The Geothermal Geophone Prize consists of three phases that will fast-track efforts to design, test, and fabricate advanced functional seismometer prototypes. Each stage will include a contest period when competitors work to rapidly advance their solutions with the support of the American-Made Network. Sign up to compete here.

In Phase I (April – September 2022), teams will submit concept and feasibility designs to identify and develop high temperature, downhole seismic sensors using currently available components. Up to 8 semifinalists will receive $150,000 in cash prizes and vouchers!

Looking forward, in Phase II (December 2022 – October 2023), new and repeat applicants will submit design and proof-of-concept for their technologies. Up to 5 finalists will receive $350,000 in cash prizes and vouchers. Finally, in Phase III (December 2023 – March 2025), teams will prototype and test their Phase II designs. Up to 2 winners will receive a $350,000 cash prize.

The Conductivity-enhanced materials for Affordable, Breakthrough Leapfrog Electric and thermal applications (CABLE) Conductor Manufacturing Prize aims to help supercharge U.S. energy and manufacturing industries.

In the current stage of this prize, competitors will provide a sample of their material for electrical conductivity testing and preliminary plans to scale-up and manufacture the material according to prize requirements. Up to 6 competitors each will win $200,000 in cash awards and $100,000 in noncash voucher support to work with a DOE national laboratory (including user facilities) or other American-Made Challenges Network provider in Stage 3. Any eligible entity can compete in Stage 2 regardless of whether they were a competitor in Stage 1.

The Carbon to Value (C2V) Initiative—a unique partnership among the Urban Future Lab at New York University-Tandon, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA, and Founding Partner NYSERDA—combines a best-in-class partnership accelerator program with exclusive access to industry leaders shaping the carbontech marketplace of tomorrow. We’re seeking groundbreaking carbontech startups between TRL 4 and TRL 7 that are developing scalable solutions that capture carbon and/or incorporate captured carbon as a major input for valorization.

Technology areas include, but are not limited to:

• Carbontech solutions related to carbon capture (direct air capture or point source), carbon utilization/conversion into value-added products (e.g., fuels, chemicals, building materials, advanced materials, proteins/food), and/or carbon sequestration/removal technologies (e.g., mineralization and other sequestration methods)

• Carbontech solutions specifically for net-zero steel and/or low-carbon cement

• Carbontech solutions that utilize operational waste streams from heavy industries (e.g., mine tailings, slag, fly ash)

• Carbontech solutions specifically focused on blue carbon—carbon captured by the world’s ocean and coastal ecosystems (e.g., seaweed)

Are you the founder of an early-stage company that is developing solutions to modernize manufacturing and advance sustainable production? Help make the factory of the future a reality sooner, and jump-start your startup by getting your product or service in front of the Toyota Ventures team. We’re looking to invest in promising companies that are creating technologies to enable smarter, flexible, connected factories that will amplify people and improve efficiency and sustainability. Software and/or hardware solutions are welcome, and some of the areas we’re exploring include:

• 3D simulation
• Artificial intelligence and computer vision
• Augmented reality
• Additive manufacturing
• Robotics software and/or hardware (adaptive robots; collaborative robots; autonomous mobile robots)
• Solutions to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint in factories
• Technologies to advance electrification and battery manufacturing
• Cybersecurity and data analytics
• Worker training and safety tools

The MSI STEM Research & Development Consortium (MSRDC) is a solutions provider, research development partner and strategic asset to more than 60 minority-serving research institutions, industry and government partners. Our members use a combination of basic, applied, and/or advanced technology development research to pioneer groundbreaking solutions. With MSRDC’s unique funding vehicle, its members enjoy access to accelerate and elevate their research from concept to prototype and beyond. Current R&D funding opportunities include:

• Opaque Building Envelopes
• Thermal Energy Storage
• Next Generation Electric Machines (NGEM)
• Directed Energy Weapons – Ultra-Short Pulse Laser and Atmospheric Characterization
• High-Temperature Technologies for Naval Applications
• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning for Photonics, Power & Energy, Atmospherics, and Quantum Science

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced $26 million for research to advance scientific data management and visualization. Foundational research in data management will address challenges stemming from the increasingly massive data sets produced by scientific experiments and supercomputers. Innovative and intuitive data visualization approaches will support scientific discovery, decision-making, and communication based on that data. Pre-application deadline is May 10.

With support from Capital One’s Impact Initiative and funded (in part) through a grant with the U.S. Small Business Administration, 2Gether-International (2GI) is launching an accelerator focused on DMV founders with disabilities of early-stage startups in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia (DMV). This accelerator will support ~25 disabled founders (virtually) to learn about key areas of business including product-market fit, management, sales, marketing, financial projections, and negotiations. Throughout this program, founders will engage with world-class speakers and be supported by accredited leadership coaches to further develop their startups.

The Urban Future Lab is pleased to announce, for the sixth year, the Urban Future Prize Competition, which seeks to find the brightest climatetech startups and, through the generous support of The New York Community Trust, MUFG, and NYSERDA, award two winners with $50,000 cash prizes. These awardees will also receive admission into the ACRE Incubator, New York’s longest-running and most successful climatetech program. The deadline has been extended to June 20.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) is launching the Hydropower Operations Optimization (H2Os) Prize to encourage the development of new solutions that can help advance hydropower’s contribution to the grid. Hydropower provides beneficial operational flexibility in timing and storage of energy that can be better leveraged to meet grid needs. This competition challenges innovators to employ modeling, data analytics, and machine learning to schedule hydropower operations in coordination with existing grid scheduling practices while respecting water management operations and constraints.

Voyager invests in early-stage climate technology companies creating the foundation of a decarbonized global economy and a livable future for all. Its focus includes technology companies creating the future of mobility, energy, materials, food, the built environment, analytics, industrial systems, and carbon removal.

Enduring Planet offers rapid financing without dilution, personal guarantees, or collateral. Specifically, this organization backs impactful teams working across mitigation, removal, adaptation and resilience.

Enduring Planet prioritizes investing in underrepresented founders, diverse teams, and companies serving marginalized communities.

This 12-week, in-person incubator program provides mentorship, access to prototyping services, training workshops, and partnership opportunities. The program will take place in Knoxville, TN and stipends are provided to defray travel and living costs. Up to six companies will be accepted for the next cohort. Apply by April 11.