STARTUPS & INNOVATIONS

FINANCING

ReJoule Inc., a Stanton-based battery diagnostics company, and San Diego-based software firm CleanSpark Inc. received a $2.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission this month. 

The three-year grant supports efforts to repurpose used electric vehicle batteries for commercial solar plus storage. 

“Today there isn’t a great way of understanding how batteries are performing, and that creates a lot of waste in the life cycle of a battery. We want to get the maximum value out of every battery with proactive measurements, rather than lagging indicators,” said ReJoule co-founder and Chief Financial Officer Zora Chung. 

As the primary grant recipient, ReJoule plans to create a grading process for EV batteries to determine their state of charge and overall health using its diagnostics platform. 

“Our technology allows any automaker or stationary storage developer to look inside the battery. It’s no longer a black box. There are critical elements inside of the battery that we can track and measure over time, which tells us a lot about a battery’s lifetime,” added co-founder and Chief Executive Steven Chung. 

CleanSpark said it expects to receive about $470,000 of the grant funding for its grid design and software services. 

In addition, Ford Motor Co. will provide used EV battery modules and technical services. 

Battery supplier BigBattery and renewable energy services firm Grid Alternatives will also lend support. 

Once developed, the second-life battery systems will be deployed at a housing and training center for the homeless in Santa Ana and an artist studio in Los Angeles.

Orange-based Replenysh Inc. raised $2 million in a seed round of funding this month to build a new digital supply chain for the “circular economy,” according to Chief Executive Mark Armen. 

The investment was led by Palo Alto-based Kindred Ventures, Floodgate Fund and 122West, both of San Francisco. A trio of ex-Uber execs also invested, including its first chief technology officer, Curtis Chambers.

A circular economy refers to a system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources.

The 4-year-old company’s platform connects recycling centers with buyers, with transparent pricing, automated workflows and materials tracking to reduce inefficiencies and cost-prohibitive barriers in the recycling process. 

One example of such barriers: it currently costs about about $30 to dump one ton of waste in a landfill, while it costs about $90 to process one ton of recyclables, according to Armen. 

Replenysh is well on its way to making its mark; more than 15% of the bottle-grade PET plastic (recyclable plastic used to package food and other goods) market currently transacts on its platform, Armen said.

Repleynsh’s eight-person team also works with businesses to meet their recycling goals. 

The company said it has recovered more than 164 million pounds of waste since launch.

OFFICE SPACE

Artificial gravel maker Arqlite SPC, which launched in Argentina four years ago, has set up its U.S. headquarters in Santa Ana in the South Coast Metro area. 

The company turns unrecyclable plastic waste—mostly food packaging—into artificial gravel for landscaping and home gardening. It also markets its product to the construction industry, claiming it offers a low carbon alternative to other mineral materials used in the process of making concrete. 

Arqlite’s launch into the U.S. market comes as the firm nears the close of its Series A round; it’s raised about $1.7 million thus far. 

Investors include Kamay Ventures, Argentina’s first venture fund launched by Coca-Cola Argentina and candy maker Arcor SAIC; Mexico based-Cemex Ventures’ innovation unit; and others.  

Arqlite’s Chief Executive Sebastian Sajoux said once its Santa Ana location off of Warner Avenue goes online, it will have the capacity to make up to 18,000 tons of its “smart” gravel a year. It makes about 600 tons a year in its Argentina-based facility.

Wireless communications firm Nxbeam Inc. recently moved its headquarters from Santa Ana to 5151 Oceanus Drive in Huntington Beach. 

Nxbeam is building satellite, 5G and MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuits) products for the next generation of wireless communications. 

It is led by Chief Executive David Farkas, co-founder of custom circuit product maker Active Wave Technology; Chief Operating Officer JianQing He; and Harry Stuimer, who oversees strategic planning. 

The team brings more than 70 years of experience in the technology sector, with management roles at Northrop Grumman, Marvell Semiconductor, and Oracle.

Nxbeam launched in 2018 and has raised about $150,000 in funds, according to regulatory filings.

PARTNERSHIPS

LunarCrush of Costa Mesa recently announced a long-term partnership with crypto trading platform Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange, or LCX. 

LunarCrush compiles and analyzes crypto-related social trends, search behaviors and internet chatter and aggregates data in feeds on its platform. 

“This partnership will enable us to accelerate the development of key insights into newly issued security tokens and deliver vital information every investor needs,” said LunarCrush’s Chief Executive Joe Vezzani. 

Vezzani, who launched the firm last year, said the platform has seen unprecedented growth in recent months as consumers grapple with questions about massive federal spending, how that might impact their livelihood and how they can protect themselves. 

LunarCrush has grown its user base about 250% per month since March, and now has more than 20,000 monthly active users. 

Nearly 60% of its user base is coming from outside the U.S. and the company is working to “localize tools” for Spanish-speaking customers, Vezzani added. 

LunarCrush graduated from Los Angeles-based Techstars accelerator program last year and is currently raising a seed round of funding. 

The company has already secured its lead investor, Draper Goren Holm, a venture firm led by crypto and blockchain experts Tim Draper, Alon Goren and Josef Holm.

Tustin-based Nesten Inc. is working with Camarillo-based Semtech Corp. to deploy its communications platform for low power Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors. 

The blockchain-based platform enables smart technologies such as real time delivery, pet geolocation and home security. 

Nesten’s G1 Wireless Node functions as a micro-cell tower, allowing everyone within a 10-mile range of the device to use the network. 

The device offers high capacity, long range coverage, meaning that hundreds of devices can use the network at the same time without draining power from individual users’ devices, the company said. 

Nesten also allows users and hosts to receive compensation as a reward for their data; and sells secure data generated by the Nesten network to its enterprise customers. 

The company, which launched in 2018, completed a citywide network in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in May. 

It has deployed its network in parts of Georgia, California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Canada, Mexico and South Korea.