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American-Made Challenges

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Lab MATCH Prize

Accelerates efforts of diverse entrepreneurs by working directly with national labs and their researchers on IP commercialization.
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Overview

Lab MATCH Prize

The DOE Office of Technology Transitions Lab MATCH (Laboratory Making Advanced Technology Commercialization Harmonized) Prize is a $620K, three-phase competition aimed to accelerate national laboratory intellectual property (IP) licensing and commercialization. 

  

Lab MATCH, which is funded by the Technology Commercialization Fund, is part of the American-Made Challenges suite of prizes. It provides an opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds to work directly with national labs and their researchers to accelerate technology commercialization. 

 

Participating national labs include: 

  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 
  • Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) 
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). 

 

Prize Phases 

The Lab MATCH Prize offers a total prize pool of $620,000 in cash prizes across three phases.  

 

Phase 1 (Commitment) 

Each competing team will provide details about:  

  • The team as whole 
  • Member background and skillset 
  • Information describing a strong plan for licensing/commercialization.  

Teams will also select the available national lab IP from one of the three participating labs, agree to the basic terms and conditions of the lab agreements, and will work with the national lab associated with the selected IP. 

 

Up to 20 winning teams will receive $2,500 each in cash and will be eligible to compete in Phase 2.  

 

Phase 2 (Plan) 

Winning teams from Phase 1 will work to create a deep and comprehensive engagement plan that describes their commercialization intentions, past experiences, and specific plans of actions.  

 

Teams will complete a submission that provides relevant information describing their skills and qualifications that will ensure that the commercialization process will be successful and details the plan of action, partners, timelines, and more.  

 

Up to 9 winning teams will receive $30,000 each in cash and be eligible to compete in Phase 3.  

 

Phase 3 (Action)  

Winning teams from Phase 2 will make significant progress on licensing/commercialization by working closely with the national lab Technology Transfer Office and the relevant researcher.  

 

The Phase 3 prizes will be awarded based on level of effort and commercialization advancement as assessed by DOE. The submission form will give teams the ability to describe their progress made throughout the prize, describe the additional action steps that need to happen to fully commercialize the technology, and provide other useful information including further details about progress made, partnerships, etc.  

 

Three winning teams will receive $100,000 each in cash prizes. 

 

Competitor Eligibility 

This competition is only open to private, for-profit entities (for-profits).  

Private entities must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States. 

Individuals, or groups of individuals, that wish to compete must incorporate in the United States as a private entity and maintain a primary place of business in the United States. It is expected that any manufacturing component of anticipated commercialization occur in the United States. 

 

Read the Official Rules for full eligibility requirements. 

 

Guidelines

Please review the official rules for the complete application process and instructions for competing.

If you want to receive updates on the prize or have any questions, please subscribe by using the contact feature on the HeroX platform or message us directly at LabMatch@nrel.gov. 

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Timeline
Updates11

Challenge Updates

Announcing the Lab MATCH Prize Phase 1 Winners

April 1, 2024, 11:34 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Administrator

Congratulations to the 19 Lab MATCH Phase 1 winners who will now advance to compete in the next round of the prize!   

Winning teams were awarded $2,500 each for their work in the initial Commitment Phase, having crafted a viable licensing and commercialization plan for their selected National Lab IP. In Phase 2, the Plan Phase, they will create comprehensive engagement plans that include actionable steps, partners, and timeline. 

Phase 1 Winners  

OTT received an impressive variety of submissions that proposed go-to-market strategies for unique, problem-solving energy technologies. 

 

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Phase 1 winners come from across the U.S., representing a range of National Lab partners and IP topic areas. 

  • Active Surfaces Inc. (Woburn, MA) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Photovoltaic (PV) 
  • All Drone Science (Gresham, OR) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Photovoltaic (PV) 
  • ATOMIQ (Pittsfield, MA) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Aerospace 
  • Brick City Energy (Saint Louis, MO) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Energy Storage 
  • Diesel heads (Weston, FL) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Transportation 
  • Expanding Frontiers (Brownsville, TX) 
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Carbon Capture 
  • Gold Standard Radiation Detection, Inc. (Albuquerque, NM) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Security & Defense 
  • GridFlow (Albuquerque, NM) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Energy Storage  
  • Joliet Commercialization Coalition (Joliet, MT) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Wind 
  • Leaf Automation (Akron, OH) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Photovoltaic (PV) 
  • Liquidmetal (Chattanooga, TN) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Concentrated Solar 
  • Marsan Technology (Milledgeville, GA) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Buildings 
  • Maveena Energy (Frisco, TX) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Buildings 
  • NanoSieve (Miami Beach, FL) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Gas Absorption 
  • Ourobio (Indianapolis, IN) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Biogas 
  • Team JG (Seattle, WA) 
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Photovoltaic (PV) 
  • TerraLoop (Durham, North Carolina) 
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Heating, Ventilation, and Cooling 
  • ThermoVers (Detroit, MI) 
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Buildings 
  • Torpel (Charlottesville, VA) 
    Sandia National Laboratory – Energy Storage 

You can find more information about the prize, teams, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions on energy.gov. 

Read the full announcement on energy.gov. 

Deadline: Phase 1 Submissions Due Jan. 25

Jan. 17, 2024, 11 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Moderator

Don't forget! By Thursday, January 25 at 5 p.m. ET, you must submit the following if you want to compete in the Lab MATCH Prize:

  • Cover page and narrative
  • Summary PowerPoint slide
  • Letters of commitment or support (optional). 

How to submit your files: Click the Begin Entry button. The submission form contains an upload option for each of the required files. Only PDF files will be accepted.

Before you submit: Review the Official Rules document (posted under “Resources” tab) to understand what kind of information is required and how your entry will be scored.

 

Do you have questions about your selected IP? Contact one of the following:

Do you have other questions? Post a question under the "Forum" tab or contact LabMATCH@nrel.gov. You can also review the prize rules and informational webinar under the "Resources" tab.

 

Good luck to all our competitors!

Access Sample IP Agreements from Technology Transfer Offices

Nov. 30, 2023, 11:30 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Moderator

In order to streamline the IP agreement process, the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) from NREL, Sandia and Oak Ridge are providing sample IP agreements! Make sure to review your technology’s national laboratory’s agreements in detail!

 

All agreement templates are posted under the “Resources” tab.

Connect with National Lab Experts for Your IP Questions

Nov. 27, 2023, 11:30 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Moderator

Have questions about your identified national laboratory IP? Use the contact list below to get the answers to your questions:

NREL - Anne Miller, Anne.Miller@nrel.gov

Sandia - Mary Monson, mamonso@sandia.gov

Oak Ridge - Susan Ochs,  

Don’t Forget: ADL Ventures' Commercialization Guidance Webinar Today!

Nov. 13, 2023, 8:30 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Moderator

Join ADL Ventures today from 1 to 2:30 p.m. MT to hear from Frank Yang, 2x hard-tech founder, and Diana Fisler, entrepreneur-in-residence and CEO of NREL-developed EcoSnap, about making the most of your Lab MATCH application!

Jumpstart your entrepreneurship journey with Frank Yang and Diana Fisler as they offer their exceptional insights on how to spin out and scale lab IP, strategic pathways, and success signals to support your Lab MATCH application. 

 

Register now for ADL Ventures' Commercialization Guidance Webinar. We hope to see you there!

 

Forum6
Teams222
Resources
FAQ