CalSEED Cohort 7 Prototype Awards Announcement

Oakland, CA, April 8, 2026  – The California Sustainable Energy Entrepreneur Development (CalSEED) program is proud to celebrate the seventh annual Prototype Awards by recognizing eleven groundbreaking companies: 17, Inc., AmpTrans, Calectra, Inc., Cryodrives, LLC, EELI Technology, Inc., Gridwave, Manara Materials LLC, Navion Energy Inc., OpenRoad Technologies Inc., Three Rivers Power, LLC, and Wayside. Selected through a rigorous business plan competition with 22 companies competing, each of the 11 awardees stood out for their bold ideas and immense potential to transform California’s energy landscape, earning $500,000 each to bring their innovations closer to reality. In total, $5.5 million of CEC EPIC funds will be invested in these clean energy innovations throughout California.

The business plan competition is closely coordinated with Cleantech Open (CTO). Eligible CalSEED Concept Awardees participate in CTO’s accelerator program, gaining valuable tools, insights, and mentorship to shape their business plans and pitches.

“At Cleantech Open, we’re proud to partner with CalSEED to provide these exceptional founders with the mentorship, training, and connections they need to turn bold ideas into market-ready solutions,” said Jessica Greenwald, Executive Director of Cleantech Open. “This year’s cohort is tackling some of California’s most pressing energy challenges, and we’re excited to support their journey from prototype to impact.”

“This year’s winners are tackling critical bottlenecks across California’s energy system, from modernizing our aging grid infrastructure to creating domestic supply chains for critical minerals,” said Joy Larson, Program Director of CalSEED, a program of New Energy Nexus. “Their work exemplifies the ingenuity needed to ensure our clean energy transition is not only rapid but also equitable, resilient, and creates lasting economic opportunity for the state.”

Companies submitted business plans and pitched their ideas to panels of judges representing expertise in building start-ups, experience with industry-specific commercialization, ratepayer benefits, and energy equity.

The Cohort 7 Prototype Awardees are working on technologies that address urgent needs for a more resilient, equitable, and decarbonized energy system:

• 17, Inc. is developing a modular, containerized ammonia production system that converts intermittent renewable energy, air, and water into ammonia on-site at solar and wind installations. This innovation allows clean energy producers to monetize stranded or curtailed energy without a grid connection, while decarbonizing a process responsible for 2% of global CO₂ emissions.
• AmpTrans is building CHARGE-OPT, a data-driven SaaS platform designed to automatically manage fleet charging for medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) trucks. The platform connects fleets, charging developers, and utilities on a unified ecosystem to optimize routes and grid upgrades, cutting costs and accelerating electric vehicle adoption.
• Calectra, Inc. is building a commercial-scale prototype of a power-to-heat thermal storage technology that makes high-temperature process heating cleaner and cheaper for heavy industry. Their thermal battery provides heat up to 1600ºC for industries like cement and steel, reducing energy costs by an estimated 60% while adding flexible load to balance the grid.
• Cryodrives, LLC is developing ruggedized inverter and export-power solutions for heavy-duty mobility applications. Their HD-POW Export Power and HD-VFD Motor Drive systems deliver up to 50 kW of power for industrial equipment, providing a lighter, more powerful alternative to diesel generators for trucks, trailers, and tractors.
• EELI Technology, Inc. is advancing an Advanced Lithium Recovery platform, an electrochemical direct lithium extraction method to make lithium production viable from domestic low-grade sources. This chemical-free technology triples recovery efficiency while saving 98% of freshwater use and eliminating carbon emissions, supporting California’s Lithium Valley.
• Gridwave is piloting a patent-pending, drop-in smart microgrid platform called The Grove™. Combining foundationless solar canopies, AI-powered energy management, and second-use batteries, this relocatable system enables warehouse operators to electrify fleets without costly grid upgrades or long delays.
• Manara Materials LLC is developing a modular, co-located, zero-waste materials recovery platform to produce high-purity, battery-grade materials from spent nickel-based catalyst wastes. This proprietary green solvent extraction method creates a domestic circular supply chain for critical minerals like nickel and cobalt.
• Navion Energy Inc. is developing a modular battery system integrating sodium-ion cells, passive cooling, and advanced software into turnkey energy storage solutions. Designed for mission-critical applications like AI data centers and grid support, the system addresses thermal management and safety challenges to improve grid resilience.
• OpenRoad Technologies Inc. is building and piloting GridConnect, a technology that enables distributed energy resources like batteries and EV chargers to seamlessly participate in demand response and virtual power plant programs. It translates utility standards into device-level protocols without costly firmware or hardware changes.
• Three Rivers Power, LLC is developing an innovative pole-mounted battery system designed to bring scalable, utility-controlled energy storage directly to the distribution grid. By leveraging existing utility poles, this system enables rapid deployment without land acquisition or costly infrastructure upgrades.
• Wayside is demonstrating a productized, appliance-like BESS with a patent-pending unibody immersion cooling system for safe stationary storage. Using a non-flammable, biodegradable fluid to prevent thermal runaway, the system offers all-climate reliability and a 15,000+ cycle life for a fundamentally lower cost of storage.

CalSEED is a program of the New Energy Nexus, a global clean energy entrepreneur support network. It is funded through the California Energy Commission’s EPIC program, which invests approximately $130 million annually to advance clean energy technologies that benefit California’s ratepayers and communities.

The CalSEED community includes over 165 startups inventing new energy solutions, creating good jobs, and building a cleaner, more equitable energy system for all.