Kayleen Araullo is a host of exceptional ability. Studies show that a vast majority of guests attending events by Kayleen have been known to leave more elated than visitors to Santa's Workshop, The Lost of Continent of Atlantis, and the Fountain of Youth.
NEX Level is an in-person conference for the California clean energy entrepreneur, bringing together innovators from our CalTestBed and CalSEED programs with funders, experts, and leaders across the state's clean-energy ecosystem.
October 3rd, 2024 in Berkeley, CaliforniaÂ
NEX Level brings together California's brightest clean energy stars to showcase cutting edge technologies, along side funders, government officials, and energy experts from every corner of the Golden State. Hear how two women founders navigated California's rich clean energy ecosystem and led their companies to commercialization, participate in bespoke matchmaking and mentoring sessions for focused development with industry experts.Â
From storage to generation, from new materials to integrated solutions this one day is packed with valuable and interactive content for all clean energy innovators.Â
We’ll dive into opportunities in our backyard — California is the national leader in decarbonization efforts, with record days of 100% renewable power and historic investments in next-gen clean-energy technologies. NEX Level is designed to help diverse entrepreneurs take advantage of the landscape of opportunities, including:
New Energy Nexus curated an exclusive invite list for this invite-only event. If you're on this page you're one of the following:
Â
- CalSEED and CalTestbed awardees, past and present
- Clean energy company founders and leaders
- Funders and supporters
- Clean energy entrepreneur support organizations
- Government representatives and policy makers
- Technology experts
Refresh your online profiles with new headshots by David Poznic. Check out his portfolio and begin working on your poses.
Kicking off NEX Level with a brief welcome and intro to our opening session. Get a chance to hear from who's in the room and what's represented.
- Alisa Ahmadian, Head of Partnerships, Events & Brand, New Energy Nexus
- Rebecca Lee, Managing Director, New Energy Nexus
The California landscape bursting with opportunities for continued clean energy growth. Hear how Community Energy Labs is helping California schools save on energy costs through machine learning, about how ElectricFish used the clean energy ecosystem to secure funding and open a facility, about how GILLIG offers clean energy transit solutions, including zero-emission Battery Electric, low-emission Hybrid and CNG, and clean Diesel. Hear from leaders at the CEC and UC office of the President about future opportunities and how to leverage resources for your startup.
- Jonah Steinbuck, Director, California Energy Commission
- Theresa Maldonado, VP of Research & Innovation, UCOP
- Folasade Ayoola, Co-Founder and CSO, ElectricFish
- Tanya Barham, CEO, Community Energy Labs
- Derek Maunus, President & CEO, Gillig
Join a discussion with two woman clean-energy entrepreneurs deftly navigating the funding landscape. Etosha Cave from Twelve and Sandra Manosalvas-Kjono from Aeromutable will discuss each of company's unique journey, the pitfalls and lessons learned, and provide insights for success to early stage clean energy entrepreneurs.
- Sandra Manosalvas-Kjono, PhD., Co-Founder & COO, Aeromutable
- Etosha Cave, Co-Founder & CSO, Twelve
As the grid transitions in California, and clean electricity becomes critical for decarbonizing buildings and transport, reliable and affordable energy has become more important.
Â
Success of this transition means solving the reliability problem and reliability solutions are top of mind for the panelists in this breakout session. Three visionary clean-energy innovators will sit down with Mayte Sanchez from LACI to discuss how best to tackle this challenge and the technologies being developed to bridge the gap.
- Mayte Sanchez, Director of Energy, LACI
- Ric O’Connell, Executive Director, GridLab
- Deepa Lounsbury, Managing Director, LabStart
- Ben Serrurier, Government Affairs and Policy, Fervo Energy
- Alexandra McGee, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, MCE
Get valuable insights into the current funding opportunities in California, from TRL 2 all the way to commercialization and beyond.Â
- Lindsey Fransen, Supervisor, Tech to Market Unit, California Energy Commission
- Hyder Shuja, Senior Program Manager, LACI
- Shela Tobias-Daniel, Executive Director, California State Treasurer’s Office, CPCFA
- Christina Sarron, Executive Director, California State Treasurer’s Office, CAEATFA
Discover how to build meaningful partnerships with energy-engaged communities and organizations that drive both economic and social benefits. By fostering collaboration between clean energy companies and communities, where innovative solutions address local needs, enhance sustainability, and deliver shared value.
- Sneha Ayyagari, Program Manager, The Greenlining Institute
- Josh Sonnenfeld, Senior California Strategist, Blue Green Alliance
- Alejandro Castelan, Energy Efficiency, Customer Programs Manager, Marin Clean Energy
- Jessica Hutcheson, VP of Learning and Development, ChargerHelp!
PowerForward is California’s equity-first, market-accelerating, ZEV battery-manufacturing infrastructure program implemented by CALSTART in partnership with New Energy Nexus, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and Yunev. Join us in introducing its first cohort of awardees.
- John Boesel, President & CEO, CALSTART
- Sanjiv Malhotra, Founder & CEO, Sparkz
- Cyrus Rustomji, Chief Science Officer, South 8
- Peter Frischmann, CEO & Co-Founder, Sepion Technologies
Celebrating two decades of action, NEX shares highlights of its impact on the California energy landscape and look ahead to the next five years. Hear about compelling trends and other predictors to ensure your organization and teams are future-ready.
- Rebecca Lee, Managing Director, New Energy Nexus
- Jeff St. John, Journalist, Canary Media
- RJ Johnson, SVP, Commercial Operations, Form Energy
- Leah Kuritzky, PhD, Head of Heat-to-Power Operations, Antora Energy
- Gary Simon, Founder, CleanStart
- Jon Foster, Board Member, New Energy Nexus
- Deji Sonoiki, Director, Momentum
- Yi Ke, Vice President of Original Sourcing, BYD North America
- Jance Kosty, Senior Pipeline Manager, LACI
- Matthieu Soulé, Head of Innovation Lab, BNP Paribas
- Shela Tobias-Daniel, Executive Director, California State Treasurer’s Office, CPCFA
- Deepa Lounsbury, Managing Director, LabStart
- Jessica Hutcheson, VP of Learning and Development, ChargerHelp!
- Matt Hart, CEO, Momentum
- Miela Mayer, Venture Partner, Third Sphere
- Kathy Hannun, Founder & President, Dandelion Energy
- Cindy Regnier, FLEXLAB Executive Director, Whole Building Systems Head, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Sedale Turbovsky, CEO, Open Grants
- Christina Sarron, Executive Director, California State Treasurer’s Office, CAEATFA
- Keyi (Nancy) Yang, Venture Fellow, Vectors Capital
- Troy Daley, Co-Founder & Program Director, LabStart
- Reshma Singh, Program Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Kavi Reddy, Sr. Strategic Partnerships Associate, Activate
- Ross Kornberg, COO, Climate Finance Solutions
- Zac Dobbin, Director, Cleantech San Diego
- Derrick Tang, Deputy Director of Venture Capital, iBank
- Alex Luce, Partner, Creative Ventures
- Yuet Lee, National Mentor Program Chair, Cleantech Open
- Mayte Sanchez, Director of Energy, LACI
- Mike Paparian, Senior Advisor, Momentum
- Andrew Krulewitz, VP of Business Development and Strategy, Inspiration Mobility
- Julie Busch, President & Chief Customer Officer, Product Rehab
- Jagmeet Kaur Khangura, Project Manager, Black & Veatch
- Ross Kornberg, COO, Climate Finance Solutions
- Jessie Hammerling, Co-Director, Green Economy Program, UC Berkeley Labor Center
- Eric Hadden, Executive Director, WET Center
- Lindsey Fransen, Tech to Market Supervisor, California Energy Commission
- Anthony Ng, Supervisor, California Energy Commission
- Hyder Shuja, Senior Manager, Debt Fund, LACI
- Ceci Latapi, Agency Landscape Lead, Momentum
- Sara Fuentes, CEO, Women in Cleantech and Sustainability
- Shawn Garvey, Managing Director, MomentumX
- Helle Petersen, Regional Director Local Farm & Food Innovation, UCANR
End the day with the California Energy Commission Chair encouraging continued partnerships and engagement beyond the event to reach our collective goals, followed by an exclusive look at the newest cohort of CalTestBed voucher recipients.
- David Hochschild, Chair, California Energy Commission
- Susan Linwood, CEO, ChargePodX LLC
- Gregory Smith, President & CEO, Flex Power Control Inc
- Lance Brockway, CTO & Co-Founder, Nelumbo Inc
- Darren Tan, CEO, UNIGRID Inc
- Kayra Kurnaz, COO, Kfobix Inc
- David Ung, Grant Lead, Twelve
- Bill Beverley, Co-CEO & CTO, Co-Founder, Evolectric
- GJ la O', CEOÂ & Co-Founder, Tyfast
Join us for an innovation tour at FLEXLAB, the U.S. Department of Energy's test facility focused on energy efficiency, decarbonization, demand flexibility and IEQ R&D. FLEXLAB has supported more than $90M in research projects in its 10 years of operation, supporting over 120 industry partners as well as 11 startups as part of our CalTestBed program.Â
The Hotel Shattuck Plaza and the Residence Inn are within two minutes walking distance of our NEX Level venue, which is also conveniently located on the same block as the Downtown Berkeley BART Station. For those flying in, SFO and OAK airports are the best options.
Our main event will be held at the David Brower Center, which strives to be accessible to all audiences. The main floor, which includes the Lobby, Theater, Hazel Wolf Gallery, Kinzie conference room, and public restrooms is fully compliant with ADA regulations. The second floor Tamalpais room and Terrace are accessible by an ADA compliant elevator. It also offers assisted-listening devices that can be used in the Goldman Theater and Tamalpais rooms.
New Energy Nexus is a non-profit international organization striving for an abundant world with a 100% clean energy economy for 100% of the population in the shortest possible time. To achieve this goal, we support diverse clean energy entrepreneurs with funds, accelerators and networks. We started in California and now operate programs in New York, China, India, Southeast Asia and East Africa.
For questions, email us at california@newenergynexus.com.
The day will include a tour of the facility where you'll hear about recent research projects and how testing has driven product development. You'll also have the opportunity to hear from TestBed alums about their experiences and insights leveraging the lab as part of their commercialization journey. Lunch will be provided.
Please note that closed-toe shoes are required for the tour, which will involve standing and walking for up to 30 minutes, including a short set of stairs. If you have any mobility issues, please let us know in advance so that we can provide accommodations.