New Energy Nexus (CalCef Innovations)

Background

New Energy Nexus (NEX) is the business name for CalCEF (California Clean Energy Fund) located in Oakland, California. It is an organization that supports weather-dependent energy startups with training, funds, accelerators, and networks. Its initial focus was California, and it has since expanded with programs in New York, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and India. ^{2 3}

The NEX portfolio includes almost 1,200 startups and over 8,800 entrepreneurs, and it has made $94 million in grants, investments, and loans since 2016. ⁴

In 2023, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) selected NEX as its Climate Tech Startup Program partner for COP28 (28^th Conference of the Parties), ⁵ focused on accelerating climate startups and small businesses. ¹

History

The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) was formed in 2004 to invest in weather-dependent energy organizations and capabilities in California, funded by a $30 million public benefit investment fund created from a bankruptcy settlement of utility company PG&E. It invested early on in lighting innovator Bridgelux and electric car maker Tesla. ^{5 6}

In 2006, it was the founding sponsor of the University of California, Davis Energy Efficiency Center. In 2008, it launched CalCEF Innovations and the CalCEF Angel Network to expand further into clean energy development investments. The Angel Network focuses on weather-dependent technology startups. ^{7 8}

In 2016, the CalSEED program was started, funded by the California Energy Commission and administered by CalCEF, to fund early-stage weather-dependent energy entrepreneurs and researchers. ⁹

In 2016, CalCEF was renamed New Energy Nexus (NEX). Starting in 2017 NEX began expanding globally. ⁵

Projects

In 2019, the IKEA Foundation granted $10 million to NEX in Indonesia to educate and support weather-dependent energy entrepreneurs and startups on developing renewable energy in Indonesia. ¹⁰

In 2020, NEX partnered with the University of California and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to develop the CalTestBed program, which provides weather-dependent energy entrepreneurs with access to UC’s testing facilities. It was funded by the California Energy Commission. ¹¹

NEX’s Salton Sea Program in Imperial Valley, California is focused on developing the environment and supply chain capabilities around the lithium reserves in the Salton Sea to leverage the lithium for batteries. The Salton Sea region has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. In 2023, the James Irvine Foundation funded a research project by NEX, the University of California Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, and the UC Berkeley Labor Center on the opportunities in the Imperial Valley to develop these supply chains. ^{12 13}

In 2023, NEX managed 36 programs globally associated with developing skills in new energy, new energy funding, and new energy networking. ¹⁴

Funding

New Energy Nexus’s 2022 revenues were reported as $7,571,267 and expenses as $6,295,095. ¹⁵ The NEX 2023 Global Impact Report shows 2023 total operating costs increasing to $15,239,096. ¹⁶

Its funders included BlueGreen Alliance Foundation, the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, Lever for Change, the Solutions Project, the Energy Foundation, the New Venture Fund, the San Francisco Foundation, the California Community Foundation, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Schwab Charitable Fund, ClimateWorks Foundation, Aspen Institute, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ¹⁷

NEX’s recent 2023 funders included Ford Foundation, the California Energy Commission, the Growald Climate Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Oak Foundation ,the Biden administration Department of Commerce, the Biden administration Department of Energy, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. ¹⁸

Leadership

Danny Kennedy has been CEO of NEX since 2019. He is an entrepreneur and investor focused on climate and weather-dependent energy, helping to start several solar-energy companies including Sungevity, Mosaic, and Powerhive. In his early career he worked for Greenpeace. He was a board member of Confluence Philanthropy, a network of donors focused on left-of-center values. At the end of 2023 he announced that would be stepping out of the role of CEO in 2024. ^{19 20}

Effect August 2024, Henri van Eeghen is set to replace Kennedy as CEO. He lives in the Netherlands. Previously he worked for Mercy Corps and was CEO of Synergos Institute, ²¹ an international philanthropy network focused on left-of-center issues founded by Peggy Dulany, daughter of David Rockefeller. ²²

Hendrik Tiesinga was a co-founder and chief strategy officer of NEX. He left NEX in 2021 and founded innovation studio Climate Edge focused on developing new venture and startup systems. ²³

The board chair is Janet Dalziell, a self-employed consultant who held several leadership roles at Greenpeace .²⁴

Board members include Michael Gelobter, executive director of Yale Center for Environmental Justice; ²⁵ Jon Foster, senior advisor at McKinsey and Company and former deputy director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for the Clinton administration; ²⁶ and Julie Blunden, a board member for several weather-dependent energy and battery companies and a prior CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation. ^{27 28}