Climate change investment initiative paves the way for innovation in communities served by Exelon

CHICAGO — Startups whose products, services or technologies are focused on fighting climate change and improving the quality of life for residents of Atlantic City, Baltimore, Chicago, the District of Columbia, Philadelphia, or Wilmington, Del. are encouraged to apply for an equity investment from 2c2i (Climate Change Investment Initiative), a joint effort of the Exelon Foundation and Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC).
 
Each year, Exelon provides equity investments to startups whose work benefits residents of a region served by the company. In addition to the Exelon Foundation’s $10 million financial investment over a 10-year period, Exelon Corporation invests up to $10 million of in-kind support, including mentoring entrepreneurs on ways to access other sources of capital, structure business plans, allocate financial resources and meet regulatory requirements. In the last two years alone, 2c2i companies have gone on to raise more than $100M in follow-on investments, in turn making a measurable impact on their communities.
 
"Climate change requires us to take bold, collective action,” said Sunny Elebua, Exelon’s Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer. “The 2c2i program is a key component of Exelon’s commitment to addressing climate change in the communities most affected, which are often also the most underserved.  This program supports community-based companies that are developing solutions and creating long-term economic opportunities, improving the quality of life for thousands.  We’re looking forward to partnering with even more innovators with the zeal to have a lasting impact on generations to come.”
 
To qualify for 2c2i consideration, startups must be doing work that will benefit one or more of Exelon’s six major markets – Atlantic City, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Del. Their work must have the potential to do one of the following:

• Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions
  
• Boost the resiliency of urban infrastructure (e.g., the power grid, transportation systems, buildings, vacant land) against flood, stormwater and rising temperatures
  
• Help cities, businesses and communities adapt to climate change; or
  
• Help achieve a state or city’s specific sustainability and climate goals
   

Startups with innovative climate change solutions looking for investment should apply here now through September 15.
 
The following companies were selected to receive investments for 2023:
 
Aclima
Aclima is pioneering an entirely new way to diagnose the health of our air and track climate-changing pollution. Their professional analytics software, Aclima Pro, translates the billions of scientific measurements of air pollution, greenhouse gases, and air toxics captured by Aclima's mobile mapping network into environmental intelligence for governments, companies, and communities. Aclima is a purpose-driven technology company catalyzing bold climate action that protects public health, reduces emissions, and delivers clean air for all.
 
Byfusion
A company that utilizes a zero-waste carbon-neutral platform to repurpose non-recyclable plastic waste into an award-winning construction-grade alternative building material to help clean up the planet and revitalize neighborhoods everywhere.
 
Perl Street
Clean and distributed physical infrastructure assets require new financial asset managers to scale. Perl Street enables climate tech companies to offer financing programs and become asset managers. Their financial asset management software significantly reduces soft costs and overheads and unlocks the growth of distributed assets such as energy storage, electric vehicle charging stations, smart HVAC systems, and more.
 
Voltpost
With the mission to decarbonize mobility by democratizing charging access, Voltpost retrofits lampposts into a modular and upgradable electric vehicle charging platform. The Voltpost platform is scalable, reliable, and equitable to accelerate electric mobility adoption and exceed climate targets.
 
Sparkcharge
The first company to create a mobile EV charging system and network, was founded in part to expedite EV adoption and accessibility for everyone. Its mobile Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) solutions enable businesses that operate EV fleets and consumers to have energy delivered directly to their EVs, where and when they need a charge.
 
About 2c2i
Launched in 2019, 2c2i (Climate Change Investment Initiative) combines the social and environmental impact objectives of the Exelon Foundation with the investment objectives and approach of venture capital.  Over the past four year, 2c2i has invested in 32 companies, with 64% of the portfolio being minority or women-led and 57% of the portfolio being headquartered in Exelon’s footprint.  Thus far the 2c2i portfolio has created more than 300 jobs and reduced, displaced, or avoided over 25,000 metric tons of GHG emissions through innovative solutions.

For more information on the 2c2i program, including previous investees and their continued impact, visit exelonfoundation.org/environment.
 
The Exelon Foundation would like to recognize Katten, 2023 law firm sponsor, for providing in-kind legal services in support of the 2c2i program climate investments.