The Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL (GCxN), a multi-million dollar program developed in collaboration between Shell GameChanger and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has selected five startups to participate in the program’s fifth cohort. GCxN provides promising early-stage cleantech startups with resources to accelerate product commercialization while de-risking investment.

The selected startups are focused on decarbonizing industrial processes through innovative energy storage and heating technologies, as well as optimizing electric vehicle charging through hardware and software solutions. The fifth GCxN cohort includes:

• Alumina Energy - Developing modular energy storage systems that can be incorporated with thermal generation systems to improve operational flexibility, increase capacity, and reduce fuel consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

• BattGenie - Providing cutting-edge battery management software solutions that enable safer, longer-lasting and faster charging lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

• Electrified Thermal Solutions - Developing energy storage technology built on a novel joule-heating system that converts zero-carbon electricity into heat, which can be used to replace fossil fuels in industrial processes.

• Resonant Link - Manufacturing high-performance wireless chargers for electric vehicle fleets to be used while they operate, providing both higher power and lower costs.

• Induction Food Systems - Creating the first scalable, precise, and efficient inline heating solution for food and beverage manufacturers, eliminating the complexities, costs and greenhouse gas emissions of conventional steam heating.

Electric vehicles are critical for decarbonizing the transportation sector but charging requirements remain a major barrier to wide-scale customer adoption, and the associated increase in demand for electricity poses risks to the electric grid. The companies in GCxN’s fifth cohort are developing technologies that will improve the efficiency and safety of electric vehicle charging, which can ensure continued vehicle electrification to reach climate targets.

—Yesim Jonsson, Shell’s GCxN program manager

GCxN startups are referred by the program’s network partners—more than 60 cross-industry cleantech incubators, accelerators and universities—before undergoing in-depth review by Shell and NREL. Participating companies benefit from NREL’s state-of-the-art research capabilities, receive up to $250,000 in non-dilutive funding, and have access to networking opportunities through NREL’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center.

Participating startups have raised more than $70 million of funding to date, representing a $20 leverage ratio for each dollar of GCxN funding. Portfolio companies have also hired 51 new employees since GCxN program onboarding.