CalSEED: Who We Are
Over the next decade, California faces an enormous challenge. The state must double the size of its electric grid, rethink how goods and people move, and fundamentally change how homes and businesses are powered. All of this must happen while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving toward a 100 percent clean energy economy.
Meeting that challenge will require more than incremental improvements. It will demand new technologies, new business models, and new voices. Most importantly, it will require supporting innovation at its earliest and most vulnerable stage.
That is where CalSEED comes in.
California’s clean energy transition depends on entrepreneurs who are willing to tackle complex problems long before solutions are commercially viable. Innovations often begin in universities, national laboratories, small startups, or even garages. But between early research and market-ready deployment lies a critical gap. Promising ideas often stall because there is not enough funding or support to build prototypes, validate performance, or prove real-world potential.
CalSEED, the California Sustainable Energy Entrepreneur Development Program, was created to close that gap.
The program focuses on funding very early stage clean energy startups through grant funding paired with hands-on support. Its goal is simple but powerful: help entrepreneurs demonstrate proof of concept so they can move from theoretical innovation to investable solution.This approach fills a space that traditional funding often overlooks. While academic research grants support discovery and private capital backs technologies closer to market, few resources exist for founders working to bridge the two. CalSEED provides that first critical boost that helps transform ideas into viable technologies.
Beyond funding, CalSEED partners with experienced organizations to provide business training, technical guidance, and access to networks. Many founders entering the program are technologists who have never built a company before. Through CalSEED, they learn how to navigate commercialization, understand the energy market, and build companies that can scale.
A prime example of this critical network access is the program’s partnership with Cleantech Open, the world’s oldest and largest cleantech accelerator. Since 2005, Cleantech Open has helped over 2,100 innovators refine their business models and connect with investors, providing CalSEED startups a direct bridge from proof-of-concept to market-ready growth.
The program also benefits from deep technical expertise. Partners such as the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory support the selection process and help evaluate technologies for impact, reliability, and alignment with California’s decarbonization goals. This ensures that funded projects are not only innovative, but also relevant and scalable.
Equally important is CalSEED’s commitment to inclusivity. Historically, the clean energy sector has not been representative of the communities it serves. By supporting diverse entrepreneurs from the very beginning, CalSEED helps ensure that the clean energy transition delivers benefits broadly and equitably.
For many startups, CalSEED funding is the difference between an idea staying on paper and becoming a working system. Early support provides credibility, momentum, and validation. It allows founders to test ideas in the real world, refine their technology, and attract future investment.
California’s energy transition will require a wide range of solutions. From electrification and grid resilience to new storage technologies and efficiency innovations, the path forward is not singular. Programs like CalSEED are essential because they cast a wide net, support experimentation, and allow the strongest ideas to rise.The clean energy future will not emerge fully formed. It will be built step by step, prototype by prototype, startup by startup. By investing early and thoughtfully, CalSEED is helping ensure that California’s clean energy transition is not only ambitious, but achievable.
