Powering the Clean Transition: Cleantech Open Announces 2026 National Semi-Finalists

Los Angeles, CA – October 5, 2026 – As climate innovators, industry leaders, and investors prepare to gather for the 2026 Cleantech Open Global Forum on October 22nd at Greentown Labs in Boston co-hosted with Cleantech Open Northeast, Cleantech Open is proud to highlight the national semi-finalist startups and specialty prize winners competing in this year's cohort. Representing regions across the country—from the West and Midwest to the South and Northeast—these ventures are tackling pressing challenges spanning energy distribution, sustainable materials, water infrastructure, agriculture, grid efficiency, and climate resilience.

This year’s cohort showcases how agile, purpose-driven entrepreneurs are navigating evolving market demands and transforming bold ideas into scalable, commercial reality.

The 2026 National Semi-Finalists

Ag, Water & Waste

• Naiad (Northeast Region — Regional Runner-Up)
  Utilizing biological membranes to absorb aquatic phosphate, halting harmful algae blooms at their root cause and preventing contaminated drinking water, public health hazards, and economic loss.
• Perennial Polymers (Northeast Region — Regional Runner-Up)
  Converting fallen leaves into low-cost, high-performance biodegradable plastics using a unique, non-fermentation process. The material outperforms many fossil plastics and naturally decomposes in soil, offering a true mass-market alternative to petroplastics.
• SwieNitro Recovery (West Region — Regional Winner)
  Commercializing a modular ammonia recovery system that converts nitrogen pollution from wastewater into marketable fertilizer products. Using low-grade heat or solar energy, its spiral-wound platform reduces greenhouse gas emissions, lowers treatment energy demand, and transforms nutrient discharge from a regulatory burden into a revenue-generating circular resource.

Chemicals & Advanced Materials

• Applied Biorefinery Sciences, Inc. (ABS) (Northeast Region — Regional Winner)
  Specializing in biomass-based energy, chemicals, and materials. Its HWE biorefining platform produces low-carbon alternative fuels designed to decarbonize coal-fired power plants, reduce CO2 emissions by over 1 million tons annually, and transition fossil-fired electricity generation.
• Carbion (Northeast Region — Regional Winner)
  Onshoring battery-grade graphite supply with a thermochemical platform that converts low-cost biomass into high-performance graphite at half the temperature of conventional processes, lowering costs, emissions, and supply chain risks.
• Licube, Inc. (South Central Region — Regional Winner)
  Producing ultra-high-purity lithium and separating lithium isotopes (Li6/Li7) using a patented ceramic membrane electrodialysis system. Providing a clean, modular, US-based refining alternative for pharma, semiconductor, aerospace, and fusion energy applications.

Energy Distribution & Storage

• Cyclone Instruments (Midwest Region — Regional Winner)
  Delivering an integrated, AI-powered solution for battery testing. By drastically reducing cell testing times from 10 weeks down to 5 weeks while lowering failure rates and costs, Cyclone accelerates battery research and development.
• Evidion Energy (Northeast Region — Regional Winner)
  Evidion Energy extends the useful life of grid batteries by making battery reverse aging practical. Its mechanism-resolved diagnostics and chemical rejuvenation technologies identify recoverable degradation and restore lost capacity in aging LFP batteries—extending battery life, lowering energy storage costs, and reducing replacements and waste.
• SmarterHelp INC (West Region — Regional Winner)
  Building the workforce behind the clean energy transition by training and connecting individuals—particularly from underserved communities—to careers in EV infrastructure, energy storage, grid management, and energy efficiency.
  

Energy Efficiency

• GridForge Energy Inc (West Region — Regional Winner)
  Fixing the coordination layer for demand response by connecting distribution grid visibility, open device data, and cross-program asset registries to turn stranded distributed energy resources (DERs) into dispatchable, monetizable grid assets.

Green Building

• Fireflow Valve (West Region — Regional Winner)
  Developing safety valves that prevent catastrophic urban fire spread by automatically shutting off water to burning structures, preserving municipal water pressure for firefighters during major wildfire and urban fire emergencies.
• Ouros Materials (Northeast Region — Regional Winner)
  Transforming captured CO2 into fire-resistant building panels that are three times stronger than fiber cement at half the cost, using a low-temperature process that sequesters carbon and enhances wildfire resilience.

Specialty Prize Winners

• Deep Sea BioIndustries (Water Prize Winner, Northeast Region) 
  Developed AQUA-SAN, a naturally derived solution engineered to bind to heavy metals and chemicals and eliminate pathogens, delivering clean, safe drinking water.
• Exuda Ag (Ag / Food / Land Use Prize Winner, Northeast Region)
  Tackling field performance bottlenecks in the 3.5B biofertilizer market with a specialized exudate additive that pre-activates beneficial microbes to maximize soil survival and crop productivity. 
• Ouros Materials (Carbon Prize Winner, Northeast Region)
  Developing fire-resistant composites and structural panels for the built environment that lock away carbon while delivering materials that are three times stronger and $40\%$ cheaper than existing market alternatives.

About Cleantech Open

Cleantech Open is the world’s oldest and largest cleantech accelerator, dedicated to providing entrepreneurs and technologists with the resources, mentorship, and network needed to launch successful cleantech ventures. Its mission is to find, fund, and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental, and economic challenges. Through its annual business accelerator program, Cleantech Open equips early-stage clean technology startups with the infrastructure, expertise, and strategic relationships needed to scale innovative solutions into global businesses.