BOSTON, Jan. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Fraunhofer
TechBridge is now accepting applications for the
H2 Refuel Accelerator, in partnership with
two of the country's leading cleantech startup incubators, Urban
Future Lab at NYU Tandon in Brooklyn,
NY and Greentown Labs in Somerville, MA. The H2 Refuel
Accelerator, sponsored by Shell, Toyota and NYSERDA, is
seeking innovations for the adoption of hydrogen infrastructure and
supply chain technologies through cost reduction, reliability
and new capabilities. Solutions of interest to both Shell and
Toyota include, among others:
- Startup technologies that promote reduction of capital costs,
operating costs or streamlining of infrastructure construction
- Startup technologies that increase the reliability of hydrogen
infrastructure and capabilities on a global scale
- New capabilities in the full range of the hydrogen value chain
and infrastructure
Applicants will be evaluated based on the potential impact of
their solution to enhance current and future markets using hydrogen
as an energy source for mobility. This program offers unparalleled
collaboration opportunities for startups that want to bring their
technology from concept to market with the support of Shell and
Toyota. The selected awardee(s) are eligible for one or more of the
following:
- Up to $50,000 in startup
technology validation, demonstration and piloting services from
Fraunhofer USA Centers or
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institutes
- Desk space at one or both of the partnered incubators
- 80+ hours of training and mentorship from the region's top
business and industry experts
- Access to mentors and connections from Shell and Toyota's
networks as well as the combined networks of the Urban Future Lab
and Greentown Labs
Moreover, this opportunity provides the context and framework to
build close relationships with Shell and Toyota which may, upon
program conclusion, potentially result in an investment, joint
development agreement, technical project, pilot and/or additional
partnership format(s).
Through the synergistic capabilities of Urban Future Lab,
Greentown Labs and the Fraunhofer TechBridge Program, innovative
energy-related startups and larger corporate partners are able to
mitigate the 'industry-readiness barrier' and form lasting and
meaningful partnerships. Urban Future Lab, Greentown Labs and
Fraunhofer TechBridge lead the Northeast community in their
capacity to build, test and launch successful game-changing energy
technologies into the marketplace. The combination of incubation
space, services and technical capacity provided by Urban Future
Lab, Greentown Labs and Fraunhofer TechBridge offer one of the most
successful technology acceleration models in the country.
The New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is supporting the
H2 Refuel Accelerator through its ACRE incubator at the
Urban Future Lab. This funding will be used to accelerate the
commercialization of promising clean energy technology in
New York State through
collaboration with industry leading corporations and
partners. Additionally, this program provides an opportunity
to attract fuel cell companies to and showcase fuel cell companies
from New York State helping to
grow New York State's cleantech
economy.
Proposals are due by March 13,
2019 at: www.h2refuelaccelerator.com. Applicant and
awardees' intellectual property is fully protected throughout the
review process and the accelerator program.
About the Accelerator Partners
Urban Future Lab
Urban Future
Lab provides unmatched access to strategic advisement,
introductions to industry stakeholders, marketing and branding
support, investor networks, and access to a community of
like-minded founders. UFL is leading the way to a more sustainable
world by connecting people, capital, and purpose to advance
market-ready solutions to address climate change. Our flagship
program is ACRE, New York City's
premier business incubator for cleantech and smart city startups
and is funded by the New York
State Energy Research and Development Authority. It has been
supporting market ready solutions to climate change since 2009,
boasting a 90% survival rate of incubated startups which have now
raised more than $380M from the
private markets and employ more than 340 people. The UFL is part of
the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and is located in the
Downtown Brooklyn. For more
information, please visit ufl.nyc or find us on Twitter.
Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs is a
community of bold, passionate entrepreneurs creating game-changing
energy technologies that transform the way we live, work, and play.
Located in Somerville, Mass., and
founded in 2011, the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech
Innovation is the largest cleantech incubator in the United States, operating a 100,000 sq. ft.
campus comprised of prototyping and wet lab space, shared office
space, a machine shop, electronics lab, and a curated suite of
programs and resources. Greentown Labs is home to more than 90
startups that collectively employ more than 1,000 people and have
raised more than $350 million in
funding. The incubators' mission is to provide startups with the
community, resources, and space they need to solve today's biggest
energy and environmental challenges. For more information, please
visit www.greentownlabs.com or www.twitter.com/GreentownLabs.
Fraunhofer CSE and the TechBridge Program
The
TechBridge Program is organized by the Fraunhofer
USA Center for Sustainable Energy
Systems CSE in the United
States. The core offering of TechBridge is applied,
industry-focused R&D projects performed for entrepreneurs by
Fraunhofer with the goal of de-risking novel technologies for the
private sector. Projects may take the form of developing and
testing prototypes, deploying field demonstrations, performing
third-party validation, generating test data, or manufacturability
studies. These projects bring promising technologies closer to
market and make them more attractive for private sector investment,
industry adoption, and scale-up funding, ultimately leading to the
accelerated success of entrepreneurs and businesses. For more
information on Fraunhofer TechBridge, please
visit cse.fraunhofer.org/techbridge or follow us
on Twitter.
About the Sponsors
Shell
Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Royal
Dutch Shell plc, a global group of energy and petrochemical
companies with operations in more than 70 countries. In the U.S.,
Shell operates in 50 states and employs more than 17,000 people
working to help tackle the challenges of the new energy future.
Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the
cultural fabric in the U.S. and North
America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing
sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus
brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value
chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design,
engineering, and assembly of more than 36 million cars and trucks
in North America, where we operate
14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more
than 47,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800
North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold more
than 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018
– and about 87 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15
years are still on the road today.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights
the way it partners with community, civic, academic and
governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing
mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move,
anything is possible. For more information about Toyota,
visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
Fraunhofer TechBridge Contact
Nick Rancis
Fraunhofer TechBridge Program Lead
techbridgemarketing@cse.fraunhofer.org
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