The Clean Fight Welcomes Customer Collaborators Walmart, Carrier, and ConEdison, and Pilot Partner NYC/EDC for Accelerator

LAUNCHING APPLICATIONS FOR THE FOURTH EDITION OF THE CLEAN FIGHT ACCELERATOR, FOCUSED ON DECARBONIZING THE FOOD SERVICE SUPPLY CHAIN

We’re thrilled to announce the involvement of our customer collaborators Walmart, Carrier, and Con Edison, and pilot partner NYC/EDC into the latest edition of The Clean Fight, focused on decarbonizing the food service industry in New York State. Applications are open until January 16th.

The fourth edition of our flagship accelerator program is focused on tackling the issue of decarbonizing the food service supply chain in New York State: the storage, distribution, and retail of food, a segment of the market that remains in critical need of innovations that provide lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), better cost efficiency, and a path to scalability in a tight-margined industry. We’re excited to have the support of these leaders anchoring our latest cohort.

Hear from our collaborators

"As we work toward decarbonizing our operations across Walmart – and achieving the company’s goal of zero emissions by 2040 – scalable, cost-effective innovations remain a critical driver in our transformation. We’re looking forward to collaborating with The Clean Fight to identify ready-to-scale solutions in areas such as clean refrigeration, energy efficiency, onsite energy generation, energy storage, and EVs and charging. Many of these areas are ripe for transformation, and are critical to address in this decade of action,” said Clayton Casteel, Senior Director for Strategic Partnerships at Walmart.

“Since its first cohort in 2020, The Clean Fight team and platform has excelled in supporting scaling-stage companies solving critical climate tech challenges across New York State and beyond. Con Edison is a proud participant in The Clean Fight and looks forward to continuing its support of the program and the climate tech community,” said Eric Davis, Research & Development – Innovation Hub, ConEdison

In addition to our customer collaborators, NYC/EDC will be joining as a pilot partner. Companies selected for the program may be able to explore potential piloting opportunities on New York City-owned properties where applicable, such as: the Brooklyn Army Terminal, Essex Street Market, Brooklyn Wholesale Meat Market, La Marqueta Market, and Bush Terminal.

Why Focus on The Food Service Industry?

Although attention is paid to the significant environmental impacts of the agricultural system, the GHG emissions of the post-farm food supply chain are often overlooked. However, according to the EPA, the typical grocery store releases a total of 1,383 metric tonnes of CO2 annually through energy consumption, in addition to another 1,556 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions resulting from refrigerant leaks. That’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from 635 passenger cars. 

With the average grocery store and restaurant operating on margins of less than 2% while spending ~$200,000 per year on energy costs, there is both a strong environmental and economic incentive to effect change. Additionally, with Local Law 97 soon coming into effect in New York City, all buildings 25,000 sq ft.+ will require increasingly impactful carbon caps, providing an additional economic incentive for companies, along with the need to ensure the food service industry has the solutions and financing support it needs to comply.

World Class Capital Partners

In addition to our customer collaborators, The Clean Fight’s impressive annual capital partners will work closely with cohort companies to find the right financial solutions to support their growth, from venture capital, venture debt, credit, project finance, working capital, and more. Our partners include:

What to Expect from the Program

Applications for the fourth edition of The Clean Fight are open until January 16th, 2024. 

Our program is focused on helping growth-stage companies from around the world, with proven technologies, to scale in New York State, at speed. We work to collapse the sales cycle by shortening the distance between initial meetings and ultimate deployment. How? Through high-touch customer matchmaking, connections to the right sources of capital to meet your growth needs, up to $25k per company in technical assistance to facilitate scaling, and access to up to $100k per company in non-dilutive funding for first-of-a-kind or demonstration projects in New York State.

We’re seeking ready-to-scale solutions in clean refrigeration, heat recovery, energy efficiency, onsite energy generation, energy storage, EVs and charging, HVAC, food waste, and more. The program will run from May through October 2024. 

We’re proud to have these world-class collaborators join us at The Clean Fight at a pivotal time when Federal, State and New York City policy and incentives are aligned to support the scaling of solutions to decarbonize this critical sector.

Stay tuned for the Spring, when we will announce the official selection to the fourth edition of The Clean Fight.

If you’re interested in becoming a customer collaborator in the program, contact kezia@thecleanfight.com

Learn more and apply to the program. 

For any additional questions, get in touch hello@thecleanfight.com