eSpotlight: EnerTech Capital

Welcome to this week’s edition of eSpotlight, where we give our Partners, Members, Clients, and Preferred Service Providers a chance to tell their story about our work together and what they bring to the future mobility table. We hope you enjoy this post by Scott Ungerer, Founder & Managing Director of EnerTech Capital, a Founding Partner of the California Mobility Center (CMC).

For over 25 years EnerTech’s fundamental focus has been investing and partnering with innovative companies driving change across the energy landscape; with a focus on Mobility, Industry 4.0, and Connected Customer. Scott has been highly involved with the CMC since late 2018 as part of EnerTech’s strategic partnership with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and was recently named Senior Partner in the Office of the CEO at the CMC.

A New Kind of Collaborative Ecosystem Helping Early-Stage Innovation Succeed

By Scott Ungerer, Founder & Managing Director, EnerTech Capital and Senior Partner, CMC

I am delighted with the recent announcement of the CMC’s board of directors. Their level of seniority, breadth of knowledge, experience, and commitment to supporting the CMC will provide valuable guidance to management and is a testament to the CMC’s future. The official launch of the CMC was another major milestone that I am honored to have been a part of, and I couldn’t be more excited that the doors are finally open to Clients, Partners, and Preferred Service Providers.

EnerTech has worked closely with SMUD for nearly a decade. During this time, Mark Rawson (COO, CMC) and I focused on designing a method of engagement between SMUD and innovation companies. The purpose of this work was to improve partnerships, increase the pace of activity, and enhance the probability of success in developing commercially viable products and services. In late 2018, Arlen Orchard, then SMUD CEO, asked that our work be directed to supporting a mobility initiative of strategic importance. This pivot led the way for the creation of the CMC, with SMUD as the lead Founding Member and EnerTech as a Founding Partner.

The mobility sector is still evolving and being defined. From my vantage point, the core of mobility has been and remains automotive, which is experiencing a very rapid evolution that is heavily driven by digitization. In addition, the market and policymakers are demanding conversion to zero-emission-vehicles at an increasing pace. This dramatic shift in powertrains drives the need to build an entirely new national and international refuelin