Announcing the 10 finalists for the inaugural AWS Clean Energy Accelerator program

We are happy to announce the selection of the 10 finalists and participants in the inaugural AWS Clean Energy Accelerator program. These ten companies were selected by a panel from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Freshwater Advisors, from 218 applications received from 38 countries around the world. The applicants ranged from pre-revenue to $50M in annual revenue and from 1 to more than 500 employees.

We announced the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator program in May to help address the crucial need for clean tech innovation and collaborative solutions to address the global climate and clean energy challenges. This is a new customer-focused accelerator where selected startups will receive technical, business, and go-to-market mentorship from AWS clean energy experts, up to $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credit through AWS Activate, and collaboration opportunities with AWS energy customers, industry leaders and members of AWS Partner Network (APN) looking for clean energy solutions. The AWS Clean Energy Accelerator is being delivered in collaboration with Freshwater Advisors, a national innovation consultancy and venture catalyst.

The 10 finalists in the first cohort represent eight countries and a wide-range of innovative clean energy solutions:

• E-zinc, based in Toronto, Canada, developed a breakthrough electrochemical technology for low-cost, long-duration energy storage in physically-free zinc metal.
• EthosGen is a Pennsylvania, US-based startup, pioneering the use of advanced materials to convert waste into scalable, resilient, and renewable energy to provide carbon-free circular economy solutions to industry and infrastructure.
• FlexiDAO, based in Spain and the Netherlands, offers blockchain-based software that helps energy buyers increase the credibility of their renewable energy reporting and verify its real source and emissions, every hour of the day.
• Hydro Wind Energy, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is developing a disruptive offshore wind technology using kite systems and vertical axis wind rotors to provide low-cost clean electricity, grid scale energy storage, and seawater desalination.
• Ionomr from British Columbia, Canada, is manufacturing ion-exchange membranes and polymers for clean energy that provide cost, performance and sustainability advantages for fuel cells, hydrogen production, and carbon capture and conversion.
• Persefoni is an Arizona, US-based software as a service (SaaS) company providing a complete carbon footprint management systems that enables enterprises and financial services institutions to measure, analyze, plan, forecast, and report on their carbon transactions and inventory.
• Smart Helio, headquartered in Switzerland, is a deep-tech clean energy startup using proprietary Edge sensor and intelligent software to make solar plants live longer and greener.
• SmartPulse, based in Turkey, developed a robust, SaaS-based energy trading platform that connects energy exchanges, grid operators, power plants, consumers, and service providers via an end-to-end SaaS solution that reduces costs and increases operational efficiency of renewables.
• FirstElement Fuel is a California, US-based developer, innovator, and disruptor of hydrogen fueling infrastructure with a mission to foster the widespread adoption of hydrogen vehicles and of hydrogen in the transportation sector at large to improve the economics of driving, and reduce its footprint on our planet.
• Utility Global, based in Houston, Texas, US, aims to reshape the world’s energy landscape with low-cost, clean, distributed hydrogen production systems powered by the proprietary, high-temperature H²Gen™ electrolysis process.

Over five weeks, we will virtually connect these 10 startups with AWS energy customers, digging deeper into their current challenges and learn how new innovations can be part of the solution. We will immerse these startups in the cloud with hands-on technical training in capabilities like machine learning (ML) and high performance computing (HPC), and provide each of them with up to $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credit through AWS Activate to experiment and accelerate how they can transform their data and operations in the cloud.

The accelerator will culminate in virtual demo day—a showcase event in September—featuring presentations from the startups and discussions with industry thought-leaders including Amazon sustainability and startup leaders, AWS global energy company partners, and industry leaders. Request an invite to the showcase event.

This program is being offered in collaboration and support from some of our largest energy customers such as ENI, Galp, Halliburton Labs, Shell, Vestas, and Woodside, and key supporting community participants such as Buoyant Ventures, Clean Energy Trust, Energize Ventures, Greater Houston Partnership, Invenergy, Jenner & Block, and The Center for Energy Studies at the Rice University’s Baker Institute. To help accelerate the transition to clean energy, and drive commercialization of joint solutions to climate change and the energy transition, our customers and community collaborators are engaging directly with these startups, serving as advisors and mentors along their journey. The selected startups will also receive mentorship from subject matter experts, along with business development.

Learn more about the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator and the 10 finalists. Learn more about how AWS supports energy customers and partners. Learn more about how Freshwater Advisors is helping connect corporations to entrepreneurial ecosystems. Read how Amazon is building a sustainable business for you and the planet.

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