New Energy Nexus and COP28 have teamed up to bring you a one-of-a-kind climate tech startup program leading up to COP28, the global climate summit this year hosted in Dubai.

The program is designed to accelerate early-stage climate tech startups from around the world. Our mission is to strengthen capacity building, increase new capital channels, and create new commercial opportunities for entrepreneurs early in their startup journey.

Early stage climate tech startups building innovations in the following COP28 Presidential Action Areas: Renewable Energy I Energy Storage I Energy Efficiency I Built Environment I Carbon Capture I Transportation and Mobility I Climate Finance & Architecture I Food I Agtech and Water are encouraged to apply.

The objective of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to competitively solicit cost-shared research proposals for pilot-scale field deployment and validation of efficient, cost-effective solutions ready for pre-commercialization that can eliminate flaring and non-safety related venting of natural gas at the well site. Projects sought under this FOA include the use of innovative technologies for processing and separating oil and associated gas at the well site designed to eliminate flaring, as well as new technologies designed to convert the associated natural gas into value-added solid or liquid products. Proposals can also develop technologies that use both processing and conversion, provided the applicant demonstrates that the overall process is technically feasible, economically feasible and ready for pilot-scale field testing at the well site.

The overarching goal of this opportunity is to develop domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials (CMM) by creating paths and strategies to commercialize processes that utilize domestic resources. These activities can include extraction, separation, processing, refining, alloying, or recycling technologies but should focus on decreasing environmental emissions, reducing resource usage or intensity, and/or optimizing cost.

The FOA includes five areas of interest (AOI), which are separated into phases as follows: 1: CMM Supply Chain 2: Value Added Products 3: Next Generation Technologies 4: Alternative Materials 5: Alternative Products.

The overarching goal of the PROPEL-1K program is to advance emission-free, high-energy density, and high-power energy storage solutions to electrify domestic aircraft, railroads, and ships. It cannot be overemphasized that traditional strategies for developing batteries and ESS are not envisaged for this program, especially since they would almost certainly fall far short of achieving the primary goals. Specific program objectives considered to be critical for accomplishing this mission include the following:
1. gravimetric energy density ≥ 1000 Wh/kg;
2. volumetric energy density ≥ 1000 Wh/L;
3. turnaround time ≤ 30 minutes;
4. discharge energy efficiency ≥ 70%;
5. target system size 1 MWh to 100 MWh;
6. system manufacture ≤ 100 kg CO2/kWh; and
7. zero CO2, NOx, SOX emissions during operation of vehicle, vessel, or aircraft

The program will have two categories: A and B. Projects in Category A will target energy storage for electrifying regional flights by achieving greater peak power and continuous power capability with a higher cost base. Projects in Category B will aim for energy storage solutions for railroad and ship transit that require lower peak power and continuous power capability with a reduced levelized cost.

Through support from the Department of Energy EPIC Prize, CEBIP launched CETX in Jan 2023 providing training, mentoring and leadership experiences to participants through bootcamps, discovery interviews and personalized mentorship. Successful completion of CETX Phase I will unlock the ability to apply to subsequent phases (Phase II Jan-May & Phase III Jun-Aug) where you will gain training in clean energy entrepreneurship and transferable skills to tackle and launch climate tech startups.

Participation benefits include:
• Gain training and mentorship on entrepreneurial mindset from experts
• Evaluate cutting edge climate technologies for commercial and energy justice potential
• Develop transferable leadership, project management and communication skills
• Explore various purpose-driven career paths in clean energy and climate tech
• Build a diverse professional network, access career opportunities, and more

New Technologies for Agriculture Extension (NTAE) Competitive Grants Program provides funding to increase the capacity of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) to adopt new and innovative technology applications for delivering science-based educational resources from land-grant and other partner institutions about matters of high importance to the general public. The NTAE Program supports state of the art technology and software applications, high quality leadership training for an exceptional CES workforce, comprehensive evaluation, communications, and marketing activities that promote governance, collaboration and organization, a toolkit of evidence-based delivery models, and an entrepreneurial resource base. NTAE prioritizes the use of digital tools and national programming strategies to increase collaboration in priority research areas across the Land Grant University and Cooperative Extension Systems.

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.

Are you a company (for-profit entity) who received support from DOE through a research, development, and/or demonstration financial assistance agreement or prize program in the last 5 years? This opportunity is designed to provide additional support in the form of a voucher for help with market assessment, business plan formulation, fundraising road-mapping (from both public and private sources), and commercialization strategy.

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-4) includes market research, business plans, fundraising road-mapping (from both public and private sources), and other commercialization strategy assistance for companies who have received funding from DOE’s RD&D programs. 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.

Are you a company who received support from DOE through a research, development, and/or demonstration financial assistance agreement in the last 5 years? This opportunity is designed to provide additional support in the form of a voucher to obtain bankability studies, manufacturing/supply chain assessments, community benefits assessments, and other technoeconomic analyses. The goal is to accelerate the commercialization of your technology and prepare it for the market or for integration into a large-scale first-of-a-kind demonstration project.

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-1) addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies already funded by DOE and leaving the research and development stage, through supporting activities including bankability studies, manufacturing / supply chain assessments, community benefits assessments, and other technoeconomic analyses. 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.

The Arrowhead Center SBIR/STTR Accelerator (ACSA) program is a 4-week cohort-based program that offers real-time coaching for small businesses interested in non-dilutive federal investment from SBIR/STTR contracting agencies. This NM FAST ACSA will provide cohort participants with a four-week introduction to contracting SBIR/STTR agencies, such as DOD, DHS, NASA, DOC, DOT, and EPA. During the program, participants will receive guidance on various areas of proposal development and expectations for Phase I, II, & III contracting opportunities. The accelerator will span from September 5th to September 26th, with sessions held on Tuesdays from 12:00 to 1:30pm MT via Zoom.

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.

During open application periods, you can apply for an average investment of $500K and design support. We’ll respond within 1-2 weeks with a status update if it makes sense to setup an intro meeting. We’re looking for early stage companies, Pre-seed to Series A, that use design to improve health, prosperity, and sustainability for all. Our average investment is $500K for 5% but we understand that may not make sense for every company. Depending on your traction and funding to date, we can adjust our investment terms. We recommend that you apply regardless of your stage, location and fundraising timeline.

After we invest, we have a kickoff meeting and then are available for monthly design help tailored to what you need throughout the next 12 months. We’re not an accelerator and we don’t have a curriculum you have to follow. Rather, we focus on the following types of collaborative work sessions when you need them most: hiring, design management, design advice, community, fundraising support.