Google zeroed in on these 3 categories of climate companies to boost

Thursday is the third demo day Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change program, in which startups showcase the status of their startups, concludes a 10-week Programming and mentoring from Google’s powerful network of in-house expertstraining, and credits to use Google technology.

This year, the 12 companies fall into three main categories: artificial intelligence, electric vehicle infrastructure, and better data for companies to decarbonize operations. There are a few exceptions: for example, Sesame Solar is decarbonizing disaster response, and Bodhi The customer experience for home solar installations is being improved.

Google’s startup accelerator programs are all focused on using AI, some with industry themes like gaming or the cloud economy, specific regions like India or Brazil, or underrepresented founders like Black founders or Latino founders. All programs are equity-free, meaning Google takes no stake in participating companies, and 1,100 startups have participated so far since the programs launched in 2016.

For this latest cohort, all participants had to be between seed and Series A funding, already generating revenue or have an established user base, have five or more employees, and have the potential to benefit from Google’s cloud , artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities.

Matt RidnorThe head of Google’s startup ecosystem in the US told CNBC that he gets meaning from supporting climate change startups.

“I care about climate technology for many reasons, but most importantly, I have three young children and I often think about the world they are inheriting. When I read headlines about the dangers of the climate crisis, I feel personally There is an obligation to be part of this to support innovative climate solutions at scale,” Ridenour told CNBC. “This is one of the greatest gifts I think I can give to my children and future generations.”

The projects are also good for Google’s business, as they give early-stage companies access to the company’s technology, giving it an early advantage over rivals such as Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.

“Google sees the value in supporting the best startups and founders in the world. When they partner with our people, products, and tools, we benefit from each other. Supporting early-stage companies inspires further innovation in the ecosystem, providing There are more opportunities for developers to build their businesses on Google products — such as Cloud and Android,” Ridenour told CNBC.

Google has hosted three climate change startup accelerators for North American companies in the past three years, and all 33 participants are still in operation, a Google spokesperson told CNBC.

Alphabet’s Google itself is also pushing a company-wide focus on using artificial intelligence to improve its products. Many of the companies in the latest climate change accelerator are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help with tasks as diverse as agricultural soil monitoring, decarbonizing commercial buildings and improving textile recycling processes.

Agriculture Helping farmers adapt to climate change by providing on-the-ground data on microclimate weather forecasts for smog, drought, irrigation optimization, extreme weather, pest and disease outbreaks. In addition, Agronomy has a system for monitoring the amount of carbon in the soil to help farmers quantify the carbon sequestration they are achieving through regenerative agricultural practices and, if they are interested, participate in a carbon credit market.

During the Google Accelerator, Agrology made its products more accurate.

“Through the mentoring they get in the accelerator, Agriculture Being able to build a new, more efficient API that used integrated Google machine learning products increased their training and test datasets by over 400% and reduced error rates by a factor of 4,” Ridenour told CNBC.” This will help them provide more accurate information and data to farmers so they can grow better and more sustainably. “

Another startup in the queue, Changeis using AI to help companies decarbonize large commercial buildings.

“Once companies have climate commitments in place, they find that data tracking and decarbonisation of any real estate, whether owned or occupied, is the most difficult part of their sustainability journey. Implementation remains a black box, ” Cambio co-founder Stephanie Graysonsaid Thursday during Demo Day.

Cambio provides a baseline carbon footprint for buildings, then uses AI to provide clients with a path to bring buildings to net zero emissions, based on previous building projects and recommendations from leading building and data scientists. “Most importantly, we’re democratizing best-in-class building science across the industry,” Grayson said.

“During the accelerator, Cambio was able to connect with Google’s real estate team to get direct product feedback and discuss the topic of building decarbonization,” Ridenour told CNBC. “With Cambio’s ML models, managers can chart a path for their entire real estate portfolio to achieve net-zero emissions as part of the SEC’s latest carbon transparency proposal, a near-term requirement for public companies.”

another example is Refirberdwhich is using spectroscopy and artificial intelligence to sort recycled textiles, remove buttons and zippers, and send treated textiles to recyclers who can best manage specific batches of textiles.

Eugenie Ai Using artificial intelligence to help heavy-duty manufacturers track their emissions, report data on any relevant compliance standards, and reduce those emissions with recommendations on how to address specific issues.

“As cars become increasingly electrified, startups of all kinds are addressing the huge EV industry opportunity in creative ways,” Ridenour told CNBC. In fact, 14% of new cars sold in 2022 will be electric, up from 9% in 2021 and less than 5% in 2020, According to the International Energy Agency.

bat geniusone of the startups Google picked for its recent climate change cohort, is from Venkat Subramanian’s lab at the University of Washington And use software to improve the functionality and efficiency of lithium-ion batteries used in consumer electronics, electric vehicles and grid storage applications.

A battery management system, or BMS, in a Li-ion battery monitors the remaining charge and regulates charging. Batt Genie’s software is designed to increase the efficiency and productivity of BMS systems. If a conventional EV battery lasts about six years, the same battery lasts 12 years with Batt Genie’s improved BMS, CEOManan Pathak said Thursday.

Another startup in the queue, Electric fish energyis making an energy storage system that can both fast charge electric vehicles and has a smart charger that can store cheap, clean electricity from the grid when available.

“The current state of the grid is basically broken,” ElectricFish CEO Anurag Kamal said Thursday. “We are the only ones who understand the uncanny connection between EV charging and feeding energy back into the grid itself,” This means that the ElectricFish device can be used as a backup power source.

Another company working to improve EV infrastructure is voltage column, which converts a lamppost into an electric vehicle charger. Voltpost partnered with the New York City Department of Transportation to Tried its lamp post with an EV charger. And the Voltpost Pilot at Detroit Smart Parking Lab in Michigan. During the accelerator, Voltpost reached out to the Google Maps team to discuss whether EV charging locations could be added to Google Maps or Android Auto.

For example, track down Provide companies with auditable emissions data.

“The problem is that data in the power space, energy space, and environmental reporting space is hard to come by, very siled, and very error-prone,” said the CEO lincoln payton said Thursday. Prior to starting Cleartrace, Payton was Head of Investment Banking for the Americas at BNP Paribas. “I’m retiring from there to address the biggest problem I see, which is the quality data available when moving to a renewable energy world.”

Cleartrace has a special focus on measurement technology Scope 3 emissions — Emissions associated with a company’s entire supply or value chain, which can be extremely difficult to track. It is also looking to help companies demonstrate how green their operations are, especially for processes such as direct air capture of carbon dioxide emissions and hydrogen production.

Another data-centric company is Finch, which assigns sustainability scores to products to help consumers make more climate-conscious shopping decisions. Finch has a browser extension that works on the Amazon and Target sites and gives products a sustainability rating between 0 and 10, then suggests more sustainable alternatives where applicable.

“It’s the perfect solution for most people who believe in climate change and want to do something about it but don’t necessarily have more than seven minutes to research online,” Lizzie HorwitzFinch’s founder and CEO said Thursday.

Finch sells the data it gathers from consumer behavior to customers, including manufacturers and investors, Horvitz said.

“We were able to understand who was buying what and why — for example, women aged 35 to 40 were twice as likely as men of the same age to buy aluminum-free deodorant,” Horvitz said.

This kind of data closes what Horvitz calls the “saying and doing gap,” the difference between what consumers say in focus groups and what they actually do at the checkout.