Billion dollar breakthrough: Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator reaches new milestone

In Washington, D.C., the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), managed by NREL, has reached a milestone: Its portfolio of startup companies has raised more than $1.1 billion in external funding since joining IN2. Partnering with companies such as Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the world’s largest independent plant science research institute, allows NREL to continue expanding IN2 and provide help for startups in adjacent industries.

This translates to the companies raising $95 for every dollar invested in them by the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Over the past seven years, 56 cleantech startups have been selected for the IN2 program. The companies are provided $250,000 in non-dilutive technical assistance at NREL or the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Additionally, they are introduced to an ecosystem of support including NREL’s investor network and a network of channel partners—more than 60 universities, accelerators, and incubators in the cleantech ecosystem.