Climate tech startups in Palo Alto

Palo Alto has been in the energy business longer than most cities its size. It has owned its electric utility since 1900. The Electric Power Research Institute set up here in the 1970s. Tesla ran its headquarters from Deer Creek Road for over a decade. Its engineers still work in Stanford Research Park. Today the city's climate tech scene is a mix of large engineering offices, a few startups in Palo Alto and Menlo Park, Stanford's sustainability school and investors who have backed energy companies through two booms.

This guide maps that scene with links to our company and investor profiles. For the funding side in depth, see our guide to climate tech investors.

Electric vehicles and mobility

Tesla

Tesla announced a Palo Alto lease in August 2009 and made 3500 Deer Creek Road its headquarters. It announced the move of its corporate headquarters to Austin on December 1, 2021. In February 2023 it announced a global engineering headquarters at 3000 Hanover Street, on the former Hewlett Packard Enterprise headquarters campus in Stanford Research Park. For engineers, Palo Alto is still one of Tesla's main addresses.

Rivian

Rivian, headquartered in Irvine, has run a software and autonomy campus in Stanford Research Park since spring 2020. The research park describes it as nearly 200,000 square feet in four buildings. Rivian also has a showroom at Stanford Shopping Center.

Ford Greenfield Labs

Ford Greenfield Labs at 3251 Hillview Avenue opened as Ford's Palo Alto research center on January 22, 2015. It works on mobility and connected vehicle technology and partners with startups.

Charging at home base

Palo Alto drivers have long been early electric vehicle adopters. The city lists 121 public charging ports at 10 sites. Our guide to EV charging covers where they are.

Energy research and startups

EPRI

The Electric Power Research Institute is an independent nonprofit formed in 1972 that does research for the electric power industry. Its headquarters is at 3420 Hillview Avenue in Stanford Research Park, with other major sites in Charlotte, Knoxville, Washington, D.C. and Lenox, Massachusetts. It is not a startup, but it shapes the grid research that energy startups build on.

Mainspring Energy

Mainspring Energy lists its headquarters at 3601 Haven Avenue in Menlo Park, a short drive from Palo Alto. The company builds the Mainspring Linear Generator, which it markets as onsite power for data centers, utilities and industrial sites, with multi-fuel operation. Its site lists a 1.6 gigawatt agreement with the utility AEP.

Elsewhere on the Peninsula and in the South Bay

• QuantumScape, a solid-state battery company, lists 1730 Technology Drive, San Jose.
• Antora, which builds thermal batteries for industrial heat, shows its San Jose factory on its site.
• Mitra Chem, a battery materials company, lists roles at its Mountain View site.
• WindBorne Systems, which flies long-duration weather balloons and builds AI forecasts, says it is based in Redwood Shores. NBC described it as a Palo Alto startup in 2024.

The first cleantech boom

Palo Alto saw the first cleantech wave up close. In the late 2000s, venture firms on Sand Hill Road poured money into solar, biofuels, batteries and electric cars. Kleiner Perkins made a large clean energy push. Khosla Ventures was best known for clean technology in its first decade.

Better Place is the best known local cautionary tale. Shai Agassi launched it publicly on October 29, 2007. It was formally based in Palo Alto, though much of its work happened in Israel. It built battery swapping networks in Israel and Denmark, spent about $850 million in private funding and filed for bankruptcy in Israel on May 26, 2013. Founders and investors still cite its story when talking about capital-heavy climate businesses.

The current wave is broader. It covers grid software, industrial heat, carbon removal, materials and weather data as well as vehicles. Investors also tend to fund pilots and first factories with a mix of equity, grants, project finance and debt.

Stanford's climate pipeline

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability opened on September 1, 2022, with a $1.1 billion gift from John and Ann Doerr. Arun Majumdar is its inaugural dean. It includes seven departments, the Precourt Institute for Energy and the Woods Institute for the Environment.

Two programs matter most to founders. The Sustainability Accelerator funds Stanford projects aimed at moving climate research out of the lab. Its first cohort in 2022 had 31 projects. Ecopreneurship, launched in 2023 with the Graduate School of Business, supports student ventures. Stanford students can also compete in the sustainability track of the BASES Challenge, covered in our pitch competitions guide.

Climate investors with Palo Alto ties

Many climate-only funds work from San Francisco or outside the region. Breakthrough Energy Ventures is in the Seattle area. Our climate investors guide, linked at the top of this page, goes deeper.

Tips for climate founders in Palo Alto

• Plan the lab early. Office space is easy to find here. Wet labs, high-power test space and room for pilot equipment are not. Stanford Research Park and the industrial areas of Menlo Park, Redwood City and San Carlos are the usual places to look. Our office space guide explains local leases.
• Talk to the utility. The City of Palo Alto runs its own electric, gas and water utility. Projects that touch the grid, such as storage or charging pilots, go through the city rather than PG&E.
• Stack your funding. Grants, research credits and customer pilots can stretch an equity round. Investors expect climate founders to use them.
• Use Stanford's open doors. The Doerr School hosts public talks. They are good places to meet researchers, faculty and students who may become hires or advisers.
• Expect long sales cycles. Utilities, automakers and industrial buyers move slowly. Budget for a pilot year before revenue grows.

Grants and non-dilutive money

Climate companies lean on grants more than most startups. CalSEED, administered by New Energy Nexus with California Energy Commission funding, offers grants of up to $700,000 to early clean energy companies. Federal SBIR and STTR awards, including from the Department of Energy, also fund research without taking equity. Our SBIR guide explains both. Hardware-heavy companies should also read our guide to the R&D tax credit, since engineering wages and prototype supplies often qualify.

Frequently asked questions