Active Surfaces Selected by Colgate-Palmolive and the 100+ Accelerator to Pilot Next-Generation Flexible Solar
Woburn, MA – March 21, 2025 – Active Surfaces, an MIT spinout pioneering lightweight, flexible solar technology, announced today that it has been selected to join Cohort 6 of the 100+ Accelerator, a global sustainability program led by AB InBev, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, and Unilever. Through the program, Active Surfaces will pilot its technology with Colgate-Palmolive to explore new ways of deploying clean energy across the company’s operations.
The 100+ Accelerator supports startups that are driving scalable solutions to global challenges in energy, circularity, water, agriculture, and climate resilience. Each participating startup receives up to $100,000 in pilot funding and direct collaboration with a Fortune 500 corporate partner.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Colgate-Palmolive—one of the world’s most recognized consumer goods companies—on advancing real-world solar innovation,” said Shiv Bhakta, Founder & CEO of Active Surfaces. “Our technology addresses one of the biggest barriers to renewable adoption: the cost and complexity of installing solar. By removing heavy racking, glass, and labor-intensive installation, we’re unlocking clean energy for surfaces that couldn’t host solar before.”
Active Surfaces’ ultra-light, rollable “solar mats” can be installed directly on rooftops or industrial structures without penetrations or ballast. Manufactured in the U.S. using scalable roll-to-roll processes, the modules are designed to reduce both soft costs and weight, offering a path to deploy solar power faster and more affordably.
“At Active Surfaces, we don’t sit in the lab—we deploy in the field,” Bhakta added. “This partnership is about turning innovation into impact, and Colgate-Palmolive’s sustainability leadership makes them the perfect partner to accelerate that mission.”
The collaboration builds on Active Surfaces’ growing portfolio of commercial pilots and strategic partnerships with global corporates across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, as the company moves toward scaling its flexible solar manufacturing platform.
For more information on Active Surfaces, visit www.activesurfaces.xyz.
About Active Surfaces
Active Surfaces is redefining where solar can go. Spun out of MIT, the company has developed ultra-light, flexible solar modules that install like a mat—no racking, no penetrations, and minimal labor. Its U.S.-made modules combine high performance with low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing to unlock solar for rooftops and surfaces that couldn’t support traditional panels.
About the 100+ Accelerator
The 100+ Accelerator is a global corporate partnership led by AB InBev, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, and Unilever. The program helps startups scale solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges through equity-free funding, mentorship, and pilot opportunities with leading global companies.
