Early-Stage Technology R&D (approx. TRL 1-5)

NAIRR Pilot Resource Requests to Advance AI Research

In the NAIRR Pilot, the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Energy (DOE), and numerous private and non-profit sector partners are providing an opportunity for the research community to request access to a set of computing, model, platform and educational resources for projects related to advancing AI research. This call for proposals will be open from May 6, 2024, until the end of the NAIRR Pilot program or until all resources have been committed to projects. Projects will be awarded for twelve (12) months duration.

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Pitch Competition – NREL 2025 Industry Growth Forum (IGF)

The IGF builds on decades of technical expertise and market analysis accumulated at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the nation’s only federal lab dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency research. We are strongly committed to our mission of connecting cutting-edge startups with motivated investors. Presenting companies are chosen from applicants vetted by a selection committee of more than 150 climate tech and cleantech investors and industry experts. This rigorous screening process provides beneficial feedback to startups that apply. The top 40 companies are invited to present.

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Breakthrough Energy Fellows

Hailing from around the world, BE Fellows are focused on technologies that have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases, at scale, by at least 500 million tons per year. Technologies supported to date include high-impact areas such as hydrogen, electrofuels, steel, cement, food and agriculture, energy storage, nuclear fusion, carbon dioxide capture, storage and sequestration. The Breakthrough Energy Fellows program has three pathways, defined as follows:

  • Innovator Fellows are world-leading scientists and engineers who enter the program with a critical climate technology to commercialize.
  • Business Fellows are experienced professionals with tech commercialization skills who support the Innovator Fellows in accelerating their path to market.
  • Explorers receive funding for earlier stage, higher technical risk endeavors. These projects are typically led by scientists at university labs or research entities.
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The Deployment Engine

Connecting breakthrough building decarbonization technologies with industry experts and end-users to accelerate market adoption in Appalachia. Our priority is matching startups with the industry expertise and guidance they need from mentors, not their flashy corporate logos. We focus on maximizing alignment, skills, and network depth to provide exceptional mentorship during our programming and beyond for a people first approach to decarbonization.

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Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) 2025

The Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) 2025 program is designed to support a new cohort of early-career innovators to develop the most disruptive and unconventional ideas into transformative new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications. This announcement is purposefully broad in technical scope, but eligibility is limited to early-career researchers. In addition to research efforts, awardees will engage with ARPA-E and fellow awardees through dedicated IGNIITE events, meetings, and mentorship activities. Submissions to this solicitation must propose transformational R&D that has the potential for high impact. If successful, a project could create a new class or new trajectory for an energy technology, with the potential to substantially contribute to ARPA-E’s statutory goals. Awards under this program may take the form of exploratory research that provides the agency with information useful for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. Alternatively, awards may support proof-of-concept research for a particular new technology in an area not currently supported by the agency.

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National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) Advanced Packaging Research and Development

The NAPMP seeks to drive U.S. leadership in advanced packaging and provide the technology and skilled workforce needed for packaging manufacturing in the United States. Within a decade, NAPMP-funded activities, coupled with CHIPS manufacturing incentives, will establish a vibrant, self sustaining, profitable, domestic advanced packaging industry where advanced-node chips manufactured in the United States and abroad can be packaged in appropriate volumes within the United States and innovative designs and architectures are enabled through leading-edge packaging capabilities. In combination with other CHIPS for America education and workforce efforts, NAPMP-funded activities will produce the diverse and capable workforce needed for the success of the domestic packaging sector. The objective of this NOFO is to enable, through R&D, innovative new advanced packaging flows suitable for adoption by U.S. industry

*Full applications will be due 60 days from the date of invitation.

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PowerNorth Incubator (Minnesota)

Are you an innovator? Do you have an emerging business or solution related to energy, climate, sustainability, or cleantech? Are you ready to take your innovation or business to the next level? The PowerNorth Virtual Incubator is a 10-week program tailored for early-stage energy and cleantech entrepreneurs in Minnesota.

By the end of the program, participants will have refined their business strategies and built valuable industry connections. The program concludes with a pitch event where participants will showcase their venture to a curated audience of investors, entrepreneurial support organizations, and key partners, unlocking new opportunities for collaboration and investment.

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Innovation Crossroads (Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program)

Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, Building Technologies Office, Office of Electricity, Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research program, and the Tennessee Valley Authority that leverages Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s unique scientific resources and capabilities and connects the nation’s top innovators with experts, mentors, and networks in technology-related fields to take world-changing ideas from research and development to the marketplace.

Innovation Crossroads is a two-year program for fellows focusing on energy and advanced manufacturing technologies. Through an annual national call and competitive stage-gate process, top entrepreneurial-minded fellows are selected to join the program. Selected innovators receive a fellowship that includes a personal living stipend, along with health insurance and travel allowance, a substantial grant to use on collaborative R&D at ORNL, and comprehensive mentoring assistance to build a sustainable business model.

 

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West Gate (Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program)

The West Gate Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program offers promising entrepreneurs a career-changing opportunity to access NREL’s expertise and capabilities to speed the development of their startup’s core technologies. Aspiring entrepreneurs aim to tackle the world’s greatest challenges of fostering clean energy. Selected innovators’ core technologies align with NREL’s research mission to advance energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, and renewable power to optimize energy systems.

West Gate embeds innovators at NREL and pairs them with scientists who specialize in the innovators’ technology areas. Throughout the program’s 2-year runway, innovators work with scientists in NREL’s world-class laboratories to de-risk their technologies, ready them for market, and grow their startup companies.
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Chain Reaction Innovations (Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program)

Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI) is a two-year fellowship program at Argonne National Laboratory for innovators focused on clean energy and science technologies. Through an annual call, four to six individuals are selected to join CRI. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP), one of four ‘nodes’. The others are located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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Cyclotron Road (Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program)

Our program empowers entrepreneurial scientists to take their innovation to impact by offering knowledge, resources, and connections. Cyclotron Road is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), which partners with Activate to provide a world-class fellowship.

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VentureWell Ecosystem Futures Fellowship

Lead the future of innovation at your higher education institution with the VentureWell Ecosystem Futures Fellowship. This new fellowship is an evolution of our Course & Program Grants that focuses on scalable science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystem solutions through the lens of environmental and social sustainability and inclusive innovation. This program offers professional development, immersive learning experiences, and a supportive community of leaders. It enhances the role of faculty and higher education leaders as ecosystem builders in partnership with industry and government.

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