RESPOND Accelerator Energy

RESPOND

About
Areas of Action
This Year's Startups
Selection Criteria

HOW WE RESPOND

Empowering clean-tech entrepreneurs to advance the transition towards a net-zero economy

Against the backdrop of the global environmental crisis, economic challenges, and geopolitical turbulences, moving towards a net-zero economy is critical to protecting our planet while ensuring economic prosperity for all.We’re more committed than ever to doubling down on our work with entrepreneurs from across the globe to help build solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. The time to advance the net-zero transition and accelerate the solutions that will shape tomorrow is now.

RESPOND

Accelerator Energy

RESPOND Accelerator Energy is a 6-month program, designed for early-stage ventures at the intersection of technology and society. At RESPOND, founders receive structured support for building and scaling businesses.The startups selected will work with expert coaches to develop their businesses and leadership skills. Our pool of lead coaches and mentors will advise entrepreneurs on critical business and leadership decisions. Participants will be connected to a diverse global network of entrepreneurs, investors, industry experts, and corporate leaders. They will be part of a mission-driven community and are invited to join the BMW Foundation Leaders Network. We provide visibility through speaking opportunities, nominations, conference access, and media coverage.We’re fully committed to scaling their impact. RESPOND is a non-profit entity – the program is therefore completely free of charge, and we don’t take any equity.

Areas of Action

Energy Transition & Industry Decarbonization

To achieve a net-zero economy, we must accelerate the shift from fossil fuels towards resilient, clean, and resource-efficient energy systems, while decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries.For the 2026 RESPOND Energy Accelerator program, we’ve defined five leverage points where technologies can have the greatest impact on reducing emissions and building resilient economic systems.

Advance Clean Energy Generation

How can we make renewable energies such as solar, wind, hydropower, biomass and geothermal more efficient and cost-effective through disruptive and novel technologies?

Advanced Energy Storage

How can we maximize the capacity and efficiency of energy storage solutions such as batteries, thermal energy storage and hydrogen to increase the reliability of renewable energy?

Resilient & Intelligent Energy Systems

How can we build energy infrastructure that is resilient to disruptions, adaptive to changing needs, and intelligent through digital and AI solutions – while minimizing their energy footprint?

Energy & Resource Efficiency

How can we improve energy and resource efficiency for the energy transition through industrial processes, material innovations and circular economy approaches?

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS)

How can CCUS technologies be scaled and deployed effectively, from capture to storage, conversion, and utilization, to cut CO₂ emissions?

Meet This Year's Startups

View All Startups

Gridbrid

Factor2 Energy

LINEA Innovations

Furo

Level Nine

BatX Energies

ReCatalyst

Magmec

Octavia Carbon

Planeteers

UP Catalyst

Ucaneo

Gridbrid helps build sustainable power plants quickly and efficiently to advance the energy transition. By using AI and physics-based simulation algorithms, their software helps industrial companies assess risks early, optimize energy strategies, and accelerate environmental goals.

Factor2 Energy uses captured and stored CO₂ as a working fluid in geothermal, delivering reliable and clean energy around the clock. It’s an innovative approach to achieving climate targets that turns a greenhouse gas into a valuable component for renewable energy power.

Linea Innovations develops fusion technology designed to reduce radioactive waste and create safer, carbon-free energy at scale. By utilizing a unique hybrid reactor combining field-reversed configuration and mirror magnetic confinement to enable aneutronic p-11B fusion, they eliminate deadly neutron radiation and the need for scarce tritium.

Furo builds the operating system for battery storage in commerce and industry. Their AI-driven platform integrates consumption data, energy markets, and weather forecasts to help manufacturers, installers, and project developers from initial planning phases through successful project completion.

Level Nine is developing next-generation industrial catalysts to unlock the molecules of the future. Their technology converts locally abundant renewable resources into chemical building blocks that beat petrochemicals on cost and performance.

BatX Energies recycles critical metals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, from used lithium-ion cells. Their low-cost technology converts waste batteries, magnets, and sludges into high-purity critical and rare-earth materials, powering a circular, low-carbon future.

ReCatalyst is building a nanotech catalyst platform for critical raw materials sovereignty and decarbonisation, developing advanced catalyst solutions with lower precious metal intensity for hydrogen technologies and beyond. This enables higher performance with fewer critical raw materials while maintaining consistent quality from lab to manufacturing scale.

Magmec has a low-energy magnesium production process designed for efficient, low-carbon, and scalable metal production. Their metal reduces embedded emissions in key industrial sectors, such as aluminum, automotive, and aerospace.

Octavia Carbon is the Global South’s first Direct Air Capture company. By using around 85% geothermal heat and 15% geothermal electricity, they deliver low-cost atmospheric CO₂ removal and prepare it for permanent storage in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

Planeteers removes CO₂ where it matters most, helping combat climate change and fight ocean acidification. Using an innovative modular, scalable, and cost-effective technology, they permanently remove CO₂ from various sources, converting it into stable bicarbonate for safe ocean storage.

UP Catalyst produces climate-neutral, cost-competitive critical raw materials from waste-stream CO₂ for energy storage and advanced industries. By replacing fossil feedstocks with CO₂ and using far less energy, their process delivers low-cost, high-purity materials that can be produced locally anywhere in the world.

Ucaneo is pioneering electrochemical direct air capture to deliver one of the most energy- and cost-efficient technologies worldwide for scalable negative emissions. Their heat-free, low-energy technology mimics the human lung and the way CO₂ passes through the body, enabling efficient capture of CO₂ even at very low concentrations in ambient air.

Selection Criteria

Who Should Apply to the RESPOND Accelerator Energy

We’re looking for mission-driven startups that:

Apply innovative approaches in hardware or AI to advance the transition towards a net-zero economy
Develop deep-tech solutions with the potential for significant impact on emissions reduction and resilient economic systems
Tackle the most pressing challenges in energy transition and industry decarbonization
Are early-stage but poised to scale globally with transformative relevance

Selection criteria

Our selection criteria assess businesses and founding teams across four dimensions: impact, innovation, traction, and leadership. The selection process is based on an online application, followed by brief video calls with the RESPOND team.

Impact

We seek sustainable business models that work towards a net-zero economy and systematically address one of our leverage points within energy transition and industry decarbonization.

Innovation

We’re excited about cutting-edge technology and innovative business models that have the potential to drive transformation, disrupt markets and scale across sectors.

Traction

We look for early-stage startups that are past MVP with a functional prototype and a TRL between 5-7. Startups are typically (pre-)seed to series A, with sustained traction (first paying customers and revenues).

Leadership

We seek entrepreneurs ready to take responsibility, influence change, and create a positive company culture.

Contact us

RESPOND Team

E-Mail respond@bmw-foundation.org

Disclaimer: The BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt is a non-profit organization. We have no financial interest and do not make economic recommendations.

How will you RESPOND?

Follow us on social media!LinkedInInstagram