Early-Stage Technology R&D (approx. TRL 1-5)
gener8tor Investment Accelerators
gener8tor is a nationally ranked accelerator that invests in high-growth startups. gener8tor invests in only five to six companies per program. This means a concierge experience. It focuses all of its time, energy and network on you. gener8tor supports the growth of its startups through our network of experienced mentors, technologists, corporate partners, angel investors and venture capitalists. This accelerator program opens up applications for programs in multiple U.S. cities throughout the year.
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Dept. of Transportation FY25 SBIR Solicitation – Phase I
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program awards over $10 million annually in contracts to U.S. small businesses to pursue research on and develop innovative solutions to our nation’s transportation challenges. U.S. DOT issues annual solicitations—typically in the winter—for Phase I research proposals, with subsequent opportunities for follow-on Phase II, Phase IIB, and Phase III awards.
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T.H.R.I.V.E. Emerging Leaders Reimagined
T.H.R.I.V.E. Emerging Leaders Reimagined provides entrepreneurship education and training for executives of small, poised-for-growth companies. This intensive executive-level training series offers opportunities for small business owners to work with professional coaches and mentors, gain skills needed to grow, and develop connections with peers, local leaders, and the financial community.
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Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures
Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures (MSISV) includes two in-house accelerator programs—a Lab designed for startup founders and a Collaborative to support emerging nonprofits. Morgan Stanley will provide participating Lab companies with an equity investment, a five-month curated program, mentorship, networking, office space for the duration of the program and access to certain external advisors. The equity investment is $250,000 for each company participating in our New York-based program and £250,000 for each company participating in our London-based program. Each participating Collaborative nonprofit will receive a $250,000 grant if based in the Americas, £250,000 for all other regions and access to the same program content as the Lab.
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Electrify Nevada Accelerator
We provide capital, expertise, and connections to nurture startups specializing in advanced energy systems, industry efficiency technologies, and sustainable solutions. Our particular emphasis is on closed-loop lithium systems, next-gen battery development and supply chain innovations, leveraging Nevada’s unique position in the global energy market. The accelerator aims to develop these innovative startups into thriving enterprises that deliver both economic growth and positive environmental impact.
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2025 Cleantech Open Accelerator
Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech accelerator, providing entrepreneurs and corporate innovators the resources they need to launch and grow successful cleantech businesses. Our one-of-a-kind innovation ecosystem built over the last 19 years of programming spans key cleantech innovation hubs in the U.S., linking labs and universities, service providers, investors, corporations, governments, and other cleantech incubators and accelerators. Through our annual accelerator, we provide between 100-150 companies in the U.S. with a rich program of customer discovery, extensive mentoring, training, investor meetings, startup-corporate matching, and showcasing at both the regional and national levels. Since 2005, more than 70% of our reporting U.S. alumni companies are still operating and have collectively raised over $2B in external funding. Join this exciting community and be a part of our global network of innovation.
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Research in Basic Plasma Science and Engineering
The FES Discovery Plasma Science: Plasma Science and Technology–General Plasma Science (GPS) program seeks new or renewal single-investigator or small-group applications to carry out hypothesis-driven frontier-level research in basic plasma science and engineering. This program aims to develop accurate descriptions of the complex behavior of the plasma state, to push it into new regimes that expand our concept of what constitutes a plasma, to design experiments and diagnostics to explore these states, and to validate theoretical models. GPS topical areas are broad and include but are not limited to: understanding the onset of magnetic reconnection and trigger mechanisms for explosive instabilities in nature (solar flares, geomagnetic storms) and in the laboratory; magnetic dynamo processes by which magnetic fields are generated in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas; mechanisms by which energy is transferred between fields, flows, and particles; how coherent
structures are created through the self-fields of the plasma and its interactions with waves; coupling of dusty plasma in strong magnetic fields; and plasma chemistry and processes related to interaction of plasma with surfaces, materials, or biomaterials.
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Hydropower Technical Collaboration Program
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technology Office (WPTO) are seeking industry partners to participate in short-term, collaborative projects to accelerate the development of innovative hydropower technologies leveraging the use of Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (AMM). The Hydropower Technical Collaboration Program (Hydro-TCP) provides selected participants with access to the U.S. DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, including its world-leading experts in AMM research and cutting-edge equipment and capabilities to demonstrate the application of AMM to hydropower. The program will allow companies to explore innovative and daring ideas with minimal investment and limited risk. The goal is to foster novel approaches to enhance the performance and sustainability of hydropower technologies and redefine the future of the industry.
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Early Career Research Program (ECRP)
DOE SC hereby invites applications for support under the ECRP in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); High Energy Physics (HEP); Nuclear Physics (NP); Isotope Research and Development (R&D) and Production (DOE IP); and Accelerator R&D and Production (ARDAP). The purpose of this program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by SC.
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Private Facility Research Program
The objective of the Private Facility Research (PFR) program is to support public research utilizing world leading experimental capabilities owned by private companies. Along the path to constructing Fusion Pilot Plants (FPPs), many private fusion companies are constructing interim small-to-large scale research facilities to establish the scientific and/or technological basis for their chosen fusion concepts. Since the research on these interim facilities is largely foundational in nature, the mission overlap between the public and private sectors is large. The PFR program
serves as a bridge from boldly delivered private sector hardware back to foundational research expertise residing in the public sector. Through the program, public researchers will conduct open peer-reviewed science at private facilities, to enhance the scientific rigor and breadth of the existing private efforts for the mutual benefit of all involved. As with all thriving high-tech industries, a strong connection to foundational research is essential.
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Stimulate Utilization of Plentiful Energy in Rocks through High-temperature Original Technologies (SUPERHOT) program
The SUPERHOT program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the production of geothermal energy from super-hot reservoirs (>375 °C and >22 MPa) for 15 years or more. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies for well construction, enhance testing facilities, and optimize reservoir heat extraction to make super-hot geothermal production a reality. The final application deadline is TBD. The program will have two categories:
- Category 1: Technologies related to the construction of robust super-hot wells and validation services for quality assurance of new well designs and materials. This focus will involve new materials, novel well solutions, and state-of-the-art testing facilities to assess these new approaches.
- Category 2: Technologies related to the extraction of heat from the reservoir to the well. The focus of this category is to develop fracture based and non-fracture-based methods for extracting heat from a super-hot reservoir (potentially composed of ductile rocks) to a working fluid in a well.
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Aligning Manufacturability & Pre-production Design (AMPD) for Storage Technologies
The objective of this NOFO is to facilitate innovative energy storage technology material, subcomponent, component, or system pre-production design to improve the manufacturability of one or more energy storage technologies. The R&D projects supported by this NOFO will improve the manufacturability of an energy storage technology and advance the TRL and MRL of the technology in the United States. Results may benefit a consortium of developers if the design challenges are widely shared within an industry. Manufacturability improvements can reduce technology production costs for the energy storage technology in question. Identifying and implementing design innovations will align pre-production storage system design to set the stage for manufacturing scale-up.
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