CalSEED

CalSEED (California Sustainable Energy Entrepreneur Development Initiative) is a $48 million grant program administered by New Energy Nexus and funded by the California Energy Commission to help early-stage California clean energy startups bring concepts and prototypes to market. Concept Awards provide $200,000 in non-dilutive funding, and winners can compete for a $500,000 Prototype Award through the annual Business Plan Competition. Startups must be California-based and working on innovations in renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, or grid reliability. In 2024, CalSEED awarded $6.4 million to 23 startups across the state. CalSEED runs one call for proposals a year; the call is closed as of August 2026, and the mailing list on the CalSEED site is the notice channel for the next one.