Eight innovative companies from California will be honored at Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group's 2023 #GameChangers Awards Wednesday.

The annual awards ceremony brings together founders, mentors, stakeholders and influencers from the Bay Area for a night that honors local companies and leaders for their ground-breaking solutions to different issues in the world.

Receiving this year's Founder's Award is the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory National Ignition Facility (NIF) Fusion Ignition Team. The group of Livermore scientists will be celebrated for their breakthrough in the use of fusion energy as a potentially unlimited clean energy source, according to a release.

Another Livermore company, SPARKZ, will also be accepting an award during the night's festivities. The local startup will be commemorated for being the first American company to successfully commercialize a zero cobalt lithium-ion battery.

Other companies that will be garnering awards are: Air Protein (Pleasanton), ProSomnus Sleep Technologies (Pleasanton), The WellNest Company (Dublin), Zeiss Innovation Center (Dublin), Lazarex Cancer Foundation (Danville) and Reputation (San Ramon).

"Extraordinary solutions continuously emerge from our region, then drive impact on a global scale. This is the moment our community comes together to amplify and honor the disruptive, innovative spirit that is part of our Tri-Valley DNA," said Rick Shumway, ITV board chair and president and CEO of Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley.

Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group's 2023 #GameChangers Awards is set to take place on Wednesday (March 29) from 5:30-8 p.m., at Goal Line Studio in Pleasanton. For more information on the event, visit innovationtrivalley.org.