked closely with program partner DSM to build up the Greentown Launch programming and curriculum, which to this day serve as the foundation of Launch programs.
- Collaborator: Fraunhofer TechBridge
- Participating startups: WattGlass, QD Solar, ARL-D, HEE Solar, Tessolar
2017
Sep 01
SunRISE II (2017)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/SunRISE-2017-Results-1.png]
- Sector: Electricity
- Topic: Solar materials
- Collaborator: Fraunhofer TechBridge
- Partner: DSM
- Participating startups: SunDensity, SunSniffer, NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions
2018
Sep 01
The Bold Ideas Challenge (2018)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/119-1024x684.jpg]
- Sector: Electricity
- Topic: Distributed energy technology
- Partner: Schneider Electric
- Participating startups: Titan Advanced Energy Solutions, Singularity Energy, Sunforge, Gridspan Energy
2019
Sep 01
InNOVAte 2019 Challenge (2019)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/Greentown-Labs-Innovate-2019-4color-1-1024x554.png]
- Sector: Buildings
- Topic: The built environment
- Partners: Saint-Gobain
- Participating startups: Techstyle Materials, Hyperframe, INOVUES, Pre Framing Corp.
Sep 07
H2 Refuel Accelerator (2019)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/H2REFUEL-1024x233.png]
- Sector: Transportation
- Topic: Hydrogen infrastructure and supply chain innovations
- Partners: Shell, Toyota, NYSERDA
- Collaborators: The NYU Urban Future Lab and Fraunhofer TechBridge partnered with Greentown in startup recruitment, selection, accelerator programming, and events. Fraunhofer also provided technical validation for one startup participant.
- Participating startups: Celadyne, Ecolectro, Electro-Active Technologies, HYGEN, pH Matter, Protium Innovations, Skyre
Oct 01
Circularity Challenge (2019)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/Circularity-Challenge_BASF_CMYK-1024x735.png]
- Sector: Manufacturing
- Topic: Plastics, energy storage, and recycling value chains
- Partners: BASF; supported by Stanley Black & Decker
- Participating startups: American Battery Metals Corporation (now American Battery Technology Company), Circularise, Nexus Fuels, Corumat, Interface Polymers
2020
Sep 01
Offshore Wind Challenge (2020)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Copy-of-Offshore-Wind-Challenge-partners-graphic.png]
- Sector: Electricity
- Topic: Marine mammal monitoring for offshore wind
- Partners: Vineyard Wind; supported by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
- Participating startups: Open Ocean Robotics, SICDRONE, Night Vision Technology Solutions
Sep 30
Bold Ideas 2020 (2020)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Copy-of-Bold-Ideas-2020-Graphic.png]
- Sector: Electricity
- Topic: Energy storage
- Partner: Schneider Electric
- Participating startups: Packetized Energy, e-Zinc, Salient Energy, Sensai Analytics
2021
Jan 01
KAITEKI Challenge (2021)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Untitled-design-1024x576.png]
- Sectors: Manufacturing; agriculture
- Topic: Sustainable consumption in proteins, plastics, and packaging
- Partner: Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation
- Participating startups: Circularise, BlakBear, Impactful Health R&D, Paragon Pure, STARFIELD, and one startup in stealth mode
Jun 01
Healthy Buildings Challenge (2021)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Untitled-design-1024x576.png]
- Sector: Buildings
- Topic: Building sustainability and wellbeing for building occupants
- Partners: Saint-Gobain; supported by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
- Participating startups: Will be announced in fall 2021!
Sep 14
Carbon to Value Initiative (2020-2023)
[Image: https://greentownlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/C2V-Dark-Text-Large-1024x313.png]
- Topic: Carbontech
- Partners: The C2V Initiative is a collaboration built upon the Greentown Launch framework, led by the NYU Urban Future Lab, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA and supported by NYSERDA and the Consulate General of Canada in New York. The initiative is run by an Urban Future Lab program director.
- Participating startups: Air Company, Carbfix, CarbonFree, CarbonQuest, Cemvita Factory, CERT, Made of Air, Mars Materials, Patch, Planetary Hydrogen