EARLY STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL
WHO
WE ARE
At Idealabx, we invest in early-stage startups that are solving big problems in the world in Energy, AI, Mobility, and Advanced Manufacturing.
ENERGY
AI
MOBILITY
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
OUR
COMPANIES
We co-create with our portfolio companies to ensure their long-term success.
OUR
PARTNERS
Idealab Studio and Idealab NY are technology incubators: they are businesses designed to create businesses, with shared resources for company creation.
THE
TEAM
We love what we do.
FUN
FACTS
17
AMAZING COMPANIES
$365M+
MONEY
RAISED
200+
FOUNDERS & EMPLOYEES
22894
CUPS OF COFFEE
NEWS
Ayesha Curry Joins Board of Gardening Startup Back to the Roots
Bloomberg - August 17, 2022
Celebrity chef Ayesha Curry has joined the board of home-gardening startup Back to the Roots, a tie-up that could help the company reach more Gen Z customers. Learn more
How Peacock Plans to Go After Facebook and Google Advertisers
AdAge - May 2, 2022
NBCUniversal said it is trying to tap into the millions of smaller advertisers that typically buy media on Google and meta’s Facebook to get them spending on its connected TV app Peacock. Learn more
A Different Kind of Solar Power Attracts Attention
The Wall Street Journal - April 24, 2022
When you think of solar energy, you probably picture the photovoltaic panels that capture sunlight to be converted to electricity. But there are other ways to harness the sun’s power. One method attracting growing interest is called concentrated solar-thermal power, or CSP, which uses mirrors to reflect and concentrate the sun’s energy. Learn more
Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. Begins Trading on the New York Stock Exchange
Business Wire - February 14, 2022
Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NRGV, NRGV WS) (“Energy Vault”), the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, will begin trading today, February 14, 2022, following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II.
Energy Vault Strikes Deal to Provide Gravity Storage in China
Bloomberg - February 1, 2022
Energy Vault Inc., a provider of systems that store energy by elevating heavy objects, agreed to license its technology to a company that plans to build storage facilities in China. Learn more
Energy Vault, Atlas Renewable and China Tianying Announce $100 Million Transaction With Further Upsized Pipe, Licensing and Royalty Agreement, and Initial 100MWh Project to Drive Decarbonization in China
Business Wire - February 1, 2022
Energy Vault, Inc. (“Energy Vault”), the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, today announced a License and Royalty agreement for renewable energy storage with Atlas Renewable LLC (“Atlas Renewable”) and their majority investor China Tianying Inc. Learn more
Forget batteries. This 100-year-old technique provides cheap energy storage for wind and solar power
Fast Company - January 21, 2022
Wind and solar power vary over the course of a day, so energy storage is essential to provide a continuous flow of electricity. But today’s batteries are typically quite small and store enough energy for only a few hours of electricity. To rely more on wind and solar power, the U.S. will need more overnight and longer-term storage as well. Learn more
Gravity Could Solve Clean Energy’s One Major Drawback
WIRED - January 4, 2022
Finding green energy when the winds are calm and the skies are cloudy has been a challenge. Storing it in giant concrete blocks could be the answer. Learn more
Renewable energy company Heliogen goes public in final SPAC merger of 2021
CNBC - December 31, 2021
Bill Gross, Heliogen CEO, joins ‘TechCheck’ to discuss Heliogen’s debut on the public markets, energy’s role in the world and how the company will utilize a recent $39 billion grant from the Department of Energy. Learn more
Vaulting Into Global Energy Storage Markets: Energy Vault Is A Player To Reckon With
Forbes - December 2, 2021
How could a large quantity of 35-metric ton blocks of polymer-infused dirt possibly increase the quantities of wind and solar resources that increasingly power our growing clean energy economy? It turns out, those gigantic blocks may play a key role in storing and releasing energy in our power grids - if we lift and stack them or lower them at the right speed, in the right place, and at the right time. Learn more
This new tech could make hydrogen an affordable, clean fuel for planes
Fast Company - November 16, 2021
Green hydrogen can fuel planes and heat homes without emissions, but it’s too expensive to be widely used. Heliogen and Bloom Energy say they can bring its cost down with solar power-produced steam. Learn more
Every Prototype that Led to a Realistic Prosthetic Arm
Wired - November 10, 2021
Since the early 2000s, private companies, governments, and research labs have been developing prosthesis that are a lot more advanced than previous designs. WIRED talked with Easton LaChapelle, founder and CEO of Unlimited Tomorrow, to understand how he designed, tested, and adopted his prosthetic arm. Learn more
Disruption junction: Startup aims to replace locomotives with autonomous railcars
FreightWaves - November 4, 2021
Imagine shorter, more environmentally friendly trains bearing everything from lithium carloads to intermodal containers across short-haul distances. Imagine further that these trains are unencumbered by long waits for locomotives — because they don’t use locomotives. That is the vision that St.Louis-based rail technology startup Intramotev hopes to bring to fruition. Learn more
This startup is reinventing CO2 capture to reduce the costs
Fast Company - October 19, 2021
One direct air capture startup, called CarbonCapture, wants to help bring costs down by changing a key material used in the technology. The company, which announced the close of a $35 million Series A round of financing today, tweaked the direct air process so it’s possible to pull the carbon from the air using a mineral—called zeolites—which is much cheaper than the raw materials used in other methods. Learn more
Carbon Capture Inc. Closes $35 Million Series A Funding From Prime Movers Lab, Rio Tinto, Idealab Studio, and Time Ventures
Yahoo! Finance - October 19, 2021
Carbon Capture Inc. (CarbonCapture), a climate tech company that makes machines that remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, today announced the closing of a $35 million Series A funding round and the appointment of Adrian Corless as CEO. Learn more
Monetize360 Secures 3.2M Seed Round Investment
PRWeb - October 4, 2021
Monetize360, which delivers dynamic pricing and billing solutions to sales and billing departments, today announced it has closed $3.2M in seed financing. Monetize360 simplifies and accelerates the implementation of pricing and billing automation for any scenario regardless of complexity, ranging from simple subscription models all the way to granular usage-based models. Learn more
Renewable Storage Firm Energy Vault Reaches $1.6 Billion SPAC Deal to Go Public
The Wall Street Journal - September 8, 2021
Energy Vault Inc. is combining with a blank-check company to go public in a merger that values the gravity-based energy-storage company at roughly $1.6 billion, the companies said. Learn more
SoftBank-backed storage developer Energy Vault raises $100 mln
Reuters - August 24, 2021
Energy Vault, a developer of utility-scale battery storage technology backed by SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) and the venture arm of Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), has raised $100 million in a funding round, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday. Learn more
Heliogen And Bloom Energy Agreement Signals The Start Of The Hydrogen Age
Forbes - July 22, 2021
Today, Heliogen and Bloom Energy (BE) announced a partnership to produce “green hydrogen” – a powerful industrial energy source – using only concentrated solar power and water. Learn more
Concentrated Solar Power Firm Heliogen to Go Public in $2 Billion SPAC Merger
The Wall Street Journal - July 6, 2021
Heliogen Inc. is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public in a combination that values the concentrated solar power company at about $2 billion, the companies said. Learn more
How Mirrors Could Power the Planet... and Prevent Wars
Freethink - June 19, 2021
When most people think of solar power, they picture rows and rows of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of a building. But photovoltaic power is terribly inefficient — the mining and refining of the elements required for daily human life are incredibly costly to the environment.
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Solar concentration startup Heliogen basks in $108M of new funding
TechCrunch - June 15, 2021
Sunlight is a great source of energy, but it rarely gets hot enough to fry an egg, let alone melt steel. Heliogen aims to change that with its high-tech concentrated solar technique, and has raised more than a hundred million dollars to test its 1,000-degree solar furnace at a few participating mines and refineries. Learn more
Magnite Partners with tvScientific to Woo Performance Marketers to CTV
Ad Age - June 9, 2021
The goal of the new partnership is combining Magnite's relationship with CTV publishers with tvScientific's focus on attribution, to give direct-to-consumer and other direct response brands a clearer path to advertising in CTV. Learn more
ArcelorMittal : Initial $10 million investment part of broader partnership established with Heliogen (Form 6-K)
Market Screener - June 8, 2021
ArcelorMittal ('the Company') today announces the completion of its first XCarb™ innovation fund investment since launching the initiative in March 2021. The Company has invested an initial $10 million in Heliogen, a renewable energy technology company which focuses on 'unlocking the power of sunlight to replace fossil fuels'. Learn more
Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures Invests in Energy Vault
Business Wire - June 2, 2021
Energy Vault, the creator of renewable energy storage products that are transforming the world’s approach to utility-scale energy storage for grid resiliency, today announced new investment from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), the strategic technology venturing program of global integrated energy and chemicals company Aramco (TADAWUL: SAUDI ARAMCO). Learn more
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This Bill Gates-backed startup will soon help power a giant mine
CNN Business - March 24, 2021
In a bid to bring carbon-free power to heavy industry, Heliogen announced Wednesday that mining behemoth Rio Tinto plans to deploy the startup's breakthrough solar technology at California's largest open pit mine, located in Boron. Learn more
Gravity power? How to store wind, solar energy without batteries
CBC - March 4, 2021
One of the challenges in the shift to clean energy is that wind and solar power generation produces electricity only when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, which doesn't necessarily coincide with when we need the most electricity. Learn more
Technological revolution to power miners in shift from fossil fuels
The Australian - March 2, 2021
Giant batteries made of bricks, electric jumbos and underground mines that don’t need ventilation are just some of the technological revolutions on offer as a group of major Australian mining companies put their heads together to plot a major revolution in the way mining is done and help wean Australian mines off diesel and other fossil fuels forever.
10 start-ups powering the future of energy
Siliconrepublic - February 18, 2021
From hydrogen to hydropower, and from offshore solar farms to heat storage, these incredibly innovative start-ups are coming up with remarkable ideas to power our future.
Why clean energy’s future may depend on molten salt, trains, and cranes
Fortune - February 16, 2021
In an effort to make renewable energy more reliable, one company wants to send trains carrying tons of rocks up and down a hill. Another wants to use cranes to stack and unstack heavy blocks. Learn more
How to store power in soil
and salt
BBC - February 8, 2021
Giant towers of building blocks rising into the sky and huge vats packed with volcanic rock or molten salt are being used as massive batteries. They are the latest ideas for storing energy generated by the sun and the wind – so you can keep the lights on when it’s dark or the wind isn’t blowing. Learn more
2021 Honorees: Julian Laval and Ali Imani, Cofounders of Center Health
Forbes - 2021
Julian Laval and Ali Imani founded diabetes device and management company Center Health in 2017 to make glucose monitors that connect to a smartphone and work with an app. Center Health raised $4 million from Fuel Capital, Sequoia Scouts, Luma Launch, IdeaLabX, and has 10,000 customers. Learn more
2021 Honoree: Easton LaChappelle, Founder of Unlimited Tomorrow
Forbes - 2021
Prosthetics can be expensive, which is why Unlimited Tomorrow is using 3D-printing and scanning to drive down costs. The direct-to-consumer company sells personalized robotic arms for $7,995. Founder and CEO LaChapelle has raised $6.2 million to scale up the company. Learn more
Industry, Powered By The Sun: Heliogen HelioHeat
Time - November 19, 2020
Creating the tons of steel and concrete we use to build our world requires a massive amount of heat—and most of it comes from burning dirty fossil fuels. HelioHeat cleans up that process by using the power of the sun. Learn more
From a bra to a booth: learn the story of Eva, the device that detects breast cancer early
Entrepreneur - October 19, 2020
Eva Center is a booth that will be located in shopping malls around the Mexican Republic, the women will be received by a doctor, who will be in charge of entering them inside the booth and in complete privacy they can perform the study alone. Learn more
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At the SolarPACES Conference, Heliogen Introduces Solar Heat
at 1 cent/kWh
Solar Paces - October 13, 2020
In his plenary presentation at the conference, Gross broke the news that Heliogen will be even more competitive than this, delivering heat at just 1 cent per kWh. (Nuclear averages 3 cents and natural gas in the US, with the world’s lowest gas prices, is as low as 1.5 cents.) Learn more
Bill Gross, 1990s Dotcom Trailblazer, Is Now Betting on Green Energy
Wall Street Journal - October 6, 2020
The pandemic, by decimating oil demand, crashing prices and challenging the economics of some fossil-fuel projects, has accelerated some industry moves toward low-carbon energy. In Mr. Gross’s view, it has also leveled the playing field for green energy’s drive to displace fossil fuels. Learn more
This Young Technologist Is Revolutionizing the Future of Prosthetics, One Artificial Limb
at a Time
Men’s Health - September 3, 2020
Easton LaChappelle isn’t your average adult male in his mid-twenties. While others might be working their first jobs or trying to figure out a way to unleash their creative ideas, LaChappelle runs a high-tech medical company focused on creating prosthetic limbs for those who deal with limb loss or limb differences, Unlimited Tomorrow. The best part? He’s doing this at a fraction of the cost. Learn more
This young entrepreneur skipped college to create robotic limbs that users can control with their minds
CNN Health - August 31, 2020
Ten years ago, Easton LaChappelle was a teen watching YouTube videos in his Colorado bedroom on how to build robot arms from LEGOs. Today, he's the founder of Unlimited Tomorrow, a company that designs low-cost, 3D printed prosthetic limbs that can be operated with the mind. Learn more
TrueLimb robotic arms look real and cost less than traditional prosthetics
CNET - August 30, 2020
Easton LaChappelle was 14 years old when he designed and built his first robotic arm. Ten years later, he's now the CEO of his own company, looking to upend the prosthetics industry.
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Easton LaChappelle’s Story: Advancing Affordable and Accessible Prosthetics
Youtube - August 5, 2020
Smart, Made-to-order Limbs Are The Future Of Prosthetics
Inverse - July 14, 2020
TrueLimb is a customizable and affordable alternative to commercial-grade prosthetic limbs that can cost upwards of $80,000 for a single unit. For growing children that need at least four to five new prostheses in adolescence, this price is astronomical. Learn more
Idealab Founder Bill Gross’ Plan To Solve The Mother Of All Quandaries
Forbes - June 19, 2020
Bill Gates calls it the 75% Problem. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants only account for 25% of total, and electrical generation is one source of GHG emissions for which cheap renewable sources are well-suited.
These are the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers
of 2020
We Forum - June 16, 2020
From artificial intelligence (AI) to carbon capture, this year’s cohort is using innovations to protect climate, improve healthcare and much more, helping us to reset society and build towards a better future. Learn more
Heliogen Wins 2020 Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award for Its Technology That Replaces Fossil Fuels With Sunlight
Business Wire - April 28, 2020
From artificial intelligence (AI) to carbon capture, this year’s cohort is using innovations to protect climate, improve healthcare and much more, helping us to reset society and build towards a better future. Learn more
Heliogen: the Bill Gates backed startup hoping to use mirrors to power heavy industry
The Engineer - April 7, 2020
A smart approach to mirror control has driven a fundamental breakthrough in the promising area of concentrated solar power. Learn more
Automated Solar Arrays Could Help Incinerate Global Warming
Wired - January 21, 2020
Plenty of days, temperatures in California's Mojave Desert climb above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. A measly figure. These 400 silvered glass panels, tucked into the western edge of that hot, hot desert, are there to generate heat 15 times that amount. And, ideally, to help cool the planet too. Learn more
Solar Startup Heliogen Looks to Power Plants, Refineries
Los Angeles Business Journal - November 29, 2019
For decades, solar technology experts have sought to harness the sun to generate electricity. But Pasadena-based serial entrepreneur Bill Gross is looking to change that with a new technology that swaps fossil fuels for solar energy to directly heat heavy industry units such as kilns, furnaces and forges. Learn more
A Solar 'Breakthrough' Won't Solve Cement's Carbon Problem
Wired - November 22, 2019
A Bill Gates–backed startup called Heliogen uses concentrated solar power to produce cement. The carbon-belching industry needs that—and much more. Learn more
A new solar heat technology could help solve one of the trickiest climate problems
VOX - November 20, 2019
Electricity, transportation, and buildings, three of the biggest emitters, have a pathway to zero. It won’t be easy, and progress is too slow, but we have a handle on what to do. But there are still big chunks of the economy that don’t have a clear line of sight to zero. They don’t yet have the tools they need at competitive prices. They are still waiting on innovation. Learn more
Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough.
CNN - November 19, 2019
Heliogen, a clean energy company that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, said it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect so much sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius. Learn more
Heliogen’s new tech could unlock renewable energy for industrial manufacturing
TechCrunch - November 19, 2019
For Bill Gross, the founder of Idealab and brains behind the excursion, the unveiling was simply the latest in a string of demonstrations for new technologies commercialized by his nearly three-decade old startup company incubator. However, it may be the most significant.
Energy Vault raises $110 million from SoftBank Vision Fund as energy storage grabs headlines.
TechCrunch - August 14, 2019
Imagine a moving tower made of huge cement bricks weighing 35 metric tons. The movement of these massive blocks is powered by wind or solar power plants and is a way to store the energy those plants generate. Learn more
Energy Vault uses cranes powered by renewables to lift giant bricks into a tower.
Fast Company - April 8, 2019
When the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, lowering the bricks back down creates new energy. It’s one of Fast Company’s 2019 World Changing Ideas Awards winners.