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WHO WE ARE

WHO
WE ARE

Idealab Arizona is a startup studio, focused on the earliest stages of a company’s creation— from idea to establishing product market fit. We look for big problems in the world to solve. We then co-found companies with extraordinary entrepreneurs to turn the most impactful and commercially promising solutions into thriving businesses.

OUR PARTNERS

OUR 
PARTNERS

Idealab Studio:  We are a partner and investor in Idealab Studio, founded by prolific entrepreneur Bill Gross, continuing the storied legacy of Idealab.

 

IdealabX:  We are a founding investor of IdealabX, the only venture capital fund globally with guaranteed early access on preferential terms to the startups created by Idealab Studio and Idealab Arizona.

 

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OUR COMPANIES

OUR

COMPANIES

We're lit up by the impact these companies are making in the world.

THE

TEAM

We love what we do.

 

THE TEAM

THE
NEW
PHOTON
ECONOMY

These featured Idealab Studio and Idealabx companies are leveraging Advanced Manufacturing and Deep Tech to build The New Photon Economy.

THE TEAM

FUN FACTS ABOUT

IDEALAB

1996

FOUNDED

160+

COMPANIES CREATED

54

IPOS & ACQUISITIONS

$4.5B

CAPITAL RAISED
FUN FACTS

NEWS

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CarbonCapture Inc. unveils first U.S. direct air capture system designed for mass production; modular units to be manufactured at new high-volume facility in Mesa, Arizona

PR Newswire - June 24, 2024

CarbonCapture Inc. (CarbonCapture) today announced its Leo Series, the first U.S. direct air capture (DAC) system designed for mass production. This announcement marks a key inflection point in the atmospheric carbon removal industry as it begins to transition from laboratory research to large-scale deployments in the field. Learn more

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U.S. direct air capture company CarbonCapture Inc. secures lease for world’s first DAC manufacturing facility

GPEC.org - June 6, 2024

CarbonCapture Inc. (CarbonCapture), a leading U.S. direct air capture (DAC) company that builds modular systems that can be mass produced, today signed a lease for an 83,000 ft2 high-volume manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, for its first manufacturing plant. At full capacity, the facility is projected to manufacture 4,000 modules per year — equal to 2 megatons of removal capacity. Learn more

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GPEC Announces CarbonCapture Inc.’s Direct Air Capture Development Plans in Arizona Following Recent Funding

GPEC.org - September 13,2023

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) is proud to recognize that CarbonCapture Inc. (CarbonCapture), a leading climate tech company that designs and builds machines that remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, has partnered with Arizona State University (ASU) to design a regional direct air capture (DAC) hub under an initiative supported by the Department of Energy and is assessing sites around Greater Phoenix for further investment.. Learn more

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Tuned launches Hearing Solution for Teens

MedCity News - June 26, 2023

Tuned's new teen-focused solution, which launches Tuesday, caters to those aged 13 to 17 and will be offered as an employer-sponsored benefit. The program sends parents headphones and an iPad, which comes with two different hearing assessments.. Learn more

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Carbon Capture Inc. Awarded as 2023 Techonology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

Carbon Capture - June 21, 2023

The World Economic Forum announces selection of the the 100 most promising Technology Pioneers, companies that are tackling such issues as sustainability, climate change and healthcare. Learn more

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From Rudong to Beijing to Mongolia:
My insights from Energy Vault’s recent trip to China and the site of the first EVx gravity energy storage system.

Energy Vault - April 25, 2023

Today, we are excited to publish a letter from Robert Piconi our Chairman & CEO to shareholders titled “From Rudong to Beijing to Mongolia: My Insights from Energy Vault's Recent Trip to China and the site of the first EVx gravity energy storage system” that provides a comprehensive update and pictures on the progress towards the first global deployment of our EVx™ gravity energy storage system (GESS). Learn more

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12 OTT Statistics That Reveal the Future of Streaming Media

tvScientific - April 13, 2023

OTT streaming statistics paint a clear picture of the streaming media industry’s future. Read here to find out more. Learn more

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Microsoft inks another deal to capture and store its carbon emissions underground

The Verge - March 22, 2023

Microsoft, an early backer of emerging technologies that take carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere, has agreed to purchase carbon removal credits from Los Angeles-based startup CarbonCapture. Learn more

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Tuned Welcomes Former Walt Disney Director, Barbara Wachsman, and Former Path Mental Health CCO, Randy Forman, to the Advisory Board

tuned - February 21, 2023

Tuned is the first solution designed to bring hearing health to everyone, a mission that continues to gather pace with the appointment of Barbara Wachsman and Randy Forman to the Advisory Board. Learn more

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St. Louis startup developing self-driving railcar expands to new HQ

The Business Journals - October 04, 2022

A St. Louis startup developing an autonomous, zero-emissions railcar has expanded into a new headquarters locally, a move that comes as it prepares to deliver its first units to customers next year. Learn more

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How Peacock Plans to Go After Facebook and Google Advertisers

AdAge - May 2, 2022

NBCUniversal said it is trying to tap into the millions of smaller advertisers that typically buy media on Google and meta’s Facebook to get them spending on its connected TV app Peacock. Learn more

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A Different Kind of Solar Power Attracts Attention

The Wall Street Journal - April 24, 2022

When you think of solar energy, you probably picture the photovoltaic panels that capture sunlight to be converted to electricity. But there are other ways to harness the sun’s power. One method attracting growing interest is called concentrated solar-thermal power, or CSP, which uses mirrors to reflect and concentrate the sun’s energy. Learn more

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Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. Begins Trading on the New York Stock Exchange

Business Wire - February 14, 2022

Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NRGV, NRGV WS) (“Energy Vault”), the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, will begin trading today, February 14, 2022, following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II.

Learn more

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Energy Vault Strikes Deal to Provide Gravity Storage in China

Bloomberg - February 1, 2022

Energy Vault Inc., a provider of systems that store energy by elevating heavy objects, agreed to license its technology to a company that plans to build storage facilities in China. Learn more

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Energy Vault, Atlas Renewable and China Tianying Announce $100 Million Transaction With Further Upsized Pipe, Licensing and Royalty Agreement, and Initial 100MWh Project to Drive Decarbonization in China

Business Wire - February 1, 2022

Energy Vault, Inc. (“Energy Vault”), the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, today announced a License and Royalty agreement for renewable energy storage with Atlas Renewable LLC (“Atlas Renewable”) and their majority investor China Tianying Inc. Learn more

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Forget batteries. This 100-year-old technique provides cheap energy storage for wind and solar power

Fast Company - January 21, 2022

Wind and solar power vary over the course of a day, so energy storage is essential to provide a continuous flow of electricity. But today’s batteries are typically quite small and store enough energy for only a few hours of electricity. To rely more on wind and solar power, the U.S. will need more overnight and longer-term storage as well. Learn more

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Gravity Could Solve Clean Energy’s One Major Drawback

WIRED - January 4, 2022

Finding green energy when the winds are calm and the skies are cloudy has been a challenge. Storing it in giant concrete blocks could be the answer. Learn more

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Renewable energy company Heliogen goes public in final SPAC merger of 2021

CNBC - December 31, 2021

Bill Gross, Heliogen CEO, joins ‘TechCheck’ to discuss Heliogen’s debut on the public markets, energy’s role in the world and how the company will utilize a recent $39 billion grant from the Department of Energy. Learn more

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Vaulting Into Global Energy Storage Markets: Energy Vault Is A Player To Reckon With

Forbes- December 2, 2021

How could a large quantity of 35-metric ton blocks of polymer-infused dirt possibly increase the quantities of wind and solar resources that increasingly power our growing clean energy economy?  It turns out, those gigantic blocks may play a key role in storing and releasing energy in our power grids - if we lift and stack them or lower them at the right speed, in the right place, and at the right time. Learn more

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This new tech could make hydrogen an affordable, clean fuel for planes

Fast Company - November 16, 2021

Green hydrogen can fuel planes and heat homes without emissions, but it’s too expensive to be widely used. Heliogen and Bloom Energy say they can bring its cost down with solar power-produced steam. Learn more

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Every Prototype that Led to a Realistic Prosthetic Arm

Wired - November 10, 2021

Since the early 2000s, private companies, governments, and research labs have been developing prosthesis that are a lot more advanced than previous designs. WIRED talked with Easton LaChapelle, founder and CEO of Unlimited Tomorrow, to understand how he designed, tested, and adopted his prosthetic arm. Learn more

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Disruption junction: Startup aims to replace locomotives with autonomous railcars

FreightWaves - November 4, 2021

Imagine shorter, more environmentally friendly trains bearing everything from lithium carloads to intermodal containers across short-haul distances. Imagine further that these trains are unencumbered by long waits for locomotives — because they don’t use locomotives. That is the vision that St.Louis-based rail technology startup Intramotev hopes to bring to fruition. Learn more

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This startup is reinventing CO2 capture to reduce the costs

Fast Company - October 19, 2021

One direct air capture startup, called CarbonCapture, wants to help bring costs down by changing a key material used in the technology. The company, which announced the close of a $35 million Series A round of financing today, tweaked the direct air process so it’s possible to pull the carbon from the air using a mineral—called zeolites—which is much cheaper than the raw materials used in other methods. Learn more

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Carbon Capture Inc. Closes $35 Million Series A Funding From Prime Movers Lab, Rio Tinto, Idealab Studio, and Time Ventures

Yahoo! Finance - October 19, 2021

Carbon Capture Inc. (CarbonCapture), a climate tech company that makes machines that remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, today announced the closing of a $35 million Series A funding round and the appointment of Adrian Corless as CEO. Learn more

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Renewable Storage Firm Energy Vault Reaches $1.6 Billion SPAC Deal to Go Public

The Wall Street Journal - September 8, 2021

Energy Vault Inc. is combining with a blank-check company to go public in a merger that values the gravity-based energy-storage company at roughly $1.6 billion, the companies said. 

Learn more

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SoftBank-backed storage developer Energy Vault raises $100 mln

Reuters - August 24, 2021

Energy Vault, a developer of utility-scale battery storage technology backed by SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) and the venture arm of Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), has raised $100 million in a funding round, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday. Learn more

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Heliogen And Bloom Energy Agreement Signals The Start Of The Hydrogen Age

Forbes - July 22, 2021

Today, Heliogen and Bloom Energy (BE) announced a partnership to produce “green hydrogen” – a powerful industrial energy source – using only concentrated solar power and water. 

Learn more

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Concentrated Solar Power Firm Heliogen to Go Public in $2 Billion SPAC Merger

The Wall Street Journal - July 6, 2021

Heliogen Inc. is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public in a combination that values the concentrated solar power company at about $2 billion, the companies said. Learn more

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How Mirrors Could Power the Planet... and Prevent Wars

Freethink - June 19, 2021

When most people think of solar power, they picture rows and rows of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of a building. But photovoltaic power is terribly inefficient — the mining and refining of the elements required for daily human life are incredibly costly to the environment. 

Learn more

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Solar concentration startup Heliogen basks in $108M of new funding

TechCrunch - June 15, 2021

Sunlight is a great source of energy, but it rarely gets hot enough to fry an egg, let alone melt steel. Heliogen aims to change that with its high-tech concentrated solar technique, and has raised more than a hundred million dollars to test its 1,000-degree solar furnace at a few participating mines and refineries. Learn more

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Magnite Partners with tvScientific to Woo Performance Marketers to CTV

Ad Age - June 9, 2021

The goal of the new partnership is combining Magnite's relationship with CTV publishers with tvScientific's focus on attribution, to give direct-to-consumer and other direct response brands a clearer path to advertising in CTV. Learn more

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ArcelorMittal : Initial $10 million investment part of broader partnership established with Heliogen (Form 6-K)

Market Screener - June 8, 2021

ArcelorMittal ('the Company') today announces the completion of its first XCarb™ innovation fund investment since launching the initiative in March 2021. The Company has invested an initial $10 million in Heliogen, a renewable energy technology company which focuses on 'unlocking the power of sunlight to replace fossil fuels'. Learn more

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Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures Invests in Energy Vault

Business Wire - June 2, 2021

Energy Vault, the creator of renewable energy storage products that are transforming the world’s approach to utility-scale energy storage for grid resiliency, today announced new investment from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), the strategic technology venturing program of global integrated energy and chemicals company Aramco (TADAWUL: SAUDI ARAMCO). Learn more

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This Bill Gates-backed startup will soon help power a giant mine

CNN Business - March 24, 2021

In a bid to bring carbon-free power to heavy industry, Heliogen announced Wednesday that mining behemoth Rio Tinto plans to deploy the startup's breakthrough solar technology at California's largest open pit mine, located in Boron. Heliogen says this will be the first concentrated solar technology used to power a mine in the United States, and perhaps the world.

Learn more

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Why clean energy’s future may depend on molten salt, trains, and cranes

Fortune - February 16, 2021

In an effort to make renewable energy more reliable, one company wants to send trains carrying tons of rocks up and down a hill. Another wants to use cranes to stack and unstack heavy blocks. Learn more

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2021 Honorees: Julian Laval and Ali Imani, Cofounders of Center Health

Forbes - 2021

Julian Laval and Ali Imani founded diabetes device and management company Center Health in 2017 to make glucose monitors that connect to a smartphone and work with an app. Center Health raised $4 million from Fuel Capital, Sequoia Scouts, Luma Launch, IdeaLabX, and has 10,000 customers. Learn more

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2021 Honoree: Easton LaChappelle, Founder of Unlimited Tomorrow

Forbes - 2021

Prosthetics can be expensive, which is why Unlimited Tomorrow is using 3D-printing and scanning to drive down costs. The direct-to-consumer company sells personalized robotic arms for $7,995. Founder and CEO LaChapelle has raised $6.2 million to scale up the company.

Learn more

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Industry, Powered By The Sun: Heliogen HelioHeat

Time - November 19, 2020

Creating the tons of steel and concrete we use to build our world requires a massive amount of heat—and most of it comes from burning dirty fossil fuels. HelioHeat cleans up that process by using the power of the sun. Learn more

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Bill Gross, 1990s Dotcom Trailblazer, Is Now Betting on Green Energy

Wall Street Journal - October 6, 2020

The pandemic, by decimating oil demand, crashing prices and challenging the economics of some fossil-fuel projects, has accelerated some industry moves toward low-carbon energy. In Mr. Gross’s view, it has also leveled the playing field for green energy’s drive to displace fossil fuels. Learn more

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This young entrepreneur skipped college to create robotic limbs that users can control with their minds

CNN Health - August 31, 2020

Easton LaChappelle isn’t your average adult male in his mid-twenties. While others might be working their first jobs or trying to figure out a way to unleash their creative ideas, LaChappelle runs a high-tech medical company focused on creating prosthetic limbs for those who deal with limb loss or limb differences, Unlimited Tomorrow. The best part? He’s doing this at a fraction of the cost. Learn more

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This Young Technologist Is Revolutionizing the Future of Prosthetics, One Artificial Limb
at a Time

Men’s Health - September 3, 2020

Easton LaChappelle isn’t your average adult male in his mid-twenties. While others might be working their first jobs or trying to figure out a way to unleash their creative ideas, LaChappelle runs a high-tech medical company focused on creating prosthetic limbs for those who deal with limb loss or limb differences, Unlimited Tomorrow. The best part? He’s doing this at a fraction of the cost. Learn more

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TrueLimb robotic arms look real and cost less than traditional prosthetics

CNET - August 30, 2020

Easton LaChappelle was 14 years old when he designed and built his first robotic arm. Ten years later, he's now the CEO of his own company, looking to upend the prosthetics industry. 

Learn more

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Easton LaChappelle’s Story: Advancing Affordable and Accessible Prosthetics

Youtube - August 5, 2020

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Smart, Made-to-order Limbs Are The Future Of Prosthetics

Inverse - July 14, 2020

TrueLimb is a customizable and affordable alternative to commercial-grade prosthetic limbs that can cost upwards of $80,000 for a single unit. For growing children that need at least four to five new prostheses in adolescence, this price is astronomical. Learn more

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This Invention Has Saved About 150,000 Babies' Lives

Oprah.com - July 7, 2020

"The essence of design is empathy," Chen says, "making something that fulfills the needs, desires and circumstances of the customers you're trying to serve. We couldn't have come up with a design sitting in Palo Alto." Learn more

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What Life-Saving Mothers Teach Us About How To Lead Through Hard Times

Forbes - May 10, 2020

A recent KFF Health Tracking Poll found that nearly half of Americans have had their mental health negatively effected by the COVID-19 crisis. The magnitude of that deserves a moment to sink in. Almost half of us are having mental health trouble right now. Learn more

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Why Social Entrepreneur Kuda Biza Defines 'Now' as 'No Opportunity Wasted'

Entrepreneur - January 24, 2020

In this series called Member Showcase, we publish interviews with members of The Oracles. This interview is with Kuda Biza, co-founder and CMO of Nunbelievable, co-founder of #ThisIsMyEra, and founder of the Amani Hope Foundation. It was condensed by The Oracles. Learn more

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Here’s Where to Travel in 2020

Vogue - December 27, 2019

A new year—a new decade—is upon us, and with that comes new goals. And while there’s always room for resolution-inspired improvements, one thing we should all be promising ourselves is to explore the world a little more. Learn more

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Secretive energy startup
backed by Bill Gates achieves
solar breakthrough

CNN - November 19, 2019

Heliogen, a clean energy company that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, said it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect so much sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius. Learn more

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Energy Vault raises $110 million from SoftBank Vision Fund as energy storage grabs headlines