Climate Change Investment Initiative Paves the Way for Innovation in Chicago

June 12, 2023 at 15:40 PM EDT

Startups Can Apply Now Through September 15 to Receive Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars from the Exelon Foundation to Pursue Inventive Climate Solutions

Startups whose products, services or technologies are focused on fighting climate change, and improving the quality of life for residents of Chicago and beyond, are encouraged to apply for an equity investment from 2c2i, a joint effort of the Exelon Foundation and Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC).

Each year, Exelon provides equity investments to startups whose work benefits residents of a region served by the company. In addition to the Exelon Foundation’s $10 million financial investment over a 10-year period, Exelon Corporation invests up to $10 million of in-kind support, including mentoring entrepreneurs on ways to access other sources of capital, structure business plans, allocate financial resources and meet regulatory requirements. In the last two years alone, 2c2i companies have gone on to raise more than $100M in follow-on investments, in turn making a measurable impact on their communities.

"Climate change requires us to take bold, collective action,” said Exelon President and CEO, Calvin Butler. “The 2c2i program is a key component of Exelon’s commitment to addressing climate change in the communities most affected, which are often also the most underserved. This program supports community-based companies that are developing solutions and creating long-term economic opportunities, improving the quality of life for thousands. We’re looking forward to partnering with even more innovators with the zeal to have a lasting impact on generations to come.”

To qualify for 2c2i consideration, startups must be doing work that will benefit one or more of Exelon’s six major markets – Atlantic City, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Del. Their work must have the potential to do one of the following:

Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions
Boost the resiliency of urban infrastructure (e.g., the power grid, transportation systems, buildings, vacant land) against flood, stormwater and rising temperatures
Help cities, businesses and communities adapt to climate change; or
Help achieve a state or city’s specific sustainability and climate goals

Startups with innovative climate change solutions looking for investment should apply here now through September 15.

Recent recipients of a 2c2i investment currently creating an impact in the Chicago region include Clearflame, an Illinois-based company that has patented and developed an internal combustion engine technology that can operate on clean-burning fuels, like ethanol, instead of diesel without compromising performance. Clearflame is partnering with ComEd to demonstrate the use of mobile generators using clean-burning fuel while supporting outages and reducing the emissions and improving the air quality.

The following companies were selected to receive investments for 2023:

Aclima

Aclima is pioneering an entirely new way to diagnose the health of our air and track climate-changing pollution. Their professional analytics software, Aclima Pro, translates billions of scientific measurements into environmental intelligence for governments, companies, and communities. Aclima is a purpose-driven technology company catalyzing bold climate action that protects public health, reduces emissions, and delivers clean air for all.

Byfusion

A company that utilizes a zero-waste carbon-neutral platform to repurpose non-recyclable plastic waste into an award-winning construction-grade alternative building material to help clean up the planet and revitalize neighborhoods everywhere, including

Perl Street

Clean and distributed physical infrastructure assets require new financial asset managers to scale. Perl Street enables climate tech companies to offer financing programs and become asset managers. Their financial asset management software significantly reduces soft costs and overheads and unlocks the growth of distributed assets such as energy storage, electric vehicle charging stations, smart HVAC systems, and more.

Voltpost

With the mission to decarbonize mobility by democratizing charging access, Voltpost retrofits lampposts into a modular and upgradable electric vehicle charging platform. The Voltpost platform is scalable, reliable, and equitable to accelerate electric mobility adoption and exceed climate targets.

Sparkcharge

The first company to create a mobile EV charging system and network, was founded in part to expedite EV adoption and accessibility for everyone. Its mobile Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) solutions enable businesses that operate EV fleets and consumers to have energy delivered directly to their EVs, where and when they need a charge.

About 2c2i

Launched in 2019, 2c2i (Climate Change Investment Initiative) combines the social and environmental impact objectives of the Exelon Foundation with the investment objectives and approach of venture capital. Over the past four year, 2c2i has invested in 32 companies, with 64% of the portfolio being minority or women-led and 57% of the portfolio being headquartered in Exelon’s footprint. Thus far the 2c2i portfolio has created more than 300 jobs and reduced, displaced, or avoided over 25,000 metric tons of GHG emissions through innovative solutions.

For more information on the 2c2i program, including previous investees and their continued impact, visit exelonfoundation.org/environment

The Exelon Foundation would like to recognize Katten, 2023 law firm sponsor, for providing in-kind legal services in support of the 2c2i program climate investments.

About Exelon

Exelon (Nasdaq: EXC) is a Fortune 200 company and the nation’s largest utility company, serving more than 10 million customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities — Atlantic City Electric (ACE), Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), Delmarva Power & Light (DPL), PECO Energy Company (PECO), and Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco). More than 18,000 Exelon employees dedicate their time and expertise to supporting our communities through reliable, affordable and efficient energy delivery, workforce development, equity, economic development and volunteerism. Follow Exelon on Twitter @Exelon

About the Exelon Foundation

The Exelon Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization funded solely by Exelon Corporation through shareholder dollars. The mission of the Foundation is to encourage respect for the environment, support innovative STEM education programs and strengthen the social and economic fabric of the community by providing a match to Exelon employee contributions.