The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)’s Equity Innovation Program (EIP) is a strategic layer of support for cleantech entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities within LACI’s small business incubation and acceleration programs. EIP offers founders access to targeted coaching and curriculum, pilot funding, and technical guidance to help secure financing, expand their network, or scale their startups, to help the City of Los Angeles achieve its ambitious climate goals by the year 2050.

Impact by the Numbers

LACI is proud to announce, since receiving the LA2050 grant award, we have recruited and onboarded our second EIP cohort with 25 founders representing 16 companies – nearly half our goal of impacting 60 founders. Furthering LACI’s commitment to create impact for BIPOC and women owned businesses, EIP Cohort 2 comprises 78% women - an increase of 32% over Cohort 1. We’ve also diversified participants in Cohort 2, with 25% Latinx founders, 18% Black founders, 7% South East Asian Founders, 3% East Asian Founders, South Asian Founders and Black Latinx founders.

The Equity Innovation Program aims to accelerate and deepen impact with additional incubation support and resources. including six more months of 1:1 coaching by LACI’s Executives in Residence, $5,000 in business support services, pilot design and deployment support, networking events, investment readiness, and workforce development.

Stage of Implementation

In partnership with LA2050, LACI will provide additional pilot funding to our EIP startups to scale their businesses and create solutions for the community. EIP pilots are prototype deployments of clean technologies and businesses that bring the benefits of the green economy to the City of Los Angeles. Lessons from these pilots are widely shared and used to inform new projects and policy recommendations within the region.

Cohort 2 kicked off the planning process with a series of charettes -  in-person, collaborative brainstorm sessions - with the objective of creating more space for conversations and sparking ideas among founders.

This is an exciting milestone for Cohort 2 founders because pilot projects are an integral part of the entrepreneurial journey, in which founders have the opportunity to provide proof of concept for emerging businesses or technologies. For example, LACI startup Envoy and automaker Nissan launched the Rancho San Pedro Electric Car Share. This pilot provides zero emission transportation to residents of the affordable housing community, and an accessible, equitable, reliable mobility solution that reduces carbon emissions in their community.

In our first charrette, EIP founders had the opportunity to meet and share their product, service, and vision for the future. The conversations were invigorating and ideas percolated. Ashlee Espinoza, founder of Rosewood the label, said, “It’s been so incredible to connect with other founders and meet other people and really just have face-to-face conversations. It’s been incredible to talk about things I never expected to talk about everything from manufacturing to channels of distribution; upcycled clothing to upcycle skateboarding wheels.”

During the charrette, founders rotated through small groups and chatted with LACI staff and EIRs about circular economy, transportation, community engagement, pilot ideas, and impact. Founders were encouraged to connect with one another and brainstorm on topics ranging from customer discovery to reusable packaging options to subscription revenue models

We’ve learned that entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey for small business owners. These types of events allow founders to connect with other entrepreneurs and build meaningful connections and bond about the life and challenges of entrepreneurs.

We're excited to announce that our second charrette will focus on access to capital. Funding is crucial for EIP founders given historically marginalized entrepreneurs are disproportionately affected by the cost, and lack of access to funding, and BIPOC business owners receive less financing, less often, and at higher rates than their white counterparts.

Looking Ahead

We are accepting pilot proposals from EIP founders through July 2023 and we will host two more charrettes. The second charrette is scheduled for April, and the third will be in May. Upon the conclusion of charrettes, we will initiate the design and implementation process with founders, and assist them with securing community and corporate partners to deploy and benchmark their pilots.

Evaluating Success

Together with LACI, founders will have the opportunity to create measures of success based on their individual pilot goals and outcomes, including metrics related to business model and product validation, community employment opportunities, reductions in environmental impact, and positive regional economic impact. We look forward to sharing results in the months ahead!