Cohort News – Shell GameChanger Powered by NLR

New Material Sprouts From Fast-Growing Crop

Cohort News, Startup ProfileBy Stacy Parker April 29, 2026

It all started with the farmers. Jason Puracal, CEO of the materials startup Zila BioWorks, wanted to make something that could help increase crop value. The company’s new hemp seed-based plastic could combine two coveted features: durability and recyclability. The material is already zooming around slopes and roads in skis and bicycles. Now, thanks to the GCxN program, Zila is partnering with materials experts at the National Laboratory of the Rockies to evaluate its durability for energy infrastructure…

GCxN 2025 Year in Review

Cohort NewsBy Stacy Parker March 25, 2026

A Note From GCxN’s Program Managers: Reflecting on the past year for GCxN, it became clear that 2024 was a year for planning and 2025 was a year for doing. What were ideas 12 months ago are now realities—and we’re excited to share those in this Year in Review…

Smart Electrical Panel Startup SPANs NREL’s Accelerator Programs

Cohort NewsBy Peggy Littleton April 28, 2025

Imagine a severe storm knocks out a neighborhood powerline; while most homes go dark, one homeowner seamlessly manages their backup energy, prioritizing critical appliances. This is not the future—it is happening now with SPAN’s smart electrical panel. SPAN’s panel goes beyond traditional capabilities, allowing users to control individual circuits for individual devices.

With NREL’s Help, GCxN Company Readies for Initial Public Offering

Cohort NewsBy Johanna Jamison October 1, 2024

Using enzymes instead of microbes allows Invizyne to focus on the specific enzyme pathways that make the biofuels, instead of trying to control the thousands of other things cells do. This means that Invizyne is in engineering-level control of optimizing the enzymes derived from biology, which are renewable and green, to replace petroleum-derived materials.

How 8 Hours of Constant Explosions Can Help Make Concrete Carbon Neutral

Cohort NewsBy Johanna Jamison August 21, 2024

DTE Materials’ patented process, Clearwash, is designed to make anatomical changes to biomass to make it integrate with ceramic binders more effectively. With NREL equipment, Dan Schell is performing steam explosions repeatedly to test DTE’s feedstock. They will run the equipment over an eight-hour day, followed by a second round of testing two weeks later.

GCxN Company’s Feedstock Poised To Be More Economical and Versatile

Cohort NewsBy Johanna Jamison July 2, 2024

Biotech entrepreneur and Hexas Biomass founder and CEO Wendy Owens has brought her groundbreaking (pun intended) crop to GCxN after admiring the program from afar for several years. Hexas produces a plant-based raw material, called XanoFiber, that can substitute as feedstock instead of wood, food crops for fuel, and fossil-fuel-based raw materials.

How NREL Helps Startups From the Beginning

Cohort NewsBy Johanna Jamison February 12, 2024

NREL and its corporate program partners often help startups at their earliest stages so they can start the journey to bring disruptive technologies into the market. It usually occurs earlier in a startup’s development when NREL can validate emerging technologies with its experts and equipment that startups cannot afford or access otherwise.

Why the New GCxN Cohort Is Just the Start

Cohort NewsBy Johanna Jamison December 5, 2023

This fall, Shell and NREL agreed to extend the GCxN program for another five years, providing 30 more startups with access to nondilutive funding to conduct technical assistance projects. Cohort 6 moves GCxN into technical areas it has not explored before, piecing together different expertise from across the laboratory in ways that are industry relevant.

GTT Group’s Patent Equity Fund Ideaship Invests in Hygge Power’s Advanced Home Energy Efficiency System

Cohort News, Media HitsBy Hannah Miller July 21, 2020

PR Web:
“We are excited to invest in the founders and support Hygge Power’s mission for an energy mindful future. Ideaship is grateful to be part of Hygge Power’s journey to make our planet a better place,” commented Robert Bell, Ideaship Venture Partner.

Accelerator grant offers a jolt to Michigan company’s battery innovation

Cohort NewsBy Hannah Miller June 15, 2020

Centered:
Many flow batteries contain the relatively rare metal vanadium, but Jolt’s batteries are considerably cheaper because they use an organic liquid for the electrolyte. The non-acidic, non-corrosive, non-toxic electrolyte also makes these batteries considerably safer than other kinds. Jolt’s batteries can produce about four times as much energy as other flow batteries at about a fourth of the cost.

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