Activate Fellow News: March 2026

This past month, Activate Fellows and alumni didn't just make progress—they continued to make history. Across cohorts and sectors, progress is accelerating—early pilots are scaling, teams are reaching global markets, and lab-based innovations are moving into real-world impact. Here’s a roundup of the latest milestones across the Activate community:

MAJOR FELLOW MILESTONES

• Electrified Thermal Solutions (Dan Stack & Joey Kabel, Cohort 2021) announced the opening of its new headquarters and production facility in the Boston area, expanding production capacity.
  
  
• Tyfast’s (Haodong Liu & GJ la O', Cohort 2022) first patent has been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  
  
• Anew Material (Jiye Son, Cohort 2024) launched its Founder’s Batch of microplastic-free, low-VOC, and kid-safe nail polish powered by its patent-pending biodegradable coating technology.
  
  
• SixLine Semiconductor (Katy Jinkins, Cohort 2023) successfully produced aligned semiconducting carbon nanotube films on industry compatible 200-mm semiconducting wafer platforms.
  
  
• VectorWave (Ronald Davis, Cohort 2025) is emerging from stealth with a new neuromorphic analog compute platform that brings real-time AI inference directly to RF signals as they're sensed.

FELLOW FUNDING & PARTNERSHIPS

• Liminal Insights (Andrew Hsieh & Barry Van Tassell, Cohort 2016) announced a partnership with Waygate Technologies to advance multi-modal inspection for battery manufacturing.
  
  

• Inlyte Energy (Antonio Baclig, Cohort 2021) has partnered with NTS Colocation AG to deploy long-duration energy storage across NTS facilities in Switzerland. Inlyte is also collaborating with Ervin Industries to engineer new iron powder formulas to optimize the performance of its batteries and strengthen the domestic supply chain for battery materials.
  
  
• Aepnus Technology (Bilen Akuzum & Lukas Hackl, Cohort 2022) secured pre-Series A investment from 212 NexT to advance its modular platform that enables the chlorine-free production of caustic soda by economically recycling sodium sulfate waste streams.
  
  
• Noon Energy (Chris Graves, Cohort 2018) is partnering with Halliburton Labs to accelerate the commercialization of Noon Energy’s 100+ hour battery system.
  
  
• Fervo Energy (Tim Latimer & Jack Norbeck, Cohort 2018) secured $421M in non-recourse project financing for the first phase of its flagship Cape Station development.
  
  
• Takachar (Kevin Kung, Cohort 2018) is collaborating with Straw Innovations to roll out proprietary rice farming technology in India.
  
  
• Sublime Systems (Leah Ellis, Cohort 2020) supported RMI and the Center for Green Market Activation in developing a new framework to enable verifiable, trusted cement Environmental Attribution Certificates (EACs) and help scale low-carbon materials like Sublime Cement.
  
  
• Sepion Technologies (Pete Frischmann, Cohort 2016) announced the closing of a $10M Series B financing round to scale commercial production of next-generation battery separators.
  
  
• Blaze Energy (Rok Sitar, Cohort 2023) announced a collaboration with Iomarlabs and Lomar Shipping to pilot its innovative Flex-Fuel Retrofit System aboard a Lomar trading vessel.
  
  
• 4th State Energies (Pankaj Ghildiyal, Cohort 2025) was awarded a $250K STTR Phase I grant from the U.S. Department of Defense.

FELLOW AWARDS

• Every Electric (Andrew Wang & Richard May, Cohort 2024) won the Con Edison Smart Usage Partner Rising Star Award.
  
  
• Intero Biosystems (Charlie Childs, Cohort 2025) has been named to the 2026 Merck Digital Science Studio.
  
  
• Sublime Systems (Leah Ellis, Cohort 2020), Tandem PV (Colin Bailie & Chris Eberspacher, Cohort 2016), and Fervo Energy (Tim Latimer & Jack Norbeck, Cohort 2018) were listed in TIME’s America’s Top GreenTech Companies of 2026. Fervo Energy has been ranked #1 on the list.
  
  
• Noon Energy (Chris Graves, Cohort 2018) is a TOP 10 finalist in the Energy Tech Challengers' Energy for AI track.
  
  
• Carbon Infuse (Diandian Zhao, Cohort 2024) was selected for the Go Build 2026 cohort with Greentown Labs, Amazon, and the Global CO2 Initiative.
  
  
• Supercarb (Hitesh Manglani, Cohort 2024) has been selected for the 2026 cohort of the BEAM Circular Accelerator in partnership with gener8tor.
  
  
• Nitricity (Jay Schwalbe & Josh McEnaney, Cohort 2020) has been selected for the 2026 THRIVE Top 50 AgTech Report by SVG Ventures-THRIVE.
  
  
• Elateq (Lily Rajic, Cohort 2024) has been accepted into Xylem’s Partnerships Accelerator program for Cohort 2026.
  
  
• Icarus Quantum (Poolad Imany, Cohort 2024) won the Global Tech Insider award as the most innovative quantum interconnect company.
  

FELLOW FEATURES

• Robigo (Andee Wallace, Cohort 2022) was featured by the World Economic Forum for its RNA interference technology as an alternative to chemical pesticides, earning recognition as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.
  
  
• Fatma Kaplan (Pheronym, Cohort 2021) was one of 200 founders featured in the Diversify: Female Founders in Focus photography exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
  
  
• Garrett Boudinot (Vycarb, Cohort 2022) was featured on the Climate Tech Builders by Frontlines.io podcast.
  
  
• Zanskar (Joel Edwards & Carl Hoiland, Cohort 2020) was featured in FOXBusiness’ article “Artificial intelligence helps unlock geothermal potential.”
  
  
• Mo Alkhadra (Lithios, Cohort 2022) was featured on the Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups podcast.
  
  
• Peter Godart (Found Energy, Cohort 2022) was quoted in the Forbes article, “Bring Your Own Energy: 5 Insights On Data Center Deployment.”
  

FELLOW EVENTS

• PumpKin (Justin Silpe, Cohort 2024) exhibited at the 4th Annual Human Milk Institute Symposium in San Diego, CA.
  
  
• CalWave (Marcus Lehmann, Cohort 2015) attended the National Hydropower Association’s Water Power Week 2026 in Washington, DC and joined over 140 industry colleagues to meet with representatives on Capitol Hill.
  
  

PumpKin (Justin Silpe, Cohort 2024) exhibited at the 4th Annual Human Milk Institute Symposium in San Diego, CA. Image Credit

CalWave (Marcus Lehmann, Cohort 2015) attended the National Hydropower Association’s Water Power Week 2026 in Washington, DC and joined over 140 industry colleagues to meet with representatives on Capitol Hill. Image Credit

Fatma Kaplan (Pheronym, Cohort 2021) was one of 200 founders featured in the Diversify: Female Founders in Focus photography exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Image Credit

SixLine Semiconductor (Katy Jinkins, Cohort 2023) successfully produced aligned semiconducting carbon nanotube films on industry compatible 200-mm semiconducting wafer platforms. Image Credit

Electrified Thermal Solutions (Dan Stack & Joey Kabel, Cohort 2021) announced the opening of its new headquarters and production facility in the Boston area, expanding production capacity. Image Credit

Anew Material (Jiye Son, Cohort 2024) launched its Founder’s Batch of microplastic-free, low-VOC, and kid-safe nail polish powered by its patent-pending biodegradable coating technology. Image Credit

This month’s milestones highlight the steady progress happening across the Activate community—from early breakthroughs to scaled deployment. As more fellows bring their technologies into the market, we’re continuing to see what that momentum looks like across industries and real-world applications.

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