We’re looking for world-changing climate tech startups with significant climate impact potential, addressing billion-dollar markets bringing innovations in hard science, hardware, software and business models to the world. If accepted, you’ll take part in our virtual, 18-month accelerator program.

We’re here to help you accelerate the path to commercialization and bridge the gaps to access the financing and resources you need to succeed. We do so by connecting the world’s most promising climate tech startups—like yours—with Third Derivative’s network of committed investors, corporate partners, market experts, and mentors.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), announced a request for proposals for projects that enhance the cybersecurity framework within American manufacturing. This initiative seeks to combine energy-efficient practices with robust cybersecurity measures, showcasing the U.S. commitment to technological innovation and resilience in the manufacturing domain.

The goal of the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is to prepare graduate students for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission, by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories.  The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students (US citizens or lawful permanent residents) to pursue part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE laboratory/facility in areas that address scientific challenges central to the Office of Science mission. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories/facilities.

IMPEL is a Department of Energy tech-to-market program focused on building technologies, funded by the Building Technologies Office and implemented by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Our program helps early-stage individuals from business, academia, and DOE’s national labs translate the premise and promise of their technology into the language of business, boosting their chances of bringing it to market.

Are you a carbon management or resource sustainability innovator and technology developer including, but not limited to, for-profit technology development firms, that needs commercialization support? This opportunity is designed to provide independent assessment of Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) technologies and practices for carbon management technologies and performance validation support for resource sustainability technologies.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. Voucher Opportunity (VO-5) addresses key adoption risk areas faced by carbon management companies, including independent assessment of Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) technologies and practices for carbon management technologies, and resource sustainability technology performance validation support. The first submission window (Sept 26) solicits proposals from potential voucher providers. A second submission window (Nov 7) will be open soon to solicit requests from potential voucher recipients. Pending availability of funds, additional submission windows may open in the future.

This program selects and fully funds proof of concepts of new ideas leveraging advanced cloud computing and AI to solve some of the biggest challenges in the fight against climate change. Startups at any stage can apply, they just need to have a tech team capable of building with advanced computing services.

When a startup is selected for the fellowship, they will engage in a 2-3 month build with 1:1 advice from mentors and AWS credits to cover the AWS service costs of the build. Both IRCAI and AWS will provide selected startups with a team of mentors who are experts in AI, sustainability and ethics. Startups will get access to advanced computing services, such as quantum computing, high performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and AWS credits to cover the build of the PoC.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and U.S. Department of Energy Office (DOE) of Technology Transitions (OTT) in partnership with FedTech run the DOE Emerging Tech Startup Studio. As energy dependency becomes one of the most significant threats we face, the NNSA and the DOE continue to serve as a catalyst for innovation, investing millions of dollars into national laboratories. Throughout the program, teams of highly talented entrepreneurs are paired with technologies on the forefront of innovation with the objective of commercializing market-defining startups.

Capital Connect will bring together some of the top companies and technologies around energy transition with venture capital investors from around the country through curated collisions at Venture Houston on September 7. This in-person event will provide opportunities for group pitch sessions, curated one-on-one meetings and open networking between startups and VCs.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for innovative back-up power solutions that will help critical facilities continue to operate during electrical outages. Winning solutions will be affordable, easy-to-use, and environmentally friendly power sources that can provide on-site power generation for critical facilities that provide essential services to communities across the United States. This Challenge is seeking to identify and catalyze existing cutting-edge technologies with a TRL of 6 or higher that can be used to continue essential facility operations in an event of a power failure or disruption lasting more than 36-hours.

In Stage 1 the judges will choose up to fifteen Stage 1 Finalists to advance to Stage 2.  During Stage 2, we will hold a live demonstration of your solution and a second judging process.

Congress established the Small Business Innovation Research / Technology Transfer (SBIR and STTR) programs to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy.  Federal agencies with large research and development budgets set aside a small fraction of their funding for competitions among small businesses only. Small businesses that win awards in these R&D programs keep the rights to any technology developed and are encouraged to commercialize the technology. DOE’s Phase 1 Release 1 includes funding for topics at the Offices of:

• Advanced Scientific Computing Research
• Basic Energy Sciences
• Biological and Environmental Research
• Fusion Energy Sciences
• High Energy Physics
• Nuclear Physics

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering oversees the Department of Defense (DoD) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. These competitive programs are Congressionally authorized set-asides established to encourage domestic small businesses to engage in research and development with the potential for commercialization. The SBIR/STTR programs support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy and accelerate capabilities to the warfighter. ​Find out what topics are currently open or learn when the next solicitation will be available.

The American-Made Solar Data Bounty Prize is designed to incentivize photovoltaic (PV) system owners to share information-rich datasets from their assets. With this data, the industry and research communities can continue to develop, validate, and fine-tune modeling tools for solar applications. This prize offers more than $1.4 million in cash prizes to competitors throughout two stages. The prize is comprised of two stages, and each stage has two tracks:

• Track A for small-to-medium systems (100-5,000 kW_DC)
• Track B for larger systems (> 5,000 kW _DC)