DOE Announces New Opportunity to Award $2.1 Million in National Lab Assistance Vouchers

TCF Open Voucher Call will connect innovators with National Lab expertise and capabilities to accelerate commercialization of technological breakthroughs. 

A new opportunity from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) and the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) is making $100,000 technical assistance vouchers available to startups and innovators.   

The $2.1 million TCF Open Voucher Call was created to provide the public with opportunities to develop technologies alongside researchers at DOE National Laboratories. This single-phase competition will award up to 21 vouchers of up to $100,000 each to people with ideas for advancing clean energy, sustainability, or other key National-Lab-supported initiatives (see p. 9 of the Official Rules for a complete list). Examples of voucher support include testing and validation, use of specialized equipment or software, simulation or modeling, and consulting from a National Lab. 

While a range of technologies will be considered, applicants are encouraged to leverage National Laboratory initiatives and capabilities when developing their ideas, so they can further develop their technology alongside a partnering National Lab.  

“This unique opportunity aims to not only inspire innovation but also to identify pathways to commercialize some of our National Labs’ most cutting-edge technological breakthroughs,” said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of OTT, Dr. Vanessa Chan. “By teaming innovators from across the country with commercialization resources from our National Labs, we look forward to seeing how experts and creatives from all backgrounds can work together to deliver new and impactful clean energy solutions to market.”   

This program is funded by the Base Annual Appropriations Technology Commercialization Fund, which serves to improve America’s energy competitiveness and security by accelerating commercialization and shepherding critical energy technologies from the National Labs to the market, where the private sector will continue to innovate. 

Applications to the TCF Open Voucher Call will be accepted until October 3, 2024, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. All voucher recipients will be required to provide a minimum cost share of $25,000 (either cash or in-kind). Selected teams will have one year to work with one National Laboratory of their choice and must provide a progress report at the conclusion of their work.     

The TCF Open Voucher Call is part of DOE’s American-Made program, which fast-tracks clean energy innovation through prizes, vouchers, training, mentoring, and cross-sector collaboration.  

Get Started Now   

For more information on the TCF Open Voucher Call and how to apply, take the following steps:  

• Follow updates and read the official prize rules on the TCF Open Voucher Call HeroX page . 
• Attend an informational webinar on July 18 at 2 p.m. ET.  
• Reach out to [email protected] with questions about the voucher.   

About the Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions 

The Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) is one of the largest supporters of technology commercialization in the federal government. Founded in 2015, OTT bolsters the technology industry's market skills and enables clean energy technologies to progress through research, development, demonstration, and to deployment into the private sector to meet our nation’s climate goals. Visit us at energy.gov/ott to learn more and subscribe to receive our latest opportunities and accomplishments via email. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

 Media contact: [email protected]