Note: This blog post is part of a series of posts related to the American-Made Solar Prize. To learn more about this $3M prize competition and how to participate, visit the challenge website.

Scaling a promising innovation from the lab bench to the boardroom is no easy feat. It helps to have a strong support system.

For entrepreneurs competing in the U.S. Department of Energy’s new American-Made Solar Prize (deadline: Oct. 5, 2018), that support system is the American-Made Network—an ecosystem of incubators, nonprofits, universities, and other “Connectors” across the country.

The Clean Energy Business Network is one such Connector, working to leverage our policy and business development resources to support small- to medium-size clean energy companies competing in the prize. We’re providing information to prospective competitors, sharing feedback and advice to help teams assess their fit for the competition, identifying potential judges, and informing competitors about resources and events being offered by our fellow Connectors.

This fall, the CEBN will be providing even more robust support to competitors with our exciting new business development tools rolling out in the coming weeks. These offerings will help solar entrepreneurs—along with clean energy businesses of all technologies and stages—navigate resources to support their work and connect with prospective investors, clients, and partners across the country.

Put yourself on the menu—and see what prospective partners have to offer.

Energy businesses who aren’t quite a household name may find that their network is limited to their local community or “connections of their connections.” Meanwhile, major corporations, investors, and clients receive large volumes of unsolicited proposals that aren’t a good fit for their interests—often missing opportunities that could be just what they need.

That’s why the CEBN is creating a searchable directory to facilitate partnerships among energy businesses, investors, and clients on a nationwide scale. Publicly-available search functions will tag participants according to their technology and geographic location (or areas where they are looking to do business). Private, login-only features will enable transactional searches based on what participants are seeking and offering, their target energy markets, and other specific interests.

• • Competitors in the American-Made Solar Prize can tap into the CEBN’s directory to expand their reach and find partners who can help.
  • Investors, corporations, mentors, and incubators can match with technology and service providers meeting their unique interests. All users control how much contact information they want to post vs. how much they’d prefer the CEBN to be a filter.

Sneak peek:

Navigate resources and tools to support clean energy businesses.

Navigating the myriad government and private sector programs, labs, testing facilities, university programs, incubators, and other resources available to the U.S. energy industry can be overwhelming. Small businesses often have limited resources and staff capacity to devote to this research.

The CEBN’s new funding database will aggregate information about government and private-sector resources relevant to all clean energy technologies and stages in an easily-navigable format. Similarly, we regularly offer blog posts, webinars, and other communications explaining the goals of such initiatives and ways to utilize them effectively.

• Competitors in the American-Made Solar Prize can use this funding database to navigate resources to support the scale-up of their innovations.
• Investors, corporations, mentors, and incubators can notify the CEBN about upcoming awards, competitions, deadlines, and events they would like the CEBN to advertise to a nationwide audience.

Sneak peek:
To take advantage of these offerings, sign up for CEBN membership at the “Business Network” level or higher. Or reach out to Lynn Abramson with questions.

Upcoming American-Made Solar Prize Events:

Check back regularly to see listings of local solar prize information events offered by the CEBN’s fellow Connectors!

• AzCI: Sep. 5 and 6, 2018 (Tucson, AZ)
• Zpryme: Sep. 5 (Austin, TX)

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The Clean Energy Business Network (CEBN) works to advance the clean energy economy through policy, public education, and business support for small- and medium-size energy companies. Started in 2009 by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the CEBN is now a small business division of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. The CEBN represents 3,000+ business leaders across all 50 U.S. states working with a broad range of clean energy and transportation technologies.