Cleantech & energy startups in San Diego

Desmond Wheatley

San Diego (Sorrento Valley) cleantech maker of the EV ARC, a solar-powered, off-grid, transportable EV charging station (no trenching/grid connection). Publicly traded (Nasdaq: BEEM; formerly Envision Solar)...

Gregory Poilasne

Founded 2010; vehicle-to-grid (V2G) pioneer whose GIVe platform dynamically manages power between EV/school-bus batteries and the grid. Went public via SPAC in 2021 (Nasdaq: NVVE), deployed on five continent...

Christophe Schilling & Bernhard Palsson

Founded 1998 in San Diego; biomanufacturing company that engineers fermentation processes to convert renewable plant feedstocks into sustainable chemicals and materials (bio-BDO, plant-based nylon). Has rais...

San Diego-headquartered device re-commerce pioneer operating a nationwide network of automated kiosks that pay instantly for used phones/electronics and responsibly recycle/resell them — a circular-economy c...

Cris Eberle

San Diego thermochemical energy storage (TCES) startup that stores energy chemically and as heat up to ~1,500C, targeting industrial heat and grid storage with energy density near lithium-ion but lower cost....

Haodong Liu

Founded 2020 as a UC San Diego spinout (from Ping Liu's lab); develops ultra-fast-charging lithium batteries using a novel lithium-vanadium-oxide anode — ~3-minute charge, up to 20,000 cycles — for buses, po...

Mark Gresser (CEO)

Founded 2006 in San Diego; high-throughput battery-materials developer making nickel- and cobalt-free cathodes and custom cells for EVs and clean energy. Raised ~$189M total (incl. $90M+ Series D in 2022 led...

Costas Soler & Graeme Rae

Founded 2021 in Encinitas; builds instrumented 'smart buoy' platforms that capture real-time ocean data (pH, salinity, underwater noise, atmospheric carbon). Contracts with the DoD, Port of San Diego, NOAA a...

San Diego-region battery-tech startup using acoustic-wave-induced electrolytic motion to overcome fast-charging limits and improve safety in lithium batteries, extending battery life for e-mobility and energ...

Leslie Booher & Torre Polizzi

Marine-ecologist-led aquaculture startup cultivating native Southern California seaweed species in San Diego Bay, assessing carbon sequestration and water-quality benefits. A Port of San Diego Blue Economy I...

Jonathan Knight

San Diego cleantech company building portable/deployable wind turbines for on-demand clean power — designed for rapid transport and deployment to provide flexible renewable energy in remote and off-grid envi...

San Diego startup building a next-gen traffic-signal network — integrating algorithm research with low-cost sensing/learning to raise road-network capacity 50%+ at ~20x lower cost, cutting congestion and tra...