San Diego Regional Energy Innovation Cluster
This project will provide customized entrepreneurial services; including education/training, business development, testing facilities, and advisory support to the San Diego region.
Cleantech San Diego Association
Recipient
San Diego, CA
Recipient Location
39th
Senate District
77th
Assembly District
$7,518,636
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
The Southern California Energy Innovation Network (SCEIN), a program led by Cleantech San Diego, is a California Energy Commission-funded program to support startups with electric energy-focused technologies in San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. The program provides free resources through a consortium of regional partner organizations to help energy entrepreneurs successfully bring their innovations to market.
As of 2024, SCEIN has supported 78 total companies, with 38 active member companies. Collectively, SCEIN member companies have attracted over $500 million in private capital and $171 million in public capital since joining the program. This combined $672 million represents a quadrupling of the capital that the companies came into the program, with 82% of their total capital raised during the SCEIN Program. An updated list of companies supported through SCEIN can be viewed here: https://cleantechsandiego.org/scein/
The Issue
Clean energy startups face difficulties in making use of the existing programs and resources available in the area, and accessing technology validation facilities, business training, market intelligence, and capital. They also experience increasing challenges navigating regulatory barriers to development and commercialization of entrepreneur's innovations. In order to facilitate the development of new energy innovations and their entry into the market, the Southern California Energy Innovation Network coordinates various entrepreneurial support services available in the region under one directive, optimizing key services to meet the needs of individual businesses.
Project Innovation
This project established the Southern California Energy Innovation Network (SCEIN) as a regional incubator program that provides commercialization support services to clean energy entrepreneurship in San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. The program leverages the region's universities, industries, businesses, economic development organizations, and other key stakeholder groups to foster collaborations across the private-public-academic landscape and accelerate equitable deployment of clean technology innovations for the benefit of the economy, the environment, and all members of the community.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
This project is advancing the goals of SB 350 (2015) by accelerating the commercialization of new clean energy technologies that can enable the integration of high-penetrations of renewables and distributed energy resources. This project will increase the probability of commercialization and deployment of a portfolio of technologies that can reduce electricity costs, decrease peak demand, and improve system reliability and safety. Intangible benefits to California ratepayers will result from broader, indirect, and multiplicative economic effects that occur from the successful establishment of California-based technology companies.

Affordability
SCEIN helps shorten technology development time and costs by providing a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs to quickly find and access the right services and resources.

Economic Development
As of 2024, SCEIN companies have raised $546 million in follow-on funding from public and private sources since being accepted into the program.

Equity
78 percent of SCEIN companies have female, minority, or veteran representation on their C-Suite leadership teams.
Key Project Members

Zac Dobbin

Iliana Kenyon
Subrecipients

University of California, Riverside

San Diego State University Foundation

The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of the San Diego campus

Center for Sustainable Energy

California State University San Marcos

University of San Diego

CONNECT

San Diego Venture Group

Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation

Inland Empire Economic Partnership

Match Partners

University of California, Riverside

San Diego State University Foundation

The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of the San Diego campus

University of San Diego

Cleantech San Diego Association

CONNECT
