OpenRoad Charges Ahead with $500K CalSEED Win
Santa Cruz-based OpenRoad Technologies has won a $500,000 Prototype Award from the California Energy Commission through the CalSEED Initiative, marking another major step forward for the company. The funding will support the build-out and pilot of GridConnect, OpenRoad’s grid-compliance gateway technology designed to connect distributed energy resources like batteries, EV chargers, HVAC systems, and datacenters to demand response and virtual power plant programs.
This follows OpenRoad’s earlier CalSEED Concept Award, showing real momentum as the company moves from early validation toward prototype and pilot deployment. GridConnect is aimed at a growing need in California: helping more distributed energy assets participate in the clean energy grid more easily and effectively.
The company plans to manufacture GridConnect from its office in Santa Cruz’s historic Wrigley Building and expects to add engineering roles as production scales. OpenRoad also plans to run its pilot in 2027 at CalEPIC, California’s clean energy technology test bed.
For Santa Cruz, it is another strong example of a local company building practical clean energy technology with the potential for broader statewide impact.
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