SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA — The American-Made Solar Prize, a multimillion-dollar competition funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has selected 20 teams to advance as semifinalists in Round 6 of the prize, including Vellex Computing. Each team won $50,000 in cash prizes and is eligible to continue to the next phase of the competition, which is designed to energize U.S. solar innovation.
Vellex Computing has been developing a computing stack for accelerating grid computing applications. “We are thrilled to receive this support from the American-Made Solar Prize which will enable our company to support and accelerate the ongoing proliferation of low-cost, reliable, and clean solar energy on the U.S. electric grid,” said Dr. Palak Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Vellex Computing.
In the next phase of the competition, teams will advance with the assistance of members of the American-Made Network to develop their innovations in a way that addresses real challenges in the solar market. Vellex Computing will continue working to substantially advance their technology solution toward a viable and promising proof of concept, which they will discuss with a panel of industry experts at the Set! Demo Day virtual event in spring 2023.
About Vellex Computing
Vellex Computing is building a computing engine for addressing critical challenges in numerous industries including energy, finance, life sciences, logistics, and advanced materials. Founded in 2020 as a spin-off from Stanford University, Vellex Computing is based in San Francisco and Delhi, India. Vellex’s patented technology includes a first-of-its-kind neural-inspired hardware accelerator that can outperform conventional optimization solvers by multiple orders of magnitude. For more information, visit www.vellex.io.
About the American-Made Solar Prize
The American-Made Solar Prize is a multimillion-dollar prize competition designed to energize U.S. solar innovation through a series of contests that accelerate the entrepreneurial process from years to months. Competitors leverage the American-Made Network, our innovation engine of more than 300 organizations, including world-class experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s 17 national labs, clean tech accelerators, incubators, universities, facilities, and more. The Solar Prize is directed and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Learn more.
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