How Exelon’s $20M Climate Change Investment Initiative will impact Wilmington

Two of the 10 startups awarded a combined $1 million from round one of the Exelon Foundation and Exelon Corporation’s $20 million Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i), designed to “develop new technologies to mitigate and build resiliency to the impacts of climate change,” have Wilmington connections.

GrowFlux created the technology used at Second Chances Farm, the indoor hydroponic farm founded by Ajit George that is run almost entirely by formerly incarcerated people in Riverside. Through the development with the Second Chances Farm project, the startup based in Philadelphia’s University City will use 2c2i funds to further deploy their technology for indoor farms in Philly and other cities.

Boston-based New Ecology, which has offices in Wilmington and Baltimore, has developed a remote monitoring and optimization (ReMO) system to improve the performance of buildings with central boilers, helping cities meet sustainability goals while providing owners with reduced utility costs. The startup plans to deploy this technology into low-income, multi-family building owners in Wilmington, Philadelphia and Chicago.

“As the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy, we understand the important role we must play to help the communities we serve address the environmental and public health impacts of climate change,” said Chris Gould, Exelon’s SVP of corporate strategy and chief innovation and sustainability officer, in a press release.  “Now more than ever, it’s become clear that real, fundamental change often comes from taking action at the local level. We purposely designed the 2c2i initiative to support early-stage, often-overlooked startups with the potential to make a meaningful, on-the-ground impact on our communities’ climate goals, health and environment.”

Via 2c2i, the Exelon Foundation will invest $10 million over 10 years in early-stage startups working on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resiliency. Exelon will match those funds with up to a $10 million investment of in-kind services, including mentorship and other resources as part of a one-year cohort.

As Wilmington is one of Exelon’s six major markets (along with Atlantic City, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.), qualifying Wilmington-area startups are encouraged to apply for 2c2i; the deadline for the second round is Sept. 20.