[Tempe] — November 12, 2019 — Today, EnKoat announced it has been selected as one of ten early-stage technology companies to participate in the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), a technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). As a program participant, EnKoat will receive $250,000 in non-dilutive funding and hands-on technical assistance for additional technology development and validation.
EnKoat was selected to participate in the IN2 because of its novel coating technology which can help reduce the heating and cooling costs in residential single-family and multi-family housing. EnKoat’s products have the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and in collaboration with researchers from NREL, the team is looking to move faster with product development and getting the product to market readiness.
Since 2014, IN2 has helped 30 startups develop and prove the viability of early-stage energy efficiency technologies by leveraging the unique capabilities, expertise and facilities of Wells Fargo, NREL and other IN2 partners. In 2018, the incubator expanded into the food-energy-water nexus by selecting a cohort of agtech companies, and is now extending its scope further in order to advance cleantech innovations that will make residential housing more affordable.
EnKoat Co-Founders Aashay Arora and Matthew Aguayo are excited by their success getting into the cohort. Aashay says, ‘We are privileged to be part of the IN2 program where early age startups like ours can get the technical assistance we need to establish credibility in the cleantech sector, accelerate product development and de-risk our technology to get faster market adoption.”
The sixth IN2 cohort includes companies with expertise in advanced manufacturing and construction, materials, community and district-level technologies and design tools, and energy efficiency technologies.
“The companies in our latest IN2 cohort show incredible promise in the affordable housing and energy efficient commercial building technology sectors,” said Ramsay Huntley, Clean Technology and Innovation Philanthropy program officer for Wells Fargo. “We are helping these start-ups overcome challenges for getting to market because when you look at the results of energy efficiency—improved health, increased productivity, cleaner communities—the benefits and return on investment are clear.”
Trish Cozart, IN2 program manager at NREL said, “Wells Fargo’s affordable housing initiative aligns nicely with the IN2 mission and NREL’s expertise in construction innovation and energy efficiency. With this cohort, we are taking IN2’s five-year legacy of fostering cleantech innovations that improve commercial building energy efficiency and translating that to the residential space.”
About EnKoat
EnKoat is a clean-tech and advanced materials company. EnKoat has re-engineered traditional architectural coatings like paint, plaster and stucco into energy saving coatings. Our coatings can provide up to 30% savings on heating and cooling costs by automatically regulating the internal building temperatures. These coatings can be applied to interior/exterior walls or roof of new construction, pre-existing buildings and retrofit applications.
About the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2)
The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is a $30 million technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation. Co-administered by and housed at the U.S Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, IN2’s mission is to speed the path to market for early-stage, clean-technology entrepreneurs. Launched in 2014 with an initial focus on supporting scalable solutions to reduce the energy impact of commercial buildings, IN2 has since expanded its focus to advance technologies that address the sustainable production of agriculture and affordable housing. Companies selected for participation in the program receive up to $250,000 in non-dilutive funding from Wells Fargo, technical support and validation from experts at NREL and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and ongoing connections to organizations across value chains. For more information, visit in2ecosystem.com.
