Today Shell announced a new multimillion dollar, multiyear program to discover and advance emerging clean energy technologies with the potential to dramatically alter the future global energy landscape. 

Partnering with early-stage startup companies, the new Shell GameChanger™ Accelerator Powered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (GCxN) will initially focus on technologies enabling the grid of the future through long-term energy storage and controls, leveraging the resources available through both Shell and NREL to help de-risk emerging technologies and accelerate their path to market.

“Shell has a 25-year history of supporting early-stage startups and entrepreneurs that are impacting the future of energy. Capitalizing on NREL’s world class laboratories and technical expertise, GCxN brings together industry experts and innovative thinking to identify promising new technologies and help move future energy solutions to market,” said Lene Hviid, global manager for Shell GameChanger™.

GCxN will identify promising startup companies through our Channel Partners made up of more than 40 clean-tech incubators, accelerators and universities who serve as the pipeline of innovation. Each application round, GCxN will rely on these critical Channel Partners to help identify and refer promising candidate companies to apply to the program. Upon successful application and review, companies selected for participation will be eligible to receive up to $250,000 in non-dilutive funding in the form of technical support and validation from both NREL and Shell GameChanger™ Accelerator experts, with the opportunity for future follow-on funding and beta testing with a strategic program partner.

“We are excited to expand our public/private partnerships with a global leader like Shell in order to address new areas for technology incubation that will be critical to the success of our energy future and leverage our combined expertise in this important work,” said Richard Adams, director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) at NREL.

GCxN will build on the recognized success of another industry partnership between NREL and Wells Fargo, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), which focuses on technologies related to commercial buildings, sustainable mobility and the food-energy-water nexus.

About GCxN

The Shell GameChanger™ Accelerator Powered by NREL (GCxN) is a new multimillion dollar, multiyear program developed in collaboration between Shell GameChanger and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) focused on discovering and advancing emerging clean technologies with the potential to dramatically alter the future global energy landscape. GCxN identifies promising startup companies through an ecosystem of more than 40 clean-tech business incubators, accelerators and universities, providing access to $250,000 in non-dilutive funding in the form of technical experts to develop and demonstrate new energy technologies. GCxN is made possible by funding through Shell GameChanger. GCxN is administered by NREL, located in Golden, Colo. The first round of companies accepted into GCxN will be announced later this year.