2025 EPIC Pitch Competitions

The winners of today’s Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Pitch Competition have been announced!

Hosted at the 2026 TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina, the competition featured six energy tech startups presenting their technologies and business strategies to a live audience.

The finalist startups were nominated to compete by incubators and accelerators who have been awarded through the EPIC program in the past. Three winning startups were awarded a total prize pool of $80,000 after pitching their promising energy technologies in front of industry experts, investors, government officials, and a panel of reviewers.

Congratulations to the winners!

Winners of the EPIC Pitch Competition at TechConnect World 2026:

• First Place ($50,000): Eden GeoPower Inc. (Somerville, MA)— Building breakthrough technology that uses electrical energy to open natural pathways in deep rock, making it easier and more affordable to tap subsurface resources.  
• Second Place ($20,000): Lukera Energy Corporation (Carrboro, NC)— Producing methanol from waste gas and salt water in a simple one-step process, delivering a low-cost, energy-efficient fuel and chemical supply. 
• Third Place ($10,000): Modal Motors, Inc. (Farmington Hills, MI)— Manufacturing non-rare-earth U.S.-made electric motors that outperform foreign rare-earth motors and cost less to produce. 

Incubator Awards
Incubators that nominated the top three startups were also awarded cash prizes to continue supporting energy resilience entrepreneurship. The EPIC Pitch Competition awarded the nominating incubator of the first-place winner, and the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) awarded the nominators of the second- and third-place winners.  

• First Place Nominating Incubator ($25,000 from EPIC): Greentown Labs
• Second Place Nominating Incubator ($10,000 from FESI): LabStart
• Third Place Nominating Incubator ($5,000 from FESI: Centrepolis Accelerator

Read the full announcement on energy.gov.
 

The next Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Pitch Competition is approaching quickly!  

Join the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Commercialization and the Foundation for Energy Security & Innovation (FESI) as six finalists face off at the big event, happening on March 11 at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Competing startups will pitch business plans for their bold energy technologies to a panel of expert reviewers, competing for a cash prize pool of $80,000! 

These teams were nominated by incubators who have previously been awarded through EPIC. The nominating incubators of the three competition winners will also receive a combined $40,000 from EPIC and FESI. 

Interested in seeing the pitches live to connect with startups and innovators? Register for the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo. 
 

Six energy tech startups have been announced as finalists for the postponed Fall 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition. These teams will compete live on stage in Raleigh, NC, on March 11, followed by a final winner announcement later that day. Each team was nominated by past EPIC winners to compete at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo for a prize pool of more than $100,000. 

Congratulations to the competing teams!  

• CurrentEdge Power Semiconductor LLC - Stony Brook, NY 
• Eden GeoPower Inc. - Somerville, MA  
• Found Energy - Boston, MA  
• Lukera Energy Corporation - Carrboro, NC  
• Modal Motors, Inc. - Farmington Hills, MI 
• Sensible Photonics, Inc. - Pittsburgh, PA  

Join us at the pitch competition to cheer on these teams and see who will take home a big check! Register today to attend the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo and don’t forget to follow the EPIC Pitch Competitions HeroX page to stay up to date with event details and more.  

The Fall 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition was postponed. It will now be hosted March 11, 2026, at Techconnect World in Raleigh, NC. 

The Fall 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later time. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we’ll share updates on a new competition date when possible.