Leaptran, a renewable energy and storage technology startup, is one step closer to commercialization within the global energy ecosystem after being recognized as a semifinalist in the American Made - Solar Prize Round 5 Software Track’s Ready! Contest.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected Leaptran, the only team from Texas, among 20 semifinalists to advance to the next contest in the American-Made Solar Prize Round 5 Software Track, a competition designed to spark U.S. solar energy innovation. Competitors submitted a game-changing solar energy idea, showed they had assembled a strong team and put together an achievable plan. The semifinalists in the Software Track’s Ready! Contest each earned a $30,000 cash prize and advanced to the Set! Contest, in which they will develop a minimum viable product (MVP).

Leaptran’s technology uses proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence to better forecast solar production in various time horizons. Leaptran recently graduated from EPIcenter’s incubator program and has advanced into its accelerator program.

“We spent our time with EPIcenter refining our company’s products and services. Under the coaching and strategic guidance of the EPIcenter Energy Incubator and Accelerator (EEIA) team, we were able to focus on one product and service offering,” Jeff Xu, President and CEO, of Leaptran, said. “Now we can focus on scaling that offering and adding more over time.”

The EEIA incites the energy evolution by providing curriculum, coaching, mentorship, connections (access to funding and fabrication laboratories) and services to startups in all phases of development. The EEIA offers four distinct programs (Pre-Incubation, Incubation, Acceleration and Associate Membership) to meet each startup where it is in the commercialization journey.

“The EEIA is unique because we offer tailored services to best fit individual startups’ needs. We dedicate a lot of time to determining each company’s goals and to helping them map a plan to achieve them,” Andi Littlejohn, Chief of the EPIcenter Energy Incubator and Accelerator, said. “One way we do this is by curating a distinguished mentor team that mimics a board of directors. The mentors’ experience and expertise keep these entrepreneurs’ products and services on the right track to becoming commercially viable.”

Leaptran expects to spend time moving forward in the EEIA’s highly customized Accelerator program to focus on scaling the technology, business development efforts and executing its commercialization plan.

“We are very proud of Leaptran’s achievement in the Solar Prize Round 5 Software Track Ready! Contest. This award is a testament to the company’s dedication to energy innovation and we look forward to undergirding its momentum,” Littlejohn said.

EPIcenter continues to fulfill its mission of propelling energy innovation and thought for our global future with a think tank, incubator and accelerator, strategic partnerships, advisory engagements and critical conversations around energy. To learn more about EPIcenter, please visit www.epicenterus.org

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