States Step up to Fund Innovation and the Transition to a Sustainable Future
In pursuing our mission of empowering brilliant minds to solve some of the biggest challenges in our collective history, Activate works with various entities, including the U.S. government, private funders, philanthropies, and state governments to achieve these goals. We are proud and grateful to note that all of our geographic communities in Berkeley, Boston, and New York (not including our recently announced Houston location) now receive support from state governments that provide funding for scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs at the local level to drive climate-tech innovation.
Activate Leadership Council Predicts These Trends in Climate Tech for 2023
Which challenges, opportunities, and surprises will 2023 bring for climate tech? Activate advisors from Impact Science Ventures, Berkeley Catalyst Fund, and Day One Ventures share their insider perspectives.
2022 by the Numbers
By any measure, this year was Activate’s biggest yet. Here are some of 2022’s most significant wins.
A Soundtrack to Innovation
As the year comes to a close, we’ve asked the fellows and team about their favorite songs of 2022. We’ve pulled together the soundtrack to innovation: these are the songs that Activate Fellows and staff sang along to, tapped their toes to, and changed the world to.
Chris Thomas, Activate’s New Vice President of Engagement and Strategic Communications, Brings a Track Record of Innovation
Chris Thomas joined Activate in October as vice president of engagement and strategic communications. He brings a dynamic perspective to Activate, cultivated through years of diverse experiences in Europe and the United States. Though his career has centered around digital strategy, it started in a science lab — or perhaps even earlier — with a homemade computer rig that landed him in trouble (find out how that story ends below!). He ultimately considers joining Activate a “coming home of sorts to the science world.”
Reasons to Give Thanks
The world is awash in problems, yet there’s a small but exciting group of scientists, entrepreneurs, and funders who are aiming at a potentially better future with real – and perhaps revolutionary – solutions.
Activate Fellows Aren't Waiting to Decarbonize the Future
By Andrew Chang, Activate New York Managing Director. COP27 concluded this week with mixed results. As global leaders continue to look for solutions to our climate crisis, Activate Fellows aren’t waiting—they are already urgently building new tools that will make it easier for people around the world to transition away from fossil fuels toward a more resilient, low-carbon economy.
Getting it done—together—at Climate Week NYC
By Eva Koehler, Activate New York Fellowship Manager. Climate Week NYC is billed as the biggest climate event on Earth. This year’s event, focused on the theme “Getting It Done,” brought together experts from around the world—including Activate Fellows, for the first time.
How the United States is Manufacturing a Supply Chain of Innovators
By Aimee Rose, Executive Managing Director. This country has invested so much in me. Thanks to federal education support, I was able to study science for free until I was almost 30. As a chemistry student and post-graduate, I engaged with world-class researchers at world-class institutions. I translated that education into an explosives detection startup that, also with the help of federal funding, protected U.S. warfighters and the traveling public.
One. Billion. Dollars.
Nearly a year ago we were celebrating how Activate Fellows had collectively attracted more than $370 million in follow-on funding across six years and seven cohorts. One year and cohort later, it is hard to believe that our 144 fellows and their 106 companies have already surpassed the one billion dollar mark.
We’re now Accepting Applications for Cohort 2023
We’re expanding our fellowship to accelerate impact and meet growing demand.
We've Added Three New Powerhouse Members to our Board
Liesel Pritzker Simmons, investment strategist and principal of Blue Haven Initiative, has just joined the Activate board of directors. She joins Troy Brewster, senior audit manager at Blazek & Vetterling, and Morrow (“Morry”) Cater, founding principal and president of Cater Communications, who joined the board in August 2021.
Meet Naomi Baer, Activate’s New Chief Operating Officer
We are thrilled to introduce Naomi Baer, Activate’s new chief operating officer, a seasoned operational leader with a track record in scaling non-profits.
Community, Collisions, & Camaraderie: The 2022 Activate Summit
For a few jam-packed hours at the Activate Summit, we reconnected with friends and partners, celebrated the graduating Cohort 2020 fellows, welcomed the incoming 2022 fellows, and marveled at the gorgeous San Francisco Bay from our perch at the Exploratorium.
Meet the 39 New Activate Fellows Who Are on a Mission to Build a Cleaner, Safer Society
Cohort 2022 fellows are pursuing imperatives to permanently remove carbon dioxide, forge carbon-free manufacturing pathways, grow the bioeconomy, advance the efficiency and power of information technology, and sustainably secure minerals essential to the clean energy transition.
Startup to Sale: How Cohort 2015 Fellow Tom McDonald Built and Sustained Mosaic Materials
Baker Hughes has acquired the startup and plans to deploy its carbon dioxide capture technology across the industrial value chain.
Brimstone Raises $55M Series A to Build Pilot Plant, Grow Team
Brimstone has developed a pathway to decarbonize cement, the essential material that contributes 7.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions each year.
The Pivot to Purpose: The Climate Crisis is Invigorating a Workforce Focused on Climate Tech
As much of the workforce confronts burn-out, re-evaluates career goals, and ponders their long-term impact, many are looking for more purposeful work in climate tech startups. These new entrants, as well as our fellows, all share a sense of urgency. This work can’t wait.
Impact Science Ventures Invests in Cohort Companies, Catalyzes New Investment Partnership Program at Activate
ISV will spur private investment to boost the impact of world-changing science-based startups—including, to date, nine Activate Fellow-led companies. ISV will also serve as the inaugural partner in a new Activate program, to be officially launched this summer, that will bring together early-stage technology investors and Activate cohort companies.
Liminal—formerly Feasible—Raised an $8M Series A to Move Tech to Pilot Stage
In early April, Feasible, the battery manufacturing intelligence company co-founded by Cohort 2016 fellows Andrew Hsieh and Barry Van Tassell, announced an $8 million Series A financing round, as well as its new name: Liminal.