Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator

Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator
Name	Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator
Type	Nonprofit incubator
Founded	2011
Location	Los Angeles, California
Headquarters	Downtown Los Angeles
Region	Greater Los Angeles
Key people	Jared Blumenfeld, Rick Fedrizzi, Felix Kramer
Focus	Clean technology, renewable energy, sustainable transportation

Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator is an independent nonprofit startup incubator based in Los Angeles focused on accelerating commercial deployment of cleantech innovations. Founded in 2011, it operates programs to support early-stage companies working on renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicle infrastructure, water conservation, and advanced materials. The incubator collaborates with municipal agencies, regional universities, and private investors to advance technology commercialization and regional decarbonization goals.

History

The organization was established in 2011 with leadership drawn from public and private sectors including figures associated with California Energy Commission, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and civic initiatives connected to Mayor of Los Angeles. Early partnerships included University of California, Los Angeles, California Institute of Technology, and US Department of Energy programs that sought to replicate models from Greentown Labs and NREL. Throughout the 2010s the incubator expanded amid statewide policy shifts such as California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and Renewable Portfolio Standard (California), aligning with infrastructure projects by Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Los Angeles County) and Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation. Notable collaborations and pilot deployments involved municipal actors like Los Angeles County and regional consortia including Southern California Association of Governments. Leadership changes and strategic hires paralleled collaborations with philanthropic organizations such as The Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Mission and Programs

The mission emphasizes commercialization pathways for startups that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support climate resilience, resonating with statewide objectives like those of the California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission. Core programs include an accelerator modeled after successful initiatives like Y Combinator and Plug and Play Tech Center, an incubation pipeline similar to MassChallenge, and sector-specific cohorts inspired by ARPA-E prize frameworks. Programmatic offerings cover technical validation, business development, pilot facilitation with entities such as Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Port of Los Angeles, and investor introductions to networks including Cleantech Group and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The incubator also runs events and challenges co-hosted with academic partners such as University of Southern California and California State University, Los Angeles to bridge entrepreneurship and research.

Facilities and Infrastructure

Facilities have included lab space, prototyping workshops, and office suites located near innovation corridors in Downtown Los Angeles and adjacent to research campuses like UCLA Research Park. Infrastructure supports hardware development with equipment and safety systems comparable to maker spaces at institutions such as Caltech and community resources like Los Angeles Public Library’s tech centers. Strategic facilities partnerships facilitated field-testing on municipal assets managed by agencies such as Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and testing corridors coordinated with Caltrans District 7. Co-location with regional accelerators and incubators enabled cross-pollination with entities like Southern California CleanTech Hub and manufacturing partners near Port of Long Beach.

Portfolio and Notable Alumni

The incubator’s portfolio spans startups in energy storage, grid management, sustainable mobility, advanced materials, and water tech. Alumni have included companies that progressed to seed and Series A funding rounds with investors such as Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Energy Impact Partners. Several portfolio companies secured procurement contracts with utility-scale customers like Pacific Gas and Electric Company and municipal buyers including City of Los Angeles agencies. Notable alumni examples involved teams that partnered on pilots with NASA spinouts, collaborations tied to research from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and ventures that later joined global accelerator networks such as Techstars and Plug and Play. Alumni achievements include award recognition from institutions like Cleantech Forum and listings in industry analyses by BloombergNEF.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding sources have included municipal grants from City of Los Angeles, state grants tied to California Energy Commission solicitations, federal awards associated with US Department of Energy programs, philanthropic grants from organizations such as Kresge Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and corporate sponsorships from firms like Siemens and Toyota Motor Corporation. Strategic partnerships span academic institutions including UCLA, USC, and Caltech, investor networks like Cleantech Group and Greentech Capital Advisors, and procurement or pilot partners such as Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison. Collaborative funding vehicles involved regional economic development entities such as LAEDC and workforce development programs tied to Los Angeles Trade‑Technical College.

Impact and Metrics

Measured impacts include jobs created across Los Angeles County and capital raised by alumni from venture firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and NEA. The incubator reports metrics on greenhouse gas reductions from pilot projects aligned with California Air Resources Board objectives, megawatt-hours of energy enabled through alumni products, and gallons of water conserved via cohort solutions. Economic indicators include follow-on funding rounds, procurement contracts with utilities like San Diego Gas & Electric, and manufacturing scale-up agreements at ports and industrial parks near Long Beach. Broader outcomes encompass regional innovation cluster strengthening similar to initiatives in Silicon Valley, Boston, Massachusetts, and Austin, Texas with citations in policy discussions involving California Legislative Analyst's Office and sustainability planning by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Category:Organizations based in Los Angeles Category:Clean technology