Innovation is at the core of many of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE’s) strategic investments. But getting new clean energy ideas into the marketplace can be a daunting task. Investors are hesitant to finance projects without market buy-in, the cost of resources needed over longer development cycles can exceed available capital, and the market has little incentive to adopt disruptive innovations.

That’s why EERE’s Technology-to-Market program has been carefully studying and strengthening a nationwide innovation ecosystem to give game-changing clean energy technologies a fighting chance at success.

Our goal is to build a better clean energy innovation ecosystem in the U.S., so that the best innovations have the best chance of success.

Johanna Wolfson
Director of the Tech-to-Market program

So what is an innovation ecosystem?

“It’s the underlying fabric of the commercialization process,” said Jennifer Garson, the program lead within the Tech-to-Market team.

That fabric forms the landscape that clean energy innovations traverse on their paths to market. Since 2010, Tech-to-Market has been strategically weaving a web of services together nationwide by forging partnerships throughout the development cycle.

“It’s all about building those relationships,” said Garson. “Just because Argonne National Laboratory (located in Chicago) has fantastic battery research, doesn’t mean that a great battery startup in Boston or San Francisco couldn’t leverage that resource to help as they grow.”

Through significant stakeholder engagement and careful coordination, Tech-to-Market has launched a number of programs to bolster the energy innovation ecosystem. These programs address barriers in early stage development such as cultivating entrepreneurial talent, accessing funding, accessing lab resources and customers, and connecting to industry.

The Cleantech University Prize, for example, helps launch collegiate innovators into the clean energy field. Since 2011, participating teams in EERE-supported business plan competitions have raised more than $130 million in follow-on funding and created more than 120 jobs.

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This video reveals highlights from the 2016 competition held in Denver, CO.
Department of Energy

Entrepreneurs can also take advantage of programs such as Cyclotron Road and Chain Reaction Innovations. In collaboration with EERE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, these initiatives spin innovators into the Energy Department’s national laboratories to help develop their products. Tech-to-Market also supports national lab researchers through the National Laboratory Impact Initiative’s Lab-Corps pilot, which coaches researchers on customer discovery to better inform the commercialization of their technologies.

“With each program, we’re trying to address specific barriers that stand in the way of bringing innovative technologies to market,” said Wolfson.

Tech-to-Market also runs programs to provide services and funding for technology developers who have launched new ventures and need help bridging the gap to private investment. Through the National Incubator Initiative for Clean Energy, Tech-to-Market funds incubator organizations that form the nationwide support network for clean energy entrepreneurs. So far, more than 500 startups have been supported, and portfolio companies supported by incubators funded through the network have generated nearly $100 million in revenue with more than $162 million in follow-on funding.

“No startup exists in a vacuum. It’s not the way we commercialize clean energy technologies,” said Garson. “What we are trying to do is catalyze relationships between people who might not even know they should be working together.”

Startups and the national labs are a perfect example. For years, small businesses lacked the resources and knowledge to harness these world-class capabilities. Now, thanks to the Lab Impact Initiative’s Small Business Vouchers program, businesses can apply for funding to collaborate with the labs to help solve their most pressing needs. In addition, startups can also explore opportunities through the Small Business Innovation Research program to obtain grant funding for innovative research that could lead to commercialization.

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Vouchers (SBV) Pilot is providing up to $20 million in vouchers, so clean energy innovators can request technical assistance from the national labs.

Department of Energy

By identifying the barriers to technology commercialization and designing programs to address those barriers, Tech-to-Market continues to use strategic investments to better understand and build a stronger innovation ecosystem.

"At the end of the day, this is all about supporting the transition of clean energy technologies so that there can be real market impact,” said Wolfson. “Without attention to the commercial transition, all of the earlier-stage research that EERE supports cannot be fully leveraged."

Amped Up! Magazine is the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s publication that highlights breaking technologies and achievements in renewable power, energy efficiency and sustainable transportation that influence global change toward a clean energy economy.

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What are the key facts?

  • EERE’s Technology-to-Market program has been carefully studying and strengthening a nationwide innovation ecosystem to give game-changing clean energy technologies a fighting chance at success. 
  • Through significant stakeholder engagement and careful coordination, Tech-to-Market has launched a number of programs to bolster the energy innovation ecosystem. These programs address barriers in early stage development such as cultivating entrepreneurial talent, accessing funding, accessing lab resources and customers, and connecting to industry.
  • Tech-to-Market also runs programs to provide services and funding for technology developers who have launched new ventures and need help bridging the gap to private investment. 
  • By identifying the barriers to technology commercialization and designing programs to address those barriers, Tech-to-Market continues to use strategic investments to better understand and build a stronger innovation ecosystem.

Learn more about the Technology-to-Market program