Applications for Innovation Crossroads Cohort 2027 will be accepted September 15–October 30, 2026.
This is your opportunity to join a dynamic community of entrepreneurs working to solve critical challenges in energy and advanced manufacturing.
Applications are now open and will be accepted through October 30 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
About Innovation Crossroads
Innovation Crossroads is a two-year entrepreneurial and technology commercialization opportunity hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization’s (OTC) Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP). The program provides innovators with early-stage energy startups and/or emerging technologies with a two-year funded fellowship, supporting them as they develop and transition their ideas toward the market.
Innovation Crossroads supports and mentors entrepreneurial researchers whose early-stage innovations are presently too challenging or technically uncertain to pursue in a venture capital-financed startup. Innovators are selected through an annual competition and embedded at ORNL for up to two years to receive entrepreneurial mentorship and conduct cooperative R&D, with the goal of translating innovations from proof of concept to proof of product.
Since its founding, Innovation Crossroads has been supported by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), including the Office of Technology Commercialization, Advanced Mining and Mineral Production Technologies Office, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, Building Technologies Office, Industrial Technologies Office, Office of Electricity, Office of Science’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program, and Basic Energy Sciences program; and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
Accelerating Your Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
By embedding the next generation of top technical talent within ORNL, Innovation Crossroads positions entrepreneurial research fellows to address fundamental challenges identified by industry. Learn more about the unique scientific resources, facilities, equipment, capabilities, and experts available at ORNL in the following science and technology areas:
Opportunity
Innovation Crossroads will help selected innovators in the physical sciences and energy technologies to mature their early-stage innovations. DOE and TVA will provide funding to ORNL to support selected innovators in developing their technologies. Additionally, program sponsors will provide an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education fellowship to the selected innovators for the first year with the possibility of renewal, subject to a one-year review, for support of up to two years through this program. ORNL is presently searching for innovators for cohort 2027. Benefits to selected innovators may include up to 24 months of Innovation Crossroads resources, subject to performance and availability of funding, including the following:
A two-year fellowship
Innovators receive a yearly living stipend of $115,000, a health insurance stipend, and a professional development allowance for travel, training, education, and customer discovery activities.
World-class lab access
Innovators receive access to ORNL’s facilities, research tools, equipment, and expertise, along with R&D funding to support collaboration with researchers across the laboratory.
Mentors and networking
Innovators receive access to experienced business mentors, entrepreneurial training programs, networking opportunities, and connections with leaders across academia, industry, government, and finance.
Applicant Information
Technology Areas of Interest
Innovators must focus on an emerging technology that will advance the development of next-generation energy, advanced manufacturing, a shared integrated grid, and/or smart buildings. Innovation Crossroads seeks entrepreneurs who are advancing technologies that address complex scientific challenges and require a lengthy development cycle of about two years to reach the precommercial prototype stage. Technology areas of interest, as identified by our sponsors, are as follows:
Advanced Fuels and Feedstocks Technologies
Advanced Technologies for Domestic Critical Mineral Extraction, Midstream Processing, and Recycling
Advanced Transportation Technologies
AI and Advanced Computing Technologies
Battery Technologies for Dual-Use Applications
Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Technologies
Coal Technologies
Cutting Edge Energy Generation and Power Management Technologies
Cyber and Energy Security
Data Center Energy Technologies
Fusion Energy Technologies
Geothermal Technologies
Grid Energy Storage
Grid Information Security
Innovations in Manufacturing and Scale-up for Energy Applications
Next-Generation Building Technologies
Next-Generation Technologies for Industrial Competitiveness
Nuclear Energy Technologies
Oil and Gas Technologies
Platform Technologies to Advance Scientific Research
Transmission and Distribution Technologies
Water Power Technologies
Other technologies that further the DOE’s mission of ensuring America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy and nuclear challenges.
Learn More
Are you an entrepreneur interested in learning more about Innovation Crossroads? Join us for a virtual program overview covering program qualifications, benefits, and the application process, followed by an opportunity to ask questions of the Innovation Crossroads team.
Webinar Dates:
Thursday, October 1 | 3:00 PM ET
Tuesday, October 20 | 12:00 PM ET
Note: Your registration confirmation email from Innovation Crossroads will include Microsoft Teams connection information and instructions.