Wells Fargo awards Clean Energy Incubator $50,000 grant to help startups

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station's (TEES) Clean Energy Incubator has received a $50,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) as part of its program to help startup companies retain staff and cope with the impacts due to COVID-19.

Wells Fargo IN² is awarding $900,000 to help experts in agtech, finance and clean technology companies, and the program is co-administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

According to Wells Fargo research, recent studies have shown that 74% of startups have seen revenues decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Clean Energy Incubator first received a grant in 2017 from the Texas State Energy Conservation Office — part of the State Comptroller’s Office — to pioneer a program for distressed clean energy startups called “Ctrl-Alt-Del.” With the Wells Fargo grant, the Clean Energy Incubator will expand those services to distressed clean technology startups by providing pandemic response support, advisory services and curated information and resources to clients.

“We know that small businesses across America are being hit especially hard right now,” said Trish Cozart, manager of the program.

According to John Pappas, the Clean Energy Incubator’s principal investigator, “With the advent of COVID-19, our clients needed an urgent change of focus. COVID-19 changed the entire work environment, raised the specter of cash crunches, and changed the risk calculation. Coupling our Ctrl-Alt-Del program with lessons learned from our own response to COVID-19 means we could help immediately." Pappas continued, "Innovation can and will persist — even during times of contraction — and this expedited funding is designed to support that."

Wells Fargo is also starting its IN² Channel Partner Awards program – a $5 million total fund – that hopes to strengthen sustainable technology initiatives and address barriers that startups face on the path to commercialization. The new round of award funds will be allocated toward programming or operational assistance designed to address the unprecedented challenges that startups within the partners’ portfolios are experiencing in the current business environment.

“Wells Fargo’s partnership with Texas A&M has always been focused on making impacts to those that we serve,” said Shane Hinckley, vice president of brand development at Texas A&M. “This is a great example of how a campus-wide partnership with Texas A&M can have a far reaching effect. The grant to TEES' Clean Energy Incubator is greatly appreciated and in line with the vision of where we wanted this relationship to be when we became partners.”

Besides TEES, other college winners include New York University, the University of Texas and the University of Nebraska.