CleanStart

When
July 21, 2026 3:00 PM
Where
Zoom
Plug In, Power Up: How Data Pigeon Is Building the Operating System for EV Reliability
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Event Details

​Ever wonder why your EV charger just... doesn't work?

​Turns out you're not alone. 1 in 5 public charging sessions fail — and most operators don't find out until a frustrated driver already has.

​Three UC Davis students decided that was unacceptable. So they built Data Pigeon: AI that predicts charger failures up to 12 hours before they happen. No more finding out the hard way.

​Come hang out with the team behind it. ☕

​Join CleanStart for a conversation with the founders who went from winning the Big Bang Business Competition to training AI models on 1.4 billion+ data points — all while building a software business in one of clean energy's most stubbornly hardware-heavy corners.

​🎙 Meet the founders:

  • ​Senara Millawabandara — CEO & Co-Founder
  • ​Suhani Shokeen — COO & Co-Founder
  • ​Sina Vaghefi — CTO & Co-Founder

​💡 What we'll dig into:

  • ​What actually happens after you win a competition like Big Bang
  • ​Landing your first enterprise conversations (and surviving them)
  • ​Building AI-native software in a hardware-first world
  • ​Why NEVI's 97% uptime mandate just became every operator's problem — and Data Pigeon's opportunity
  • ​What the UC Davis startup ecosystem really gives founders (spoiler: more than you'd think)

​This is for you if you're: an early-stage founder, a climate tech investor, an EV operator tired of dead chargers, or just someone who loves watching AI and infrastructure collide in interesting ways.

​Come curious. Leave with better questions than you came with.

​CleanStart Events are supported by SMUD, Chico Start, E2, and the Carlsen Center for Entrepreneurship at Sac State.

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