Wells Fargo is banking on SmarterShade

Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational banking and financial services holding company, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with “hubquarters” throughout the country.

Banking giant Wells Fargo has more than 100 million square feet of real estate around the globe, so it has a big interest in even seemingly small energy savings.

That’s why it launched an incubator for startups, in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Lab, and it’s a backer of Chicago-based Clean Energy Trust’s annual startup competition, held this week.

Among the four companies selected for Wells Fargo’s virtual incubator is three-year-old SmarterShade, launched by a trio of former Notre Dame students.

SmarterShade came up with an energy-saving technology for window shades that uses polarizing films rather than typical “Smart window” solutions that require power or chemical reactions to darken glass.

SmarterShade will work with Wells Fargo and the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colo., to continue developing its technology for windows in residential and commercial construction.

“We’ve got 100 million square feet of real estate, so we need solutions,” said Ashley Grosh, vice president of environmental affairs at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo.

The incubator is just one of several competitions SmarterShade has won since Will McLeod, Ryan Tatzel and Michael Stacey came up with the business idea for a competition at Notre Dame.

Last year the firm won a $50,000 grant funded by McCaffery Interests at the Clean Energy Trust startup competition.

So far SmarterShade has raised about $2 million, much of it from grants and competitions, Stacey said.

“Product-based companies take time and money to develop,” Stacey said.

“The incubator will help us gather the data and establish proof points we need to make sales.”

The Innovation Incubator program is one of several efforts by Wells Fargo that are part of a $100 million philanthropic commitment to the environment.

The financial services company also is one of the institutions that provide $1 million in prize money for the Clean Energy Trust’s annual startup competition.

This year’s Clean Energy Challenge competition was held April 14.

(Credits to JOHN PLETZ)

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