Find, fund, and foster entrepreneurs with ideas to solve our greatest environmental and energy challenges

Thank you to all who joined our StartupNOLA meetup and CTO NOLA 2026 recruiting season launch!

2026 Cohort Launch & StartupNOLA Community Meetup

Calling all founders, entrepreneurs, investors, and startup ecosystem partners! . . . building on our successful 2025 Shell GameChanger Cohort 01, Deep Blue Academy and Cleantech Open NOLA are pleased to open the 2026 recruiting season for our second New Orleans-based cohort of climate and cleantech startup companies to particpate in the National Cleantech Open competition. Special guest Yuet Lee, Cleantech Open National Mentor Program Chair will join us to share news about how you can support successful expansion or our CTO NOLA activities into the future. Special thanks to or cohosts Startup NOLA & 504Good, and our catering partner NOLA Brewing.

Featuring development updates from CTO NOLA alumni, including:

Deep Blue Academy and The Cleantech Open are proudly collaborating as GCxN Channel Partner Strategic Award winners for the Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL. Working together, we are launching the first Climate Tech / Cleantech accelerator program specifically focused on homegrown New Orleans region startups. In its first year, the program provided participation and travel funding assistance for 4 local cleantech startups participating in the 2025 CTO cohort. Cleantech Open (CTO) runs the largest cleantech accelerator program in the world, supporting critical early-stage startups that are addressing global climate, energy, and environmental challenges. Since 2005 CTO has trained over 4,000 entrepreneurs from 2,100+ early-stage clean technology startups through its annual business accelerator. For more information, contact us at: info@deepblue.academy.

2025 Cleantech Open National Academy West Information (May 30th - June 1st, 2025) :

Visit the National Academy program webpage to see full agenda and program information follow us on LinkedIn at Deep Blue Institute or Cleantech Open to get periodic news and updates on the upcoming 2026 program:

2026 Program Timeline:

  • February 1st - Application period opens

  • February 28th - Early bird pricing ends ($30)

  • April 6th - Application Deadline ($80)

  • May 28 - 29th - National Academy in New York City

  • June, July & August - Main Curriculum & Virtual Business Clinics

  • September (dates TBA) - Regional Finals

  • October 20th - 22nd - Global Forum

2026 Program Prize Overview:

  • Regional: $5,000 - 10,000 per company for various categories

  • National: $50,000 grand prize for the national winner

Special thanks to the Dan Lucas Memorial Fund, our founding sponsor and trusted advocate, and to the Pontchartrain Conservancy, our fiscal sponsor.

 
 
 
 
 
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