Each year, we find 12-15 companies that best fit our mission and fund each company up to $1 million to improve systems that impact people’s lives: energy, water, agriculture, and transportation.
Portfolio companies
Demonstration projects
Awarded to companies
Go Electric built a 3 MW microgrid at Camp Smith on Oahu, and is building a microgrid for an agricultural community on the Big Island.
Lisa made the leap from Rolls Royce’s venture team to start Go Electric, a startup based in Indiana. The company is scaling microgrid hardware and software that integrates solar, batteries, and other energy sources to provide reliable power to critical facilities.
GridTerViva planted 50 acres of pongamia, a crop that produces biofuel and cattle feed, on fallow agricultural land.
Naveen started TerViva to develop new trees that grow sustainably on abandoned land, using less water and fertilizer than other crops, and creating multiple revenue streams for farmers.
AgricultureWaterSmart has engaged over 700 residents across Oahu and Hawaii Island in improving water-use efficiency and utility customer engagement.
WaterSmart provides personalized water use information directly to customers, helping people take quick actions that reduce water bills 3-5%.
WaterStem deployed 1 MW of distributed energy storage with 25 schools, nonprofits, and businesses in Hawaii.
Stem combines powerful learning software with energy storage to automate energy savings for schools, nonprofits, and businesses.
GridT-REX is developing an optimizer tool to enhance efficiency in securitization and is working to demonstrate this end-to-end solution on a portfolio of renewable energy assets in Hawaii and the Asia Pacific.
Benji started T-REX to connect institutional investors with renewable energy assets and drive down the cost of renewable energy development.
FintechAt scale, Opus 12’s technology can turn trash to treasure by incorporating novel electrode materials into a commercially-available electrochemical reactor.
Opus 12 co-founders, Etosha, Kendra, and Nicholas, bonded over their mutual interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and teamed up to develop their research on carbon dioxide utilization into an economically viable process
Shifted Energy connected more than 300 water heaters to Oahu’s electric grid to store excess solar and wind.
Olin Lagon is a serial entrepreneur who founded Shifted Energy to turn electric water heaters into batteries that can store excess renewable energy.
GridIbis Networks partnered with Hawaii Energy and the University of Hawaii to deploy 1,300 Intelisockets across three campuses.
Ibis Networks reduces plug-level energy use by 40% by turning off devices in schools, hotels, and offices when no one is present.
EfficiencyGeli is currently working with 20+ Hawaii installers to model and right-size solar-plus-storage systems.
Geli is creating an end-to-end platform for the energy storage ecosystem.
GridTake 90 seconds to complete our pre-application. Enter some simple information to receive updates in your inbox! Applications for our 2019 cohort open Spring 2018.
ApplyOur program is funded by a diverse coalition of utility partners, corporate partners, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Energy, state government, and philanthropic organizations.
In 2013, the U.S. Navy made a $30 million commitment to our program.
The Department of Defense Office of Naval Research (ONR) recognizes the paramount importance of scientific research to future naval power and the preservation of national security. ONR is interested in the rapid commercialization of clean energy technologies that the Navy can procure to improve reliability and resiliency.
Coming out of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, a model for states pursuing an aggressive transition to renewable energy, the U.S. Department of Energy set aside funding for innovation. This became the seed funding for Elemental Excelerator.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is dedicated to ensuring America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. The DOE’s goals include transforming the nation’s energy system, securing U.S. leadership in clean energy technologies, maintaining science and engineering as a cornerstone of our economic prosperity, and enhancing nuclear security. DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences that any other U.S. federal agency.
Since our roots in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, we have worked closely with the State Energy Office to support innovation-friendly policies.
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is a division of the State’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. HSEO is committed to developing and deploying high-impact solutions that will maximize Hawaii’s renewable energy resources, and improve efficiency and transportation standards. In partnership with Elemental Excelerator, HSEO has brought one of the most exciting conferences, VERGE Hawaii, to the islands, showcasing Hawaii’s energy leadership and convening some of the most important voices in clean energy.
Hawaiian Electric Industries was our first Global Partner. Together we have partnered on nearly a dozen demonstration projects.
Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) is the parent of the three largest utilities in the Hawaiian Islands – Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. and Maui Electric Company, Ltd. – and one of Hawaii’s largest financial institutions, American Savings Bank.
Vector is New Zealand’s largest distributor of electricity and gas.
Vector owns and manages a unique portfolio of businesses, which consists of electricity distribution, data and communications provider, gas transmission and distribution, smart metering and data management, natural gas and LPG, fiber-optic networks, and solar and energy storage solutions. Vector sees Hawaii as the Silicon Valley of energy and is most interested in technologies that bring different types of innovation together into one platform and technologies that increase engagement with their end clients.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO) is the largest public utility in Japan, and the 4th largest utility in the world.
After the market was deregulated in Japan, TEPCO faced a rapidly changing market and significant disruption to their business model. In response, TEPCO formed an Innovation Task Force to evaluate technology solutions for their grid and explore new business ventures. They are collaborating with Elemental Excelerator and its portfolio companies to assist them in their transformation, learn more about energy innovation in Hawaii, and build a pipeline of promising startups.
With FPH’s commitment to never invest in another coal plant, they are positioning themselves as the clean energy leader of the Philippines.
First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH) is a management and investment company with interests in power generation and distribution, as well as strategic initiatives in manufacturing and property development. Its power generation subsidiary, First Gen Corporation, is a renewable energy producer with various power plants that utilize geothermal, hydro, and natural gas. With FPH’s commitment to never invest in another coal plant, they are positioning themselves as the renewables leader of the Philippines across all clean energy verticals and are looking to share their geothermal expertise with the world.
Enel operates more than 100 renewable energy power plants in North America for a total managed capacity exceeding 3 GW.
The Enel Group is a multinational power company and a leading integrated utility player in the world’s power and gas markets. Enel has a presence in over 30 countries and connects more than 61 million customers to more reliable and increasingly sustainable power, drawing from a net installed capacity of approximately 84 GW, 36 GW of which comes from renewable energy sources. The Enel Group is applying innovation to use energy in more resourceful and intelligent ways to tackle the world’s greatest challenges. Enel operates in North America through its subsidiary, Enel Green Power North America, Inc. (EGP-NA), which operates more than 100 renewable energy power plants for a total managed capacity exceeding 3 GW across four different renewable energy technologies.
GE counts most of the world’s utilities as their client and wants Elemental Excelerator to provide insight into the technologies and projects that are actively being deployed.
GE Ventures is a global leader in energy innovation and investments, with dozens of active energy venture investments. They are committed to identifying, scaling, and accelerating ideas that will make the world work better and provide entrepreneurs and startups access to GE’s technical expertise, capital, and opportunities for commercialization through GE’s global network of businesses, customers, and partners.
DENSO partnered with Elemental Excelerator to give themselves an instant presence in the energy and mobility innovation.
DENSO Corp., headquartered in Japan, is the second largest auto part technology company in the world. With DENSO’s recent launch of a venture capital arm in Silicon Valley, they partnered with Elemental Excelerator to give themselves an instant presence in the energy and mobility innovation and insight into the next phases of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative focusing on transportation.
Elemental Excelerator is proud to have been selected by Blackstone as a partner in supporting energy-related startups.
The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is the 3rd largest private equity firm in the world. Through its investment expertise across several asset classes and geographies, Blackstone has a unique perspective on the global economy and a heightened understanding of how entrepreneurial activity is often the crucial catalyst in the growth of successful businesses, industries, and communities. Elemental Excelerator is proud to have been selected by Blackstone as a partner in supporting energy-related startups. They understand that the business of buying and selling large companies is only sustainable with a healthy ecosystem of strong small companies supporting them.
Elemental Excelerator is partnering with HCF in looking at innovative ways to increase water efficiency, transparency, and supply.
The Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) partners with and convenes experts, donors, and nonprofits to raise the level and effectiveness of philanthropy in Hawaii. HCF creates partnerships by bringing funders together with nonprofit, community, and government leaders, and shares knowledge gained through its work investments. Fresh water has always been a concern for an island in the middle of the Pacific with finite water resources.
We all have an event in our lives that triggers the motion of our personal journey. Mine started as a 2 year old child with a book. The book was Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. The Giving Tree exposed me…