Vice President Kamala Harris toured the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator in downtown L.A.’s Arts District on Monday afternoon to highlight how the Biden-Harris administration is supporting clean energy entrepreneurs and encouraging people of all backgrounds to join America’s green technology industry.
The L.A. Cleantech Incubator’s mission is to foster an inclusive and innovative green economy in Los Angeles. LACI offers funding, training and office space for clean energy startups with a focus on supporting female founders and founders of color. It also creates pathways for people to enter green technology careers through workforce development programs and education outreach efforts.
“The work that is happening at LACI is a worldwide model around what happens when we invest in talent, when we invest in innovation, when we invest in people who have really great, smart ideas,” Harris said on April 17. She went on to say that such ideas are “born out of an understanding and a belief that we can create things that have never been done before, and that can really change the world.”
LACI has helped 375 portfolio companies raise more than $1 billion in funding, generated $335 million in revenue, and created 2,626 jobs in the Los Angeles region. It was founded in 2011 as an economic development initiative by the city and L.A. Department of Water and Power.
“We’re very excited to have the Vice President of the United States of America come to our campus,” said L.A. Cleantech Incubator CEO Matt Peterson in an interview on Monday. “We’re just thrilled and honored and excited to show her this great facility that is more than a place … It’s a movement to create an inclusive green economy.”
During a tour of the facility at 525 S. Hewitt St., Harris met with several entrepreneurs who received funding from LACI — as well as graduates of the organization’s workforce training programs who now have full-time well-paying jobs in L.A.’s clean…
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