We are excited to identify and help support high-potential founders of startup companies who are female or people of color and working on innovative clean energy, sustainability, and environmental solutions.
Evergreen Climate Innovations has partnered with U.S. Bank to provide funding to these underserved and underrepresented cleantech entrepreneurs through the U.S. Bank Cleantech Inclusion Award.
This award will be granted to an entrepreneur who is female or a person of color and who is building an innovative company that benefits the environment, creates jobs, and drives economic development. To be eligible, the founder’s company must have a product or service that mitigates harmful emissions, reduces carbon, or otherwise positively impacts the environment. Eligible sectors include renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart buildings/cities, water, ag-tech, energy storage, mobility/advanced transportation, and circular economy.
The award recipient will receive a non-recourse grant of $25,000, and work closely with Evergreen Climate Innovations and U.S. Bank, they will benefit from 12-months of business mentorship and heightened exposure to both investors and potential customers.
“Finding funding for and building a cleantech business is daunting for anybody. Unfortunately, these challenges are amplified for founders who are female or people of color,” commented Erik Birkerts, CEO of Evergreen Climate Innovations. “We’re excited to partner with U.S. Bank to leverage our experience in finding, funding, and growing cleantech startups to help these founders succeed.”
The geographic reach for this award includes the following states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. We encourage company founders to apply today.
Learn more about this opportunity by visiting our website. The award application window closes on December 31, 2019.
For more information on what we do at Evergreen Climate Innovations and our investments in cleantech, read about our 501vc® Seed Fund and our portfolio companies.