Activate Updates: October 2024

Activate Updates

Oct 25

The frightful rumors are true: the application deadline for Cohort 2025 has been extended to tomorrow, October 30, at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET. Hop on your witch’s broom and apply!

Next, Activate Boston Managing Director Dan Recht shares boo-tiful insights on how he coaches science entrepreneurs to be more daring.

We’re also reflecting on a hauntingly successful workshop with some of today’s most promising geologic hydrogen researchers, who we brought together with industry leaders to catalyze potential pathways for commercialization in this emerging space.

Lastly, deploying climate tech at scale doesn’t have to be scary. Catch Activate CEO Cyrus Wadia kicking off the VERGE conference today with a forum on climate-tech commercialization. It will be a scream!

Building Daring Entrepreneurs: My Approach to Guiding Activate Fellows

Science entrepreneurs need to be daring to succeed. But how can you cultivate this trait? Dan Recht, Managing Director of the Activate Boston Community, shares how he personally coaches Activate Fellows to take bigger risks with greater odds of success.

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Cultivating Early Talent in High-Risk, High-Potential Industries

“I believe this is the start of something big…” Activate provided entrepreneurial training to leading geologic hydrogen researchers at New York Climate Week in partnership with ARPA-E, exploring an exciting new model for bridging the gap between research and commercial impact.

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Cyrus Wadia Leads the Conversation on Deploying Climate Tech at Scale

VERGE 24, happening October 29-31 in San Jose, CA, is the center of gravity for professionals deploying climate tech at scale. Today, Activate CEO Cyrus Wadia kicks off the conference with a forum co-hosted by Trellis and Activate on climate-tech commercialization.

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HOPO Therapeutics (Julian Rees, Cohort 2023, Cyclotron Road) announced it has been awarded a contract valued at up to $226M from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The funds will be used to advance development of an oral therapy to treat individuals exposed to radioactive heavy metals like plutonium, americium, and curium, for which no approved oral therapy exists today.

Anthro Energy (David Mackanic, Cohort 2021, Cyclotron Road) has received a $24.9M funding award to drive domestic production of advanced electrolytes for Lithium-ion battery cells. Part of a White House initiative to boost domestic clean energy manufacturing in 15 coal communities across the country, this project will create an estimated 115 permanent high-quality jobs in Kentucky.

Sublime Systems (Leah Ellis, Cohort 2020) announced $75M in new investments from two of the largest building materials providers, CRH and Holcim, to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon cement. Sublime was also recently recognized as one of the 2024 climate tech companies to watch by MIT Technology Review, and Ellis is profiled in the new documentary Women of Carbon.

Fervo Energy in TIME100

Tim Latimer (Fervo Energy, Cohort 2018, Cyclotron Road) has been included in TIME100, a star-studded list recognizing the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024. Tom Steyer authored Latimer’s profile, explaining why Fervo’s advancements in geothermal—which could help eliminate close to 800 megatonnes of emissions annually by 2050—are so crucial.

In Our Ecosystem

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

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

ARPA-E is opening its Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) program for 2025, aimed at using funding, networking-building, and mentorship to empower early-career scientists and engineers. The deadline for concept papers is November 15.
Do you have a groundbreaking idea that could revolutionize the electric power industry? Join the 2025 Incubatenergy Labs challenge, where innovators pitch their startups to industry experts and thought leaders. Apply by November 15.
On November 21, Activate Sr. Strategic Partnerships Manager Nikhil Gargeya will share insights on transformational partnerships as an expert panelist for the New Energy Nexus California workshop “Partnering for Progress: Scaling Innovation in Clean Energy.”
The Inflection Award recognizes the top 30 PhDs working on solutions to climate change. Awardees will be honored at an exclusive event in Paris, engage in a world-class bootcamp, and gain access to exceptional career opportunities. Applications close on December 1.

More Funding Wins

Turnover Labs (Marissa Beatty, Cohort 2022) closed a $1.4M pre-seed round to advance its technology that enables chemical plants to reuse their waste CO2. A promising alternative to carbon capture and sequestration, Turnover Labs’ electrolyzer technology, which can transform carbon dioxide into a range of different chemicals, caught the attention of TechCrunch.
Sepion Technologies (Pete Frischmann, Cohort 2016, Cyclotron Road) received a $17.5M grant to build a cutting-edge lithium-ion battery separator manufacturing facility in West Sacramento, addressing the domestic supply shortfall of battery separators in the United States.
Aralez Bio (Tina Boville, Cohort 2019, Cyclotron Road) is partnering with biomanufacturing company Resilience, which just received a $17.5M award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to boost the domestic bioeconomy and address critical gaps in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Lithios (Mo Alkhadra, Cohort 2022) announced $12M in seed funding, which the company will use to unlock new sources of lithium around the world and meet rising global EV demand with its novel method of lithium extraction.

In the News

Congruent Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank released their inaugural “50 by 2050” list. We are proud to see five Activate Fellow alumni-led companies recognized for having “strong potential to abate significant greenhouse gas emissions over the next 25 years.”
In DCVC’s latest Deep Tech Opportunities Report, Fervo Energy (Tim Latimer & Jack Norbeck, Cohort 2018, Cyclotron Road), Brimstone (Cody Finke, Cohort 2019, Cyclotron Road), and Twelve (Etosha Cave & Kendra Kuhl, Cohort 2015, Cyclotron Road) are cited as companies addressing the world’s highest-stakes problems.
Gradient (Vince Romanin, Cohort 2017, Cyclotron Road) announced that its All-Weather 120V Window Heat Pump was selected as the Grand Prize Winner in the 2024 CEE Integrated Home Competition, where the product, meant to “break down barriers to installing high-efficiency heat pumps,” dazzled the judging panel of energy-efficiency experts.
Rio Tinto has partnered with Founders Factory to create the Mining Tech Accelerator. The initiative aims to discover and nurture breakthrough technologies that could revolutionize how mining companies produce the essential minerals and metals the world relies on. What’s really impressive? Three out of the six inaugural companies in this mining cohort are Activate Fellow companies–including BluumBio (Katherine French, Cohort 2022, Cyclotron Road), Vycarb (Garrett Boudinot, Cohort 2022), and Sunchem (Daniel Sun, Cohort 2022, Cyclotron Road).
Gel Matter (Ilse Nava, Cohort 2023) is among 10 startups selected to participate in the Biomimicry Institute’s 2024 Ray of Hope Accelerator for nature-inspired startups working to solve crucial environmental and social problems.
Floris Engelhardt (Kano Therapeutics, Cohort 2021) was recognized by Boston Business Journal as a Women Who Lead in Life Sciences honoree for 2024. Reflecting on the path for women in biotech leaders, she remarked that "we’re not doing a good job… in getting girls and women into science leadership.”
polySpectra (Raymond Weitekamp, Cohort 2015, Cyclotron Road) launched a Kickstarter campaign for its new product, COR Zero, “a manufacturing-grade material for resin 3D printing that can be printed and processed in a home workshop with inexpensive equipment.” The launch of COR Zero marks polySpectra’s entrance into the consumer market.
Anvil Diagnostics (Pavan Kota, Cohort 2022) is a finalist in the New Orleans BioInnovation Center’s annual BioChallenge pitch competition, focused on bringing the next generation of health security solutions to market, to be held October 31.