Pilot Doesn't Equal Purchase

We're talking water, Grove.

Katie Kollhoff runs innovation programs at The Water Council, a Milwaukee nonprofit that plays matchmaker between water startups and the companies that buy from them.

Then Wayne Visser, who teaches at Cambridge and Católica Porto, argues sustainability has run its course and regeneration comes next.

Let's dive in.

In this week's issue

• Why good pilots don't get bought + Wayne's cost curve test
• Three guests on whether the energy transition is happening
• Eight funders open for applications

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FOUNDER LESSON OF THE WEEK

Why good pilots don't get bought

If you're chasing a first paid pilot with a utility, plan for what happens after it works. This is the part of the deal that often breaks.

Katie: “pilot doesn't always equal purchase.”

Innovation budgets often sit apart from operating budgets, so a pilot can hit every target with no money waiting to buy the result.

“It just sits as its own pocket of money and there's no incentive or drive for whatever the pilot results have been to translate into adoption.”
Katie Kollhoff, The Water Council

Milwaukee's sewerage district is doing the opposite. It is building a $13 million research facility at a working treatment plant to test two filtration technologies at full scale, which Katie calls “a pilot with the intent to purchase.”

Before a pilot starts, ask whose budget buys it if it works.

Katie's post-accelerator, BREW 2.0, is taking applications through Nov. 13.

How Water Startups Succeed | Katie Kollhoff, Innovation Programs Director @ The Water Council | The Grove

Katie Kollhoff Moad maps The Water Council's Milwaukee water cluster, from 501c3 convening power to startup programs spanning prototypes and Brew 2.0.

Pod Disco

Wayne's cost curve test

Wayne Visser says the argument that lands with a buyer depends on where your technology sits on its cost curve.

“It's all about where you are on the cost curves for those technologies.”
Wayne Visser, Cambridge & Católica Porto

Solar, wind, and batteries are past the tipping point. The economics already favor them, so the pitch is competitiveness: “Do you want to be one of the winners or one of the losers?”

Green hydrogen and precision fermentation are earlier, and their costs aren't there yet. That's where he says you need government incentives and a buyer strategic enough to see the opportunity.

Knowing where on the cost curve your technology is can help you shape your next step of commercialization.

From Sustainability to Regeneration | Wayne Visser, Professor @ Cambridge & Católica Porto | The Grove

Wayne Visser explains why voluntary sustainability plateaued, how ISO systems changed companies, and why regeneration needs cost curves plus policy.

Pod Disco

LOOKING BACK

Is the energy transition happening?

Two academics on the show gave opposite answers, and Wayne Visser disagreed with Emily Grubert's on the spot.

Grubert, at Notre Dame, says not until someone commits.

“We know what we need to do and we know how to do it basically, but we haven't actually committed to doing it.”
Emily Grubert, Notre Dame

Visser, at Cambridge, says the old system hangs on until it can't.

“They hang on and they hang on and then I think they will go into rapid decline.”
Wayne Visser, Cambridge & Católica Porto

Who's side are you on?

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Eight funders open for applications

• Water Council Tech Challenge (up to $10K, non-dilutive) wants low-cost, reagent-free sensors that work in real water; applications close October 2, so move fast.
• Activate Fellowship ($100K a year plus $100K for R&D, no equity) backs US scientists commercializing hardware for the first time; closes October 30.
• NSF SBIR/STTR (no equity) is piloting support for startups building next-generation scientific instrumentation; proposals due November 4.
• DOE Genesis Mission ($500K to $16M) funds teams using AI to speed energy, environmental and nuclear R&D; closes December 17.
• ARPA-E SCALEUP Ready ($5M to $20M) scales technologies ARPA-E already funded toward commercial deployment; open continuously.
• Energy Revolution Ventures (Fund II, targeting $50M) backs Seed and Series A founders in energy storage, grid technology and advanced materials; taking pitch decks.
• Pulse Fund ($63M, Fund I) backs scalable climate companies in energy transition, infrastructure, food and agriculture, and mobility; startup inquiries via its site.
• Matter Venture Partners ($450M, Fund II) backs early-stage hardtech, including energy building blocks; its site takes startups seeking funding.

BRANCHES

• FERC rejects Oklo complaint seeking to reinstate project to PJM's interconnection study cycle (2 min)
• Second federal judge overturns $7B Solar for All cancellation (2 min)
• Exelon's climate arm backs grid-planning firm Continuum (3 min)
• Microgrids must push beyond pilots into everyday grid operations: panel (4 min)
• Philadelphia-area schools are tapping the sun's energy and saving money on utilities (5 min)
• Advanced grid tech gets a $1.9B DOE boost (5 min)
• FERC has options for modernizing PJM's governance (9 min)
• A fight between Con Ed and developers is slowing NYC's battery buildout (9 min)

CLOSER

Battery storage is next, and I'd love to see you in the room.

Dec 3 ~ the Utility Innovation Summit: Battery Storage.

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With love, Blake

See you next week!