Activate Updates: December 2025

December 17, 2025

It's been a big year at Activate. We celebrated ten years of supporting hard-tech fellows. We unveiled an expanded mission: building the community that drives science into impact. And we went international, launching the Activate Global - Singapore Fellowship to accelerate innovation and build bridges to one of the world's fastest-growing science and technology hubs.

The year was also filled with community-building, inspiring fellow milestones, and the hard-tech ecosystem coming together. See some of our favorite moments below!

Activate Berkeley Fellows at the 2025 Meet the Cohort Event

Activate Houston Fellows and Staff at the 2025 Meet the Cohort Event

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Activate New York Fellows and Staff At 2025 Retreat in Santa Cruz

Activate Boston Community at the 2025 Meet the Cohort Event

Activate Anywhere Fellows at the MythBusters Studio During Quarterly Trip to Berkeley

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Activate Berkeley Fellows at 2025 Reunion in San Francisco

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Activate Staff and Fellows at the 2025 Retreat in Santa Cruz

Forbes 30 Under 30 Recognizes Activate Fellows

Forbes announced its latest 30 Under 30, and seven Activate Fellows made the list. They were named in three categories—Healthcare, Energy & Green Tech, and Manufacturing & Industry—and selected from over 10,000 applicants. Congratulations to all the promising entrepreneurs and business leaders recognized!

MEET THE LISTERS

Enabling the Impossible through Biology, AI, and Community Collaboration

Yunha Hwang and Andre Cornman (Cohort 2024)—an environmental microbiologist and a machine learning engineer—teamed up to found Tatta Bio and harness genomic intelligence to accelerate biotech research and development. Many things make Tatta unique, including that it’s a non-profit fueled by collaboration within the scientific community. The team’s most recent milestone is the launch of its new platform, SeqHub, which has already made its way into the hands of scientists around the world.

Scaling Up Solutions for Clean Water

As co-founder and Chief Science Officer at Elateq, Ljiljana Rajic (Cohort 2024) is using her deep experience in electrochemistry and environmental engineering to deliver potentially revolutionary solutions for one of the world’s most fundamental challenges: clean water. Without using chemicals, Elateq removes multiple contaminants and is scaling up its technology to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals.”

Juno Propulsion’s Technology Is Headed to Space

Alexis Harroun’s (Juno Propulsion, Cohort 2023) lifelong passion for rocket propulsion led her to become a rocket scientist, then, a science entrepreneur. Now, as co-founder and CEO of Juno, she’s headed for another launch: testing a new paradigm for propulsion, the rotating detonation engine, to make space flight more efficient. Juno is making meaningful headway on its journey to market, with its first in-space demo on the horizon.

In Our Ecosystem

Upcoming events, relevant opportunities, and what we're reading.

Fellow News

Zanskar (Joel Edwards, Cohort 2020) uses its AI technology to discover ‘Big Blind,’ the first “blind” geothermal system to be identified for commercial purposes in the U.S. in over 30 years, and is featured in Axios, MIT Tech, and Canary Media.
REEgen (Alexa Schmitz, Cohort 2022) wins the $150K grand prize at the FuzeHub Commercialization Competition, accelerating the company’s path to deliver on its mission of revitalizing critical mineral recovery and enabling widespread energy security.
AeroShield Materials’ (Elise Strobach & Kyle Wilke, Cohort 2020) early prototypes go on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum as part of the “Aerospace and Our Changing Environment" exhibit.
Inlyte Energy (Antonio Baclig, Cohort 2021) is interviewed by Valo Ventures, highlighting the company’s approach to grid-scale energy storage using iron and salt.
Carbon Infuse (Diandian Zhao, Cohort 2024) is selected for the Carbontech Development Initiative’s latest funding round, supporting the advancement of carbon utilization technologies.
Tyfast (GJ la O’, Cohort 2022) is selected for the second cohort of the Arkansas Lithium Technology Accelerator, strengthening its role in next-generation lithium processing.
florrent (Jose LaSalle, Cohort 2023) receives a $40K grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, advancing workforce development and clean energy innovation.
Brimstone (Cody Finke, Cohort 2019) is featured in The Wall Street Journal for its role in reshaping critical materials and industrial decarbonization.
Fervo Energy (Tim Latimer & Jack Norbeck, Cohort 2018) closes a $462M oversubscribed Series E round, marking a major milestone for enhanced geothermal systems.
LintrinsIC (Cameron Hill, Cohort 2021) is awarded a Phase II SBIR contract from the Office of Naval Research, supporting the advancement of next-generation semiconductor technologies.
Mithril (Scarlett Koller, Cohort 2024) is selected for NATO DIANA’s 2026 cohort of innovators, recognizing its dual-use technology potential.
Fervo Energy (Tim Latimer & Jack Norbeck, Cohort 2018) is featured in WBUR’s “Hot rocks have a moment in the quest for renewable energy”, highlighting growing momentum in geothermal innovation.
Lithios (Mo Alkhadra, Cohort 2022) and Activate are recognized by the Massachusetts Office of Economic Development following a visit from Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley.
Anthro Energy (David Mackanic, Cohort 2021) wins Best of Show at the 2025 Advanced Automotive Batteries Conference, recognizing its breakthrough electrolyte technology.
Garrett Boudinot (Vycarb, Cohort 2022) contributes to global conversations on industrial decarbonization as a speaker at Decarbon Tokyo 2025.
Anthro Energy (David Mackanic, Cohort 2021) selects Louisville, KY for its first large-scale U.S.-owned Li-ion battery electrolyte facility, expanding domestic battery manufacturing capacity.
Lithios (Mo Alkhadra, Cohort 2022) wins Emerging Company of the Year in Advanced Systems as part of the annual NEVYS award show, hosted by the New England Venture Capital Association.
Inlyte Energy (Antonio Baclig, Cohort 2021) completes factory acceptance testing for its first full-scale iron-sodium battery system, as featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Lithios (Mo Alkhadra, Cohort 2022) begins field operations of the world’s first electrochemical lithium extraction technology, marking a major milestone in critical minerals innovation.
Andrew Ponec (Antora Energy, Cohort 2018) spoke at Emerson Collective's 9th annual Demo Day. Watch his exclusive backstage video answering some “Demo Day DMs.”