Today, the Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator announced its inaugural class of startups to participate in the 2020 program. Ten companies from seven states make up the class, with the intensive, 13-week endeavor beginning this week. Three of the companies already call Birmingham home.

The companies specialize in technology and business models to enhance the future of energy, including a digital marketplace for the electric wholesale industry, battery storage and microgrid solutions, and smart home software.

“Birmingham’s startup community is on the rise, and Techstars is a major step in its evolution as one of our country’s brightest entrepreneurial hubs,” said Nate Schmidt, managing director of Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator. “One unique aspect of our accelerator is the focus on energy and clean tech. In the near future, when Alabama is viewed as a global leader for startups in these industries, this accelerator class will be viewed as the start of that movement.”

For the next 13 weeks, 10 companies will participate in the inaugural class of Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator in the Denham Building in Birmingham. (Michael Tomberlin / Alabama NewsCenter)

Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator welcomes the following startups to its first class:

• Project Canary: Continuous air quality monitoring company from Denver.
• Sync Energy: Artificial intelligence to aid forecasting and loss prevention from New York City.
• Ashipa Electric: Microgrid integration and optimization from Birmingham.
• Virimodo: Carbon offsets for multifamily dwellings from New York City.
• Con.doit: Cloud-based electrical system mapping from Birmingham.
• Resilient Power Systems: Building block to reduce infrastructure upgrade costs from Atlanta.
• EnergyHawk: Mapping solutions for commercial and industrial lead generation from Boston.
• TruSpin: Nanomaterials manufacturing from Birmingham.
• ShipShape AI: Smart home solutions management from Austin, Texas.
• Elektrik: E-commerce platform for electric wholesalers from Salt Lake City.

During the next 90 days, startups will receive seed funding and mentorship through Techstars’ worldwide network of business leaders, as well as from Alabama’s business community, and business coaching through the program’s educational components.

The program will culminate in Demo Day, a public pitch event where companies will virtually tout ideas to potential investors.

The Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator is supported by Alabama Power, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), the Alabama Department of Commerce, Altec, PowerSouth and the University of Alabama. These supporters will have a key role in the accelerator process, with the common goal of growing the number of startup companies based in Alabama.

“We welcome these companies to our growing technology ecosystem and are excited for them to see firsthand the benefits of doing business in Alabama,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “At its core, the Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator is an economic-development initiative, and this work will help solidify our state’s future in the 21st century economy.”

For more information, visit the Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator program page at www.techstars.com.