Activate Updates: January 2026

January 28, 2026

Activate has always believed that when scientists are given the right support, they scale impact faster than anyone expects. In 2026, we’re seeing that belief proven at a new level. Fellows are reaching unprecedented milestones, with innovations spotlighted in Smithsonian exhibits to commercial deployments that are transforming how industries operate.

As we launch our Singapore Fellowship, open pathways to global markets through partners like The Liveability Challenge, and engage at forums like

Davos, Activate is doing what we do best: building the ecosystem that helps fellows move from breakthrough to scale—and from promise to measurable impact.

This is what scaling innovation looks like.

A Window to the Future—AeroShield at the Smithsonian

AeroShield Materials (Elise Strobach & Kyle Wilke, Cohort 2020) recently unlocked a new kind of milestone: having an innovation on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. We went behind the scenes with AeroShield to find out how their super-insulated window prototype ended up in the Smithsonian and why it’s important to engage the public in hard-tech innovation.

Apply for Activate Global - Singapore

Applications for the Activate Global - Singapore Fellowship are officially open, and we can’t wait for technology born in Singapore to be built for the world. The 12-month fellowship, funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation and in collaboration with partners at Nanyang Technological University, is designed for Singapore-based scientists and engineers who are working on hard-tech inventions with the potential to scale globally and make real-world impact. To unlock the full application, please complete an eligibility check by March 13.

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Scaling Up Climate Solutions at Davos

A Champion for Science Entrepreneurship

Jill Fuss, Managing Director of the Activate Berkeley Community, received the 2026 QB3-Bakar Labs Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, recognizing her as a “champion of science and tech entrepreneurship.” Fuss first joined Activate as a fellow in Cohort 2018 and has since played a central role in building and guiding the Activate Berkeley ecosystem.

Submissions Open for The Liveability Challenge

The Liveability Challenge (TLC) 2026, one of Asia’s largest sustainability innovation platforms, is accepting submissions! Presented by Temasek Foundation and organized by Eco-Business, the ninth edition of TLC offers a record S$4M in catalytic funding and investment opportunities for global solutions across two themes: Decarbonization and Cool Earth. Submissions are due February 9.

In Our Ecosystem

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

Fellow News

Foray Bioscience (Ashley Beckwith, Cohort 2022) announces a partnership with West Coast Chestnut, marking the initial commercial deployment of its fabricated seed technology, which AgTechNavigator called “Google Maps for plants.”
SiTration (Brendan Smith, Cohort 2020) is featured in Global Mining Review and Mining.com, highlighting how its technology converts mine waste and wastewater into valuable assets while improving critical mineral recovery.
Gradient (Vince Romanin, Cohort 2017) is featured in Forbes and The New York Times as its plug-in window heat pump technology delivers scalable electrification for buildings and public housing.
Lucidean (Hector Andrade & Aaron Maharry, Cohort 2023) raises $18M in Seed funding to accelerate next-generation coherent optical links for data centers, as announced via Business Wire.
Noon Energy (Chris Graves, Cohort 2018) is recognized by pv magazine as an awardee in the battery energy storage system category for its long-duration energy storage solutions and later announces a successful 100+ hour battery demonstration.
Icarus Quantum (Poolad Imany, Cohort 2024) wins an NSF SBIR Phase I grant to advance commercialization of its entangled photon source technology.
PumpKin (Justin Silpe, Cohort 2024) launches its Milk Tracker app to help new parents track pumps, feeds, and more.
Pauliina Meskanen (Calectra, Cohort 2024) is featured on the Products That Count podcast, discussing Calectra’s customer-centric product development and capital strategies for deep-tech startups.
Coflux Purification (Alec Ajnsztajn, Cohort 2024) appears on Rice University’s Beyond the Hedges podcast to discuss PFAS remediation and the company’s origins.
Nitricity (Josh McEnaney & Jay Schwalbe, Cohort 2020) and SiTration (Brendan Smith, Cohort 2020) are selected for the Cleantech Group 2026 Global Cleantech 100, recognizing their leadership in sustainable agriculture and resource circularity.
Zanskar (Joel Edwards, Cohort 2020) raises a $115M Series C to expand its AI-driven geothermal discovery platform, with coverage in The Wall Street Journal.
Rapid Radicals (Paige Peters, Cohort 2024) is featured in Start Midwest for advancing compact, high-speed wastewater treatment technologies.
AeroShield Materials (Elise Strobach & Kyle Wilke, Cohort 2020) wins a $1M MassCEC Critical Mass Award to deploy aerogel-insulated windows in affordable housing.
SirenOpt (Jared O’Leary, Cohort 2023) is featured on the Lab to Startup podcast discussing cold plasma and machine learning for nanoscale manufacturing.
Electrified Thermal Solutions (Dan Stack & Joey Kabel, Cohort 2021) brings its first commercial-scale Joule Hive™ thermal battery online, demonstrating electric industrial heat at scale.
Andrew Ponec (Antora Energy, Cohort 2018) is featured in Axios: Future of Energy discussing advances in long-duration thermal energy storage.