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Starting new energy-related technology companies can be challenging, and that’s one reason the number of energy start-ups has declined significantly over the past decade. Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is the Southeast’s only entrepreneurial R&D program based at a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory. DOE’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) leads LEEP, which provides innovators with early-stage energy startups and/or emerging technologies with a two-year funded fellowship to develop and transition their ideas into the market.

Innovation Crossroads is a two-year fellowship program that supports innovators developing early-stage energy and emerging technologies with commercial potential. Through an annual national call and competitive stage-gate process, entrepreneurial-minded innovators are selected to join the program. Selected innovators receive a fellowship that includes a personal living stipend, health insurance support, travel and training support, access to ORNL’s world-class scientific facilities and capabilities, and comprehensive entrepreneurial mentoring to help advance their technologies and develop sustainable business models.

By embedding the next generation of top technical talent within ORNL, Innovation Crossroads positions entrepreneurial researchers to advance emerging technologies through collaborative R&D, leverage ORNL’s unique scientific resources, and transition promising innovations from the laboratory toward the marketplace.