Are you the founder of an early-stage company that is developing solutions to modernize manufacturing and advance sustainable production? Help make the factory of the future a reality sooner, and jump-start your startup by getting your product or service in front of the Toyota Ventures team. We’re looking to invest in promising companies that are creating technologies to enable smarter, flexible, connected factories that will amplify people and improve efficiency and sustainability. Software and/or hardware solutions are welcome, and some of the areas we’re exploring include:

• 3D simulation
• Artificial intelligence and computer vision
• Augmented reality
• Additive manufacturing
• Robotics software and/or hardware (adaptive robots; collaborative robots; autonomous mobile robots)
• Solutions to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint in factories
• Technologies to advance electrification and battery manufacturing
• Cybersecurity and data analytics
• Worker training and safety tools

The Ohio Climate Justice Fund funds organizations across Ohio that are led and/or governed by Black, Indigenous, and leaders of color. The Fund awards competitive, one-time grants between $15,000-$30,000 to organizations to host community listening sessions focused on climate and clean energy. Listen. Lead. Share. (LLS), is a statewide grassroots campaign that includes a goal of hosting public conversations with community members and stakeholders about the best and most effective ways to address climate and environmental justice in their communities. We see intentional and authentic community listening as the first step in organizing grassroots power in support of equitable clean energy policies.

RACER will award $25 million in funding for projects to enable communities to utilize solar and solar-plus-storage to prevent disruptions in power caused by extreme weather and other events, and to rapidly restore electricity if it goes down. Projects will foster engagement and ongoing communication among multiple stakeholders such as utilities, municipal planners, emergency responders, community groups, and others, especially in underserved communities located in areas vulnerable to extreme events causing frequent energy and power service disruptions. In addition, projects will develop and demonstrate rapid energy restoration technologies based on the community resilience plan in order to increase the durability of photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Voyager invests in early-stage climate technology companies creating the foundation of a decarbonized global economy and a livable future for all. Its focus includes technology companies creating the future of mobility, energy, materials, food, the built environment, analytics, industrial systems, and carbon removal.

Small grants and pro-bono professional support for smaller nonprofits is available from the ERM Foundation. This foundation invests in organizations and programs that focus on:

• Protecting and restoring biodiversity (including environmental education)
• Improving access to low carbon products and services
• Investing in women’s livelihoods in the ‘green’ economy
• Improving access to clean water and sanitation

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis to this grant program for grassroots projects. Grants do not exceed $5,000, and the organization aims to award $100,000 in funding throughout 2022.

Story of Stuff gives grants to BIPOC led and serving groups with a budget of $50,000 or less that focus on water privatization, plastic pollution, and other environmental justice focus areas.

The Cornell Douglas foundation is seeking applications from non-profits working on environmental health and justice, land conservation, mountaintop removal mining, sustainability of resources, watershed protection, and financial literacy for elementary and high school students. Their grant size average is $15,000 – $50,000.

Nonprofits are eligible to apply for this prize focused on creating a national innovation messaging campaign for the Urban and Community Forestry Program (U&CF). The campaign should also address national priorities of environmental and climate justice.

Partnership collaboration is required and projects are to be completed within 2 years. All grant funds must be matched at least equally with non-federal sources.

The Justice40 Accelerator’s vision is to “to leverage this moment to radically reimagine the existing government resource delivery system as a restorative and reparative framework that better supports Black and historically disinvested communities of color.”

They share information and resources with frontline community organizations. Specifically, their website lists funding opportunities from government agencies as well as private industry.

Apply to a new program from the DOE related to community-scale climate research. Research will focus on three tightly related scientific topics—atmospheric and environmental observations; modeling of climate change and impacts across urban regions; and simulating the climate benefits of deploying climate solutions and technologies in historically underserved communities across the U.S.

Urban IFLs will require multi-disciplinary teams that bring together the skills and talents of investigators from multiple research institutions. Academic and nonprofit research institutions, national laboratories, other federal agencies, and the private sector are all eligible to apply as Urban IFL team members. The lead organization of each proposed Urban IFL team must be an academic institution or a national laboratory. Locally-based team members and minority serving institutions (MSI) are expected to have significant roles in each Urban IFL.

Funding is to be awarded competitively and is expected to be in the form of five-year awards. The Department anticipates that $17 million will be available for this program in 2022. Requests should not exceed $5,000,000 per year.

The Climate Access Fund is a nonprofit green bank that:

1. Offers attractive financial products to solar developers who offer discounted community solar rates to low- to moderate- income households;
2. Develops urban, infill community solar projects located in lower-wealth communities in Baltimore; and
3. Advocates for clean energy policies that benefit lower-income and disadvantaged communities.

The Shine On Awards will recognize communications campaigns that are successful in increasing solar energy adoption and/or solar workforce recruitment and retention among a diverse target audience and that cross a variety of mediums, including digital, print, event, video, mobile, podcast, marketing, social media, audio, and more. Excellent campaigns will be able to show evidence that their campaign has had a positive, meaningful impact on their target audience. Examples of targeted, effective, and inclusive campaign goals could include but are not limited to:

• Increased solar adoption rates among the target audience,
• Savings on electrical bills among the target audience,
• Decreased energy burden among the target audience,
• Reduction in pollution or other environmental harm due to solar adoption in target communities or areas,
• Increased knowledge and positive sentiment among the target audience about the benefits of solar energy,
• Increased opportunities for the target audience to join, stay in, or advance in the solar workforce, or
• Increased solar jobs in the target communities or areas.

Winners will be publicly announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) and invited to participate in a DOE-hosted webinar on communications and outreach best practices. Winners’ best practices will also be used to develop a guide to encourage greater adoption of these practices. No cash prizes will be awarded.